Squirrelly:

I wanted to say a couple of words about the media vs. Michael Jackson. First, MJ was acquitted of all charges, and the last time I checked, you are considered innocent unless proven guilty here in the U.S. Personally, if I was a part of the Jackson family, I would sue anyone who spoke out ignorantly since I believe this is what contributed to his early death. MJ possibly needed to numb himself, had trouble sleeping, and had a broken spirit due to the media’s ignorance. Second, I stopped listening to MJ a while back because I believed the media back then (which was my mistake, because I have since learned you can’t believe everything the media puts out there because it is most always biased). Third, when MJ passed, I cried. I have not stopped crying since I heard the news. I did not expect to react the way I did when I heard the news, but I did, and I still am. I now totally believe that MJ was innocent. Michael was abused as a child, but that does not make him an abuser. Michael has tried to get back some of his lost childhood. Michael lived in a different world than most of the rest of us since he had the means to separate himself from the world. He was able to create a “Neverland” where he could indulge himself as a child, without forethought, without having to think first about appearances. He made some bad decisions that he probably would not have made under “normal” circumstances, but this still does not make him an abuser or pervert. Michael made some comments that he saw innocence and God in the faces of children, so WHY would he want to destroy that by abusing a child? I can’t think of a reason. Michael didn’t try to hide anything, which made him totally vulnerable to people, especially people who wormed their way into his life, interviewed him on tape, or people who wanted some of MJ’s money or payout by media (and didn’t care how they accomplished it). And as a parent I can tell you that I would not personally accept any amount of money in exchange for allowing ANYONE to molest my child, and anyone who would accept money for this cannot be trusted, and their child is unavoidably using this parent as an example for their own life, and therefore, that child cannot be trusted either. I don’t believe any of it. Michael paid out money to these people to get rid of the bad publicity and strain on his energy. He could never get over the constant media harrassment. They wouldn’t stop. But Michael was doing the best he could to come back to us, and he almost accomplished it. I’m not sure right now exactly how he died, but I can tell you that he was not a pervert. If I thought he was, I couldn’t listen to his music now. I love Michael, I believe, Michael, and I have apologized to Michael since his death for my lack of faith in him. He never lacked faith in his fans, and he never gave anything but love to his fans and the children of the world. Per his will, 20% of his worldly possessions will go to charity, and another 40% to his children. All Michael wanted was for his fans to love him right back. God told us we must become like children to please Him, and Michael did just that. Michael made some bad decisions, but he never deserved to be treated the way he was. Also, I will never side with anyone who makes fun of an individual because of their body. No matter his reason for his surgeries, that was his business and nobody elses. I have to say that I have not seen the media attack anyone like they did Michael when he was alive, and even in his death they continued their attacks. I may not like anything else that Rev Sharpton has to say, but at the memorial one thing he said rang true: (paraphrased) “There was nothing strange about Michael, but it was strange what Michael had to deal with.” Paris did not need to look at anyone else, but this child knew the truth when she heard it. She immediately stood up and clapped her hands. I listen to Michael’s songs, and realize how much he had an impact on my life. I was a child when I first heard him, and he comforted me with his songs. I was a poor white child back when there were riots in the 60’s, and I was the minority because I lived among the blacks, and I was discriminated against (I guess we call that reverse discrimination). Although I was picked on as a child, and had many stomache aches thinking about having to go to school to take more abuse by the other children, cried at school, and yet I found comfort in Michael’s music (also Aretha’s and Gladys’, as well as other black artists). Though I have many stories of being ganged up on by people of color, I have managed to still believe that people can change and that God does not see the color of our skin, and I know that everyone has the ability to love and grow and even confess their sins and start anew. How ironic it was that people of the same color that abused me were also the same color as the people who ministered to me in music. I will never forget Michael and his family, and I will always appreciate the healing and joy in their music. I hope everyone thinks again before attacking Michael and anyone else who has been abused by the media. I believe that Michael is teaching God the moonwalk, and that God is smiling upon him. The media can’t hurt Michael anymore.–Squirrellygirl (by the way, I’m not the other poster who uses “Squirrely” as their username. I’m “Squirrelly” with 2 “L’s”–thanks.