Michael Jackson

I guess it's big news, but I've tried to avoid watching the media overkill of the Michael Jackson trial and acquittal as much as possible. I was curious enough to watch the verdict reading when I came home from work yesterday and turned on Fox News, but really, I'm left with two main streams of thought.

1. He's probably guilty, but with all the hoopla, sensationalism, and surprise witnesses, the jury probably wasn't left with much choice. And after (in reverse chronological order) Jackson, Robert Blake, and O.J. Simpson, as Steven Hill would say, the L.A. County D.A.'s office "has a lot of egg on their faces". They'd better hope they can convict Phil Spector, or they're going to look very bad indeed.

2. He's probably guilty, and the victim should never be blamed for crimes of this nature, but what about his parents? It's not like this is the first time "Jack-o" has been accused of molesting children...what the hell were they thinking, letting him sleep over unsupervised? (Hint: it starts with "M" and ends with "oney".) If Jackson had been convicted, I would have loved to have seen the parents brought up on accessory charges.