First and foremost I did not call you a child molester, in plain good old English I quote what I previously wrote :- Normally it takes one to know one. The word normally makes a lot of different.

No, it really doesn't. It's clear that you were trying malign me for daring to speak my mind about a public entity. Now you want to back off from it. Fine. NORMALLY, an apology is in order. Not a whining statement about culture.

Now on to media law, even I won a case when a journalist accused me of misquoting our Prime Minister to give an advantage to the opposition party. It was quite evident that he misquoted me to damage my reputation as a journalist but I could not take a journalist to court when he alleged that I was diagnosed with terminal cancer ten years ago. I was advised that it is useless going to court since I am liable to public scrutiny. So if I were you I would read law before quoting it and this is international law.

Give me a break. Do whatever you want. Besides that, I never quoted any law. I don't know where you get that kind of statement. I don't know what country you're in or what international law might be, but I know damn well that public figures can sue for defamation. Jackson didn't. He never even tried to give a different side of the story. He just counted on the brain-dead Kool-aid drinkers to forgive him. And they did.

Sorry I cannot keep up this correspondence because I would rather enjoy a swim and my holidays than waste time on stupid correspondence with somebody who seems to belong to a totally different culture.

Enjoy the swim. Again with the culture thing? Is that supposed to be some kind of insult or what? In my culture, we don't accuse people of being child molestors without any basis and then wimp out with a lame excuse about culture.

First and foremost I did not call you a child molester, in plain good old English I quote what I previously wrote :- Normally it takes one to know one. The word normally makes a lot of different. I have no right to accuse you of anything because I do not know you as you cannot accuse me of being brainwashed because you do not know me. According to my culture calling somebody you do not know a buddy is very rude, but my culture taught us to respect other cultures. As far as I know a buddy means a friend which I am not because I do not know you from Adam.

Now on to media law, even I won a case when a journalist accused me of misquoting our Prime Minister to give an advantage to the opposition party. It was quite evident that he misquoted me to damage my reputation as a journalist but I could not take a journalist to court when he alleged that I was diagnosed with terminal cancer ten years ago. I was advised that it is useless going to court since I am liable to public scrutiny. So if I were you I would read law before quoting it and this is international law.

Sorry I cannot keep up this correspondence because I would rather enjoy a swim and my holidays than waste time on stupid correspondence with somebody who seems to belong to a totally different culture.

Regards,

A. Beaumont

I don't care what Jackson's problems were. Millions of people have had even worse lives and ended up not getting kids liquored up and sleeping with them. At some point, you have to quit blaming your past and accept responsibility for your life. Jackson never did that? That's his fault.

Facts are sacred? I guess that's how you came up with “It takes one to know one.”

The idea that public figures are not protected from DEFAMATION is pure crap. Carol Burnett proved that when she successfully sued the National Enquirer. The fact is that Jackson never tried to stop anyone from printing that he molested children…why is that? One reason is that he couldn't prove the claims were false. The other reason is that people like you would bend over backwards to make sure that he wasn't hurt by such claims, whether they be false or not.

Buddy, I've been the subject of press conferences by a Congressional candidate. I know what it means to be attacked in public. The idea that any of this has to do with the color of Jackson's skin is just a smokescreen, and you do everyone a disservice to even bring it up.

So my conclusion at this point is let “MJ” roast in hell…along with the people who enabled his sick life.

I have been following MJ since childhood and I think the biggest problem with MJ is that he never grew up (Peter Pan). As a journalist and newscaster I followed his cases in court and I am utterly disgusted with so many so called journalists who do not observe one of the most important regulation of our profession which is :- fact are sacred and comments are free. It is obvious that these so called journalists are hungry for scoops to advance in their career, but some people on the street unfortunately beleive these stories and a public figure like MJ is subject to public scrutiny and is not legally protected for malfamation.

It is very hard to be in that position and beleive me I know it because I have been through it many times as a public figure in my country. Another factor which you have to consider is the fact that MJ was a coloured man and unfortunately even at this time and age racism is still an issue.

So my conclusion is at this point :- why don't we let MJ rest in peace.

Child molestation cases are notoriously hard to prosecute. I hope you are never put in a position where you have to choose between believing a child you love and what can be proven in a court of law, particularly if the defendant is willing and able to throw millions of dollars into obfuscating every point of evidence.

There was more than one kid. Jackson admitted to giving kids alcohol and sleeping with them. The parents are just as liable as Jackson was. I'm sure there were people who made baseless accusations. But, since we are going to pull out stupid truisms, where there's smoke, there's fire. And Jackson made a hell of a lot of smoke with his own behavior.

Good riddance.

Make this a better world by being more human please.

What made Thriller different than any other album though was that Michael Jackson just keep releasing singles. Its run on the charts should've been long past but then he came out with the greatest video of all-time for Thriller. It was of course an amazing song to boot and the album actually went back to number one something like a year and a half after it had been released. Absolutely amazing.

So here's to the class of '83, you either liked the Police or you liked Michael Jackson. Most of us though, liked both.

I'm sorry, but being dismissive of artists (whether you actually like their STYLE of music or not) whose careers have lasted over 35 years (in both of the above cases) on the basis of one example from a brief fraction of that time is either ignorant or deliberately obtuse, neither or which is generally the sign of a true moderate.

From:
A Libertarian who at least appreciates what some have accomplished, whether it's to my taste or not…oh, I also enjoyed the Police reunion tour BOTH times I saw it (having been a fan since my college days – back when they first started together in the late 70s)…even though they obviously weren't terribly good during the beginning leg.

Thriller is one of the best pop albums. How can you even compare that to a rock album? I own both Thriller and Syncronicity. I also own several albums from ABBA and oh that terrible group the Bee Gees. I enjoy anything that is well-crafted. I may not get certain styles of music like rap, but I don't look down my nose at it like it was some kind of cockroach that crawled out into the light.

Jackson broke the color barrier on MTV in the 80s and perfected the music video genre. I can't think of any videos made to today that hold up to Billy Jean or Thriller. Quite an artistic achievement after 20+ years.

He also was man who suffered from mental illness brought on by an abusive childhood. The group of people that should have protected him used him. More money and fame than any celebrity has ever seen provided him the means to create a bubble and feed into a cycle of unhealthy behavior. His admitted acts with children are disturbing, possibly criminal. His early childhood treatment should not be used as an excuse for those acts. Now with his death, more bizarre stories about his life-style will come out. You should enjoy this period because Liza Minelli was right when she said this morning, “All hell is going to break loose after the autopsy”

Personally, my interest in his music declined after the Bad album. His videos and music became more self-indulgent. His syncopated rhythm style of singing he switched to didn't do anything for me and the overdubbed chorus sounded great in 1979 on Off the Wall was very dated in the 1990s. The last thing he did that I really liked was the duet with Janet on Scream in 1995.

When the child molestation charges surfaced I watched the documentary that instigated the charges. It's … it is just … ugh hard to watch if your a fan. The assumption that Jackson got weird after Thriller is false. The documentary shows pre-MEGA-Thriller days where Michael is talking to animals and cartoon characters who are not there and the reaction of his father and mother is even more bizarre. They just ignored it. The film also interviewed people who knew him back in the Jackson 5 days. He had inappropriate friendships with little children even then. A 15 year old should be chasing girls and goofing off, not calling up 6 year olds.

When the 25th anniversary edition of Thriller came out, I just couldn't make myself buy it. Although he was acquitted, buying the album felt like I was enabling his behavior. Andrew Sullivan summed it up best for me in his blog, (sic) the man I admired and enjoyed died a long time ago, a shell of a human being has been walking around for a long time. RIP, Michael.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoP-bS6txyM

I find your comments offensive and awfully biased. To compare the musical genius of Michael to the Police is beyond crazy. Who sold more albums? Who influenced the entire world, not just a small part of middle America? Who reached across isles? I think hands down that Thriller will go down as the best SELLING and ARTISTICALLY amazing album of all time. So please with the Police.

And I would prefer some respect for Michael and his family. He was not a freak but eccentric. I would prefer if you leave your biases at home. I don't like to see them in writers in The Moderate.

By the way, we are used to haters like you. While no one will ever know your name, MILLIONS upon MILLIONS will admire, love and respect Michael Jackson.