# Michael Jackson Verdict Reached!!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-verdict-reached/308130
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [June 13, 2005, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-verdict-reached/308130 "2005-06-13T19:29:07Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 14
### Author:  [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-verdict-reached/308130/261 "2005-06-14T15:24:41Z")
It’s a really, really dumb idea. No matter if you think he’s innocent or not, his participation would inevitably draw attention away from what the whole of Live8 is supposed to be about. The media don’t exactly normally need an excuse to focus on the trivial and inconsequential. If faced with the option between;
**Concert Points Way For G8 To Aid World’s Poorest**
or
**Whacko Jacko’s Big Come-back Shows Who Is The King Of Pop**
which do you think they’re going to headline?
---
### Author:  [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-verdict-reached/308130/262 "2005-06-14T15:33:38Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#):
>
> Let’s face facts: Any adult who admits to sharing a bed with a child is crossing an ethical line. That’s just too weird.
_Really?_ How interesting. I never knew that was a _fact_. I guess I better go turn my wife in for snuggling with our daughter in bed. Or maybe myself, for having not fled my bed when my daughter was terrified of thunderstorms, and insisted on sleeping in our bed instead of her own. Or having the ethical bankruptcy to tollerate our baby son co-sleeping with us.
:rolleyes:
I flatly reject your blanket assertion.
---
### Author:  [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-verdict-reached/308130/263 "2005-06-14T15:42:01Z")
> [@Futile Gesture](#):
>
> It’s a really, really dumb idea. No matter if you think he’s innocent or not, his participation would inevitably draw attention away from what the whole of Live8 is supposed to be about. The media don’t exactly normally need an excuse to focus on the trivial and inconsequential. If faced with the option between;
>
> **Concert Points Way For G8 To Aid World’s Poorest**
>
> or
>
> **Whacko Jacko’s Big Come-back Shows Who Is The King Of Pop**
>
> which do you think they’re going to headline?
Um, actually, you’ve just disproven your own point.
You’re Bob Geldof, and want to get as many people as possible paying attention to your concert and cause. Which benefits you more:
A two paragraph summary of your concert and cause which appears buried in the back section of only a few newspapers; or
A one paragraph summary of your concert and cause which appears in a major news article run on the front page of the entertainment section of most major news outlets?
---
### Author:  [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-verdict-reached/308130/264 "2005-06-14T15:46:22Z")
> [@Tranquilis](#):
>
> _Really?_ How interesting. I never knew that was a _fact_. I guess I better go turn my wife in for snuggling with our daughter in bed. Or maybe myself, for having not fled my bed when my daughter was terrified of thunderstorms, and insisted on sleeping in our bed instead of her own. Or having the ethical bankruptcy to tollerate our baby son co-sleeping with us.
> :rolleyes:
>
> I flatly reject your blanket assertion.
Tranquilis, would you sleep in the same bed as a young boy(10-12YO) who WASN’T somehow related to you by blood? I agree with Annie that that type of behavior-obviously excepting your children and the children of close family members you are entrusted to care for at times-crosses the line into weirdness and I think it’s the main reason so many people assume the guy is guilty even though it couldn’t be proven in court.
I’m positive she didn’t make her comment in any other but the most innocent capacity, examining Jacko’s behavior and not applying it to families with young children.
Sam
---
### Author:  [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-verdict-reached/308130/265 "2005-06-14T16:19:52Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#):
>
> He has repeatedly placed himself at the scene, admitting that he likes to sleep with kids. **The man is 47 years old**.
>
> Yes, he’s weird. He can’t see why his behavior raises eyebrows because he is in his own little world. He has created a lot of smoke, and where there is smoke, there is usually fire.
The difference between Michael and most people is that he is so developmentally retarded that he actually prefers the life of a 12-yr-old at a sleepover to the life of a multi-millionaire adult. I believe that he was just doing a sleepover. Just hanging with other kids his own emotional age. I hope I’m right in my belief that he’s innocent, but I KNOW the prosecution did a crappy job. Even if he DID do it, they didn’t have a convincingly constructed case.
---
### Author:  [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-verdict-reached/308130/266 "2005-06-14T16:24:28Z")
> [@John Corrado](#):
>
> A one paragraph summary of your concert and cause which appears in a major news article run on the front page of the entertainment section of most major news outlets?
That very possibly won’t mention the whole purpose of the concert at all, thereby being a waste of time for everyone involved. They’ve just put on a concert for free purely for Jackson’s benefit.
There is a precedence for this; In 1988 there was a big charity concert held at Wembley (London) for Nelson Mandela’s 70th Birthday (he was still in prison at the time, course). It’s aim was to raise awareness of human rights abuse in South Africa. But the broadcaster in America ;
- changed the publicized title, preferring the much less contentious and utterly vague ‘Freedom Concert’.
- cut to adverts whenever anyone started saying anything relating to the concert’s purpose or Mandela.
Basically they wanted the gig, but not the cause. (It was Fox, no prizes for guessing.) The promoters and bands were not best pleased.
So getting the concert noticed is no guarantee of being noticed for the right reasons. Call me a cynic, but any excuse for the media to feature the music and side stories about Jackson, and dodge talking about the uncomfortable politics.
---
### Author:  [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-verdict-reached/308130/267 "2005-06-14T16:42:20Z")
> [@GaWd](#):
>
> Tranquilis, would you sleep in the same bed as a young boy(10-12YO) who WASN’T somehow related to you by blood?
I don’t know. Give me a full scenario, and I’ll tell you.
> [@](#):
>
> _I’m positive she didn’t make her comment in any other but the most innocent capacity, examining Jacko’s behavior and not applying it to families with young children._
_I’m_ not sure of that - I don’t read minds. She made a blanket statement. In so doing, she called about 95% of the parents in the word ethically questionable, and I’m not letting her slide easy on that. Seems to me she needs to explain herself.
---
### Author:  [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-verdict-reached/308130/268 "2005-06-14T16:44:47Z")
> [@Futile Gesture](#):
>
> The promoters and bands were not best pleased.
Mostly with themselves I imagine, for having fucked up the contract.
Geldof is far from a neophyte in the promotional world–any television coverage, at any rate, will be well and thoroughly negotiated.
---
### Author:  [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-verdict-reached/308130/269 "2005-06-14T17:26:27Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#):
>
> Check this out. [Triumph the Insult Comic Dog](http://gorillamask.net/triumphjacko.shtml) takes on the MJ supporters outside the courthouse. Not sure when this was recorded, but at one point he mentions “three months”. Anyway, it’s interesting. One of the people reacting with hostility, the one with the platinum hair, is BJ Hickman, a contender for the Looniest of the Loons title.
LOL dangit I came here to post that. \>\_\< Funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time. 😃
---
### Author:  [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-verdict-reached/308130/270 "2005-06-14T18:12:59Z")
> [@furlibusea](#):
>
> MJ is too easy. Monsters who hurt children very seldom look odd. .
ain’t necessarily so. looking weird is neither proof he is, nor proof he isn’t.
My personal belief is that the prosecution failed to prove it’s case. I also believe that MJ has molested children. What concerned me is his insistance that “he loves children, he would never harm a child”, Most molesters I’ve known did not (prior to conviction and therapy) admit that what they were doing **harmed** a child. The other telling point to me was the physical resemblance of so many of the chosen close circles. PHysically frail types. those who had (for various reasons) tough childhoods.
I believe he molested the accuser in this case, have no trouble w/the time line. If you believe that the mother engineered the claim, the time line should bother you more because it’s there. Your claim would hold so much more weight if you claim that the abuse started before the documentary, that you were just unaware of it until afterward. Certainly he was a potential mark before the documentary. You’d have had to be from another planet to not know of the prior accusation.
I believe he will again molest another child.
---
### Author:  [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-verdict-reached/308130/271 "2005-06-14T18:50:50Z")
> [@Tranquilis](#):
>
> I don’t know. Give me a full scenario, and I’ll tell you.
Would you ask the neighbors if they would let their 10 year old boy sleep in your bed?
Legit reasons to have a 10 year old sleeping in the same bed as an adult.
1. Kid, with fright or sickness, wants to be close to his/her parents or guardians for comfort.
2. Family get-together. A bunch of people sleeping in the same house and not enough beds to go around so some have to double up.
Anything else is freak city. Any adult who goes _out of his way \* to have somebody else’s kid sleeping in his bed is a freak and should be regarded as such.
That said, I don’t have a problem with the verdict. It was_ reasonable \* to believe that the kid was coached by a bad parent looking for a payday.
---
### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-verdict-reached/308130/272 "2005-06-14T19:05:55Z")
> [@5que](#):
>
> You think maybe this time he’ll learn not to sleep with boys anymore?
[Apparently he has](http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3224623).
---
### Author:  [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-verdict-reached/308130/273 "2005-06-14T19:17:23Z")
> [@spooje](#):
>
> Anything else is freak city. Any adult who goes \*out of his way \* to have somebody else’s kid sleeping in his bed is a freak and should be regarded as such.
I think most folks would agree that,a t this day and age, Michael Jackson is a “freak” (or at least a _rather odd person_).
But that wasn’t what the trial was about. He was accused of child molestation, the jury wasn’t convinced, and he remains innocent until proven guilty.
My pet theory is that MJ still sees himself as a nine-year-old kid, deep down. He thinks circuses and zoos are fun, he watches Cartoon Network in his jammies with a bowl of sugary cereal, and he likes having sleepovers with his friends, because his friends get to spend the night with him. Applying _normal_ rules of behavior to Michael Jackson is like teaching Miss Manners’ Rules of Etiquette to a sea lion – it ain’t gonna work no matter how hard you try.
---
### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-verdict-reached/308130/274 "2005-06-14T20:21:18Z")
Pedophile: Attracted to children
Ephebophile (sorry id misspelled; not in my dictionary): Attracted to adolescents
Anyone else wonder if he is schizoaffective?
---
### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-verdict-reached/308130/275 "2005-06-14T20:22:26Z")
“if.” Though “id” would have been a nice Freudian slip.
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### Author:  [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-verdict-reached/308130/276 "2005-06-14T20:26:10Z")
> [@Futile Gesture](#):
>
> So getting the concert noticed is no guarantee of being noticed for the right reasons. Call me a cynic, but any excuse for the media to feature the music and side stories about Jackson, and dodge talking about the uncomfortable politics.
Call _me_ a cynic, but anyone who believes that any kind of big concert is actually going to make one figs worth of difference in the real world is delusional.
---
### Author:  [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-verdict-reached/308130/277 "2005-06-14T22:26:13Z")
Bingo! I agree with this 100%.
**Shoshana** -excellent freudian typing slip!
Sam
---
### Author:  [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-verdict-reached/308130/278 "2005-06-14T22:27:15Z")
> [@rjung](#):
>
> I think most folks would agree that,a t this day and age, Michael Jackson is a “freak” (or at least a _rather odd person_).
>
> But that wasn’t what the trial was about. He was accused of child molestation, the jury wasn’t convinced, and he remains innocent until proven guilty.
>
> My pet theory is that MJ still sees himself as a nine-year-old kid, deep down. He thinks circuses and zoos are fun, he watches Cartoon Network in his jammies with a bowl of sugary cereal, and he likes having sleepovers with his friends, because his friends get to spend the night with him. Applying _normal_ rules of behavior to Michael Jackson is like teaching Miss Manners’ Rules of Etiquette to a sea lion – it ain’t gonna work no matter how hard you try.
Shit. My button clicking skills are sucking today.
The above post was in reference to the post quoted in this post.
---
### Author:  [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-verdict-reached/308130/279 "2005-06-14T23:05:10Z")
> [@rjung](#):
>
> I think most folks would agree that,a t this day and age, Michael Jackson is a “freak” (or at least a _rather odd person_).
>
> But that wasn’t what the trial was about. He was accused of child molestation, the jury wasn’t convinced, and he remains innocent until proven guilty.
> .
Did you miss the part where I said :
> [@](#):
>
> That said, I don’t have a problem with the verdict. It was reasonable to believe that the kid was coached by a bad parent looking for a payday.
---
### Author:  [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2005, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-verdict-reached/308130/280 "2005-06-14T23:15:27Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#):
>
> [Apparently he has](http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3224623).
> [@](#):
>
> Lawyer says Jackson won’t share his bed with boys anymore
“Come here precious. We’ll lie down on the _futon_ for a bit”.
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