Jackson's send off

As I've stated, I think the level of coverage (and its almost complete lack of context and perspective) of this whole thing has been criminal.

And not, evidently, a victimless crime either:

"Meanwhile, the city of Los Angeles said that Jackson's memorial service cost $1.4 million.

"Spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton said the costs included extra police on the streets, trash pickup, other sanitation and traffic control for the Tuesday event.

"Three thousand police officers, almost one-third of the force, were on hand to ensure that the Jackson events proceeded smoothly, Los Angeles Assistant Police Chief Jim McDonnell said.

"The city, which is $530 million in debt, set up a Web page asking Jackson fans for donations to help with the expenses.

"Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich does not want taxpayers to pay a penny for the service, his spokesman said Wednesday.

"The city attorney does not want something like this happening again, the city paying for a private event," spokesman John Franklin said. "That's especially in a cash-strapped city, where people have been furloughed or even lost jobs."

I'm with the city attorney.

Here is a little measured perspective:

"You'd have to make a desperate effort not to know that Michael Jackson (until recently excoriated by the media) had died, and you'd have to make a similarly desperate effort to know that we've knocked off one wedding party after another these last years in Afghanistan. One of these deaths -- Jackson's -- really has little to do with us; the others are, or should be, our responsibility, part of an endless war the American people have either supported or not stopped from continuing. And yet one is a screaming global headline; the others go unnoticed."

And here is a Brit view with the subtlety of a blow from a cricket bat (a tad too heavy-handed, I think, and I especially don't like the Hitler analogy, but you have to say it gets its point across):

"The parallels between Graceland and Neverland are expected and wholly unsurprising: it is what happens when incredible fame, fortune and near-limitless power are bestowed on young men with no real education and no intellectual interests. The pleasures of the inhabitants of the two mansions are near-identical: lying in bed, attended by lackeys, while you indulge your sensory pleasures: food, small boys, whatever."

Please let it all be over soon.