# A straw poll on Micheal Jackson **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 17, 2005, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-straw-poll-on-micheal-jackson/294970 "2005-03-17T12:15:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-straw-poll-on-micheal-jackson/294970/41 "2005-03-18T03:26:52Z")
I think he is guilty. This “thing” has happened too many times in the past to just write off as an exercise in money grubbing. I do think the mother is a worthless lying money grubber, but I still think “the gloved one” is guilty. It’s the same pattern as before. No normal adult has kiddy sleepovers. No normal adult sleeps in the same bed as the kiddies. It’s wrong. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-straw-poll-on-micheal-jackson/294970/42 "2005-03-18T04:03:35Z")
Yes, but who ever claimed the gloved one was normal? I think he had a horribly abnormal upbringing which resulted in him having a very strange view of the world. I believe he probably does love having kids sleep in his bed, in the whole giggly sleepover fun way. Sure that is not normal but nothing about him and his upbringing was/is very normal. I think he truly believes that whole Peter Pan thing because he never had a childhood to speak of. Child stars are not generaly known for having super dooper sucessful lives because they never had the time to be a child. MJ was obviously wrong thinking it was acceptable to share his bed with kids but I don’t think that means that he sexually abused them. Even the porn sharing is childish. I remember snooping through the hidden porn collection of a friend’s dad, while on sleepover, and having a merry old time. The fact that he admits to sharing his bed so openly (on the BBC doco) smacks more of childishness then of evilness to me. Someone needs to take that boy under their wing and teach him how the real world works because he has not been part of it since the 70’s. Yes he is as mad as a march hare but this mother is either evil (if he is guilty) or just a money grubber. She certainly could not have been unaware of the rumours about him before she let her kids stay. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-straw-poll-on-micheal-jackson/294970/43 "2005-03-18T04:10:46Z")
> [@laina\_f](#): > > Innocent until proven guilty. > > If MJ were a serial child molester, I think the victims would be crawling out of the wall at this point (like they did when abuse by priests started geting publicity). There was _one_ previous accusation; it ended in a pay-off, which is not the same as MJ admitting guilt. He is mentally fragile, and he was subjected to intense humiliation. I don’t find it odd that he would use his money to end the situation. > > Celebrities are frequent targets of all sorts of crazed behavior: stalking, physical attacks, home invasions, paternity suits, accusations of rape, email hijacking . . . . There are a lot of serious nuts out there, and quite a few that are willing to lie and even persuade their children to lie for money. Actually, there have been a couple of settlements-there were at least two. Not one, two. And most likely a few more. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-straw-poll-on-micheal-jackson/294970/44 "2005-03-18T04:13:05Z")
But why? If it were my child that had been abused a settlement wouldn’t be a valid option. Perhaps money grubbers know he is an easy target. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-straw-poll-on-micheal-jackson/294970/45 "2005-03-18T04:23:05Z")
> [@calm kiwi](#): > > But why? If it were my child that had been abused a settlement wouldn’t be a valid option. Perhaps money grubbers know he is an easy target. Most molesters target kids from broken homes, kids less likely to tell what’s going on. Michael may have gone after kids with parents who were money-grubbing, and easier to pay off. In the big one, Jordy Chandler, what happened was his mother was enamored with Jackson, the kid’s father finally got his son away from the perv, and then filed the suit. Unfortunately, the kid was getting death threats from Jacko fans, being harassed, being pressured by Jacko’s thugs, until he finally just refused to testify. Perhaps the kid’s father felt it would be better off for his son to get therapy and move on than persue this. Who knows? ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-straw-poll-on-micheal-jackson/294970/46 "2005-03-18T04:26:26Z")
I don’t know, for everyone’s sake I hope he’s innocent. Whatever happened, this is a life that went seriously off course. The whole thing makes me sad. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-straw-poll-on-micheal-jackson/294970/47 "2005-03-18T04:31:03Z")
Me too. Very sad. **Guin** as a mum I can honestly say NO amount of money would stop me wanting to see my child’s abuser in jail. I smell money grubbers. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-straw-poll-on-micheal-jackson/294970/48 "2005-03-18T04:34:02Z")
> [@calm kiwi](#): > > Me too. Very sad. > > **Guin** as a mum I can honestly say NO amount of money would stop me wanting to see my child’s abuser in jail. I smell money grubbers. Oh, absolutely. I’m not a parent, but there’s no way I’d allow anyone who abused a child of mine to walk. Unfortunately, not all parents are that way. Some may have been poor and uneducated enough to have been intimidated. We don’t know. That’s why pedophiles target certain kids. They wouldn’t have gone after someone like me, or your child, who has excellent parents. They go after kids with shitty home lives. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-straw-poll-on-micheal-jackson/294970/49 "2005-03-18T04:36:48Z")
Oh and my child is from a “broken” home (if that means a solo parent family) and I would never say no to money UNLESS it involved my child’s welfare. NO money is worth that. And as a community minded person, NO money is worth taking if it means putting another child through abuse (if they took money when their child was abused they tacitly agreed it was ok for someone elses child to be abused in the future). Anyone who took the money believing their child was abused has no sense of responsibilty and is overly concerned with money. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-straw-poll-on-micheal-jackson/294970/50 "2005-03-18T05:13:40Z")
By “broken” I mean a really nasty family situation. Not necessarily divorce. ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-straw-poll-on-micheal-jackson/294970/51 "2005-03-18T05:41:15Z")
> [@calm kiwi](#): > > Oh and my child is from a “broken” home (if that means a solo parent family) and I would never say no to money UNLESS it involved my child’s welfare. NO money is worth that. > > And as a community minded person, NO money is worth taking if it means putting another child through abuse (if they took money when their child was abused they tacitly agreed it was ok for someone elses child to be abused in the future). Anyone who took the money believing their child was abused has no sense of responsibilty and is overly concerned with money. The first kid got something along the lines of 20 million, that buys a hell of a lot of thereapy. I thnk the second kid got somewhere around 3-5 million, that’s a hell of a lot of paying off. Everybody else: Regarding the mother being money grubbing. The witness on the stand today (previously thought to be a defense witness) is painting the father as the money grubbing one and not the accuser’s mother. Court TV is speculating that Jackson’s defense team, or someone close to the Jackson’s, is spreading the info about the accuser’s mother. I don’t know about you, but I’m starting to take that stuff with a box of Morton’s Salt. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-straw-poll-on-micheal-jackson/294970/52 "2005-03-18T06:04:49Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Innocent until **proven** guilty, dammit. > > This is still the United States of America. Innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. This is the “court” of public opinion. Freedom of speech, and all that. This is still the United States of America. I can think however I want without anyone telling me how I have to feel. I feel he is guilty. My opinion won’t hang him. I’m not on the jury. I’m not organising a lynch mob, and never will. When I hear about evidence which makes me feel otherwise, I can change my mind. Until then, if someone asks me what I think, I will tell them. ---
**Author:** ![Large\_Marge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/50afbb/32.png) [@Large\_Marge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Large_Marge)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-straw-poll-on-micheal-jackson/294970/53 "2005-03-18T06:55:59Z")
> [@calm kiwi](#): > > So 99% of the people on the planet who have heard his name acknowledge he is odd/different/not-all there, but is he guilty? > > Let the jury of the Straight Dope “decide”. > > I will start. I’m fairly convinced he is a sad man rather then a bad man. > > Based on what I have heard on the news so far, I say innocent …yet still ODD. > > I could say why I feel that way, but why bother. Opinions are like arseholes and all that. > > I’m just curious about the general feeling. I think he’s guilty, but the defense has done a good job discrediting the child witness. I’ll be very surprised if he’s convicted. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-straw-poll-on-micheal-jackson/294970/54 "2005-03-18T20:19:01Z")
> [@Mehitabel](#): > > Well, yeah, but the OP asked us to act like the jury. Innocent until proven guilty is position we’re all starting from. We’re saying whether or not we think the evidence so far proves him guilty. Unless someone here is spending all their time in the courtroom watching the actual evidence, I don’t think anyone here actually has a clear picture of “the evidence so far.” All we non-jurors have gotten are the pat sound-bite summaries that the media gives us based on their level of outrageousness. ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-straw-poll-on-micheal-jackson/294970/55 "2005-03-18T20:54:31Z")
Weren’t there stories of his father, Joe, abusing him and his siblings when they were all young? I shake my head with every photo of him walking into court, holding MJ’s hand. Can’t let go of that money train. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-straw-poll-on-micheal-jackson/294970/56 "2005-03-18T21:32:27Z")
Not guilty and innocent, for that matter. He’s messed up- no doubt, but I think people are taking advantage of the fact that he is a famous, rich, easy target. I also think Sneddon and the SBPD have been on a witch hunt for a while now. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-straw-poll-on-micheal-jackson/294970/57 "2005-03-18T23:56:33Z")
I’m with **calm kiwi** on this one. I think that emotionally, MJ _is_ a little boy. He’s like the popular kid on the block whose daddy had an attic full of Playboys and an unlocked liquor cabinet. The kid who always knew just a little bit more about forbidden subjects than the other kids his age, and revelled in awing the other poor schmucks with demonstrations of his expertise. MJ meets these poor, deprived kids and becomes “best friends” with them, but not as an adult to a child – as one child to another. The problem is that (chronologically speaking, anyway) MJ is _not_ a child. While he is old enough to drink alcohol and have sex, his understanding of the “proper” place for these facets of adult life is completely screwed up. At least that’s how I see it. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-straw-poll-on-micheal-jackson/294970/58 "2005-03-19T00:13:09Z")
> [@ltfire](#): > > Weren’t there stories of his father, Joe, abusing him and his siblings when they were all young? I shake my head with every photo of him walking into court, holding MJ’s hand. Can’t let go of that money train. He’d better start learning how…I think that train has just about burned up about all the coal it ever had. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-straw-poll-on-micheal-jackson/294970/59 "2005-03-19T00:20:56Z")
Guilty as Hell. I agree with **Airman Doors** , though, on the likely verdict. Like many of these deviants, he chose his victims precisely because they were the types to be more scorned than those who abuse them. By society’s standards, they’re trash. Trash doesn’t win in court. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-straw-poll-on-micheal-jackson/294970.md?page=2)