YES, MICHAEL JACKSON

It pisses me off no end that CNN and the mass media, the infotainment media,
spends so much on nonsense like the Michael Jackson trial, Scott Petersen,
the runaway bride "story," the disappearance of the pretty white Alabama girl
in Aruba, etc (ad nauseum) instead of talking about "real news," like Bush's war
against Iraq and the Republican's theft of the Ohio Workmen's Compensation
Fund in Ohio (and, come to think of it, the Republican's theft of the 2004
presidential election in Ohio, clearly financed by the theft of the state
Workmen's Compensation Fund). But my friend Danny sent me this somewhat
more in depth look at the circus of Michael Jackson supporters from a London
newspaper. It sparked some memories for me and I decided to share it, even
though what I had planned to write about today-- and it is only 7AM-- was Barry
Crimmins.

I was staying in the Tower of the NY Palace when the planes hit the World Trade
Center on 9-11. So was Michael Jackson. My old pal the Tower concierge didn't tell
me he was staying there, nor did I bump into him in the elevator. But when I arrived
from L.A. at 1AM on September 11 I noticed that there were over 100 people
dressed like Jackson across the street from the hotel entrance, listening to his music
on boom-boxes and dancing. The next morning the hotel was in turmoil because
most-- like almost ALL-- of the workers live in Brooklyn and Queens and couldn't get
to work. This continued for most of the week. Someone the Jackson fans always
managed to be in front of the hotel. Even after he left the hotel in a caravan of SUVs
headed to Canada, the Jackson faithful stayed on, dancing. They thought the caravan
might be a decoy and that their hero was still ensconced in his $10,000/night 3-story
suite. (It's a lovely suite. Cher, Enya, Lenox Lewis and Stevie Nicks all stay in it too--
on different nights.) When the airports opened and I could finally fly home, the
diminished crowd of Jacksonites was still out there.


No matter how you feel about the case itself, all of these people have moved past pathetic and well into some yet-unnamed form of mass cultural pop psychosis.

10 June 2005
WACKO ABOUT JACKO
VIGIL OR VIGILANTES? THE FANS PRAYING MICHAEL'S NOT GUILTY
From Justine Smith In Santa Maria, Usa

T HEY worship their idol with a religious fervour that is more cult than pop culture.

Many of his disciples even dress from head to toe in white to show their belief.

A flick of a V-for-victory sign from under his famous umbrella is enough to send them into rapture. And a word of doubt from a non-believer can whip them into an orgy of hate.

Welcome to the church of Michael Jackson, self-styled King of Pop - and possibly soon to be a convicted paedophile.

Followers have given up jobs, left families thousands of miles away and put their lives on hold just to be here.

During the 14 weeks of evidence, they pressed up against the fence every morning at 8.15 as Jacko's convoy pulled in, screaming: "Fight, Michael, fight" until they were hoarse, cheering as the star acknowledged them and then turning on prosecutors and Press.

Now that the singer is holed up on his Neverland Valley Ranch awaiting one hour's notice of the verdict, they are split between his home and the court.

In Santa Maria, fans in Jackson T-shirts wave flags among the white-robed and a smattering of terrifying lookalikes.

One from Spain admits he has spent "too much" on plastic surgery to look like his idol. He even has the crater in his left nostril which has since been repaired on the real Jackson nose.

But his painful dedication is unappreciated by the purists, who are disgusted by this poor imitation.

Rival stereos blast out classic Jackson tunes as the fans congregate in sects according to which album they favour.

Outside the main gates, some of the older followers listen to Off The Wall, the solo album that made Jackson a star in his own right, away from the Jackson 5.

Sylvia, 46, is lost in reverie as she mouths the words atop a ladder, waving her flag, looking down serenely on the madness below her. She says: "Michael Jackson taught us to love and not to be cynical. He told us to believe, not to hate. I believe."

Next to her, a woman in shimmering lilac make-up with blonde extensions down to her waist poses with her poster showing Jackson's face alongside Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King.

"Look at the quotes under each," she says. "Look how they preached the same lessons of love."

On a grassy verge a few metres away, the Japanese contingent blast out hits from the Bad album while they add glitter hearts to their posters. Younger fans bop along to Invincible.

Their peace-loving slogans often get lost in angry clashes with religious zealots and child abuse victims. One carries a banner misquoting the Bible with the demand: "America, execute all homosexual paedophiles!"

There are frequent battles between Jacko's most loyal and loudest fan, B J Hickman, 18, and "religious Bob", a right-wing Christian dressed as Elvis who put himself in the lions' den by screaming: "Jackson is not the King - Elvis is. And if Jackson is touching little boys, he should burn in hell."

Everyone outside wants someone to burn in hell.

BJ, from Tennessee, has been spending £1,000 a month to stay and support his hero since October. He is close to tears as I ask him what he will do if Jackson is sent down. "I believe in God and justice. He will be acquitted," he says, misty-eyed. His lip quivers and he walks off.

Minutes later, he is leading a hate mob against the fans' enemy No 1, TV reporter Diane Dimond, known to be close to the prosecution, who now needs a permanent guard after receiving threats.

Every time she goes on air they press up to the fence, screaming abuse to interrupt her broadcast.

H IS face contorted with rage, spittle flying from his mouth, BJ shouts: "Burn in hell, Dimond, you bitch!"

She has taken the cat-calls in good grace but is starting to look rattled by the hatred.

All the fans have their own far-fetched conspiracy theories about Michael's "persecution". Many believe Sony Records is trying to break him to get back his half share of a Beatles back catalogue.

Others, including the Rev Jesse Jackson, there to give "spiritual support", insist it is a racist plot.

This despite the fact the alleged victim is of Mexican origin and Michael has erased from his appearance all traces of his Afro-American heritage to look more like a white woman than a black man.

Outside Neverland, where fans dressed in white hold nightly vigils, the media are not welcome. I go to interview some Britons - and hastily decide to pose as a tourist instead when I'm met by a menacing posse demanding to know who I am.

One British fan, who has left her children at home, tells me I have no right to be there because I do not "love and respect Michael".

As she froths up into a lather, the huge Jackson tattoos on her arms dancing over her rippling muscles, I back away slowly, trying not to make any sudden moves.

Another tells me: "I hope it doesn't go on too much longer because I am running out of money."

They just sit outside the ranch, miles from the nearest shop, from dawn until late at night. When TV reporters try to do live pieces to camera outside the gates, supporters set off their car alarms to foil them.

Fans in Santa Maria are less reluctant to talk to me. Student Sam Davidson, from London, says: "I have dropped out of exams and spent more than £14,000 to come out here on two trips.

"Michael has done so much for me over the past 11 years. If I die this year and I have seen him vindicated, that would be enough for me."

Peter Scott, from London, has flown to Santa Maria three times since the trial began. He says: "It is important that he sees the support. We are not here to see him - we are here so he can see us."

Sean O'Kane, 23, from Liverpool, says: "Everything else in my life just seems so minimal now. I can't leave Michael now, not as he is waiting for the verdict."

But some fans have provoked locals with their sometimes menacing presence.

A driver in a pick-up mowed down 40 red foam hearts planted outside Neverland. Another threw eggs at a group of fans, hitting Andrew Ung, 22. He said: "They hate Michael. They hate us."

Jackson faces up to 20 years if found guilty on 10 charges, including four of molesting Gavin Arvizo, then 13, four of plying him with alcohol and one conspiracy to abduct him. He denies all counts.

And with hundreds of fans set to descend on the court at an hour's notice, all hell will break loose if the verdicts, due to be broadcast live from speakers, go against him.