Too Soon?

The Michael Jackson Memorial Circus hit the Staples Center today. I caught part of the telecast while I worked the stairmaster at the gym. Even Fox News got into the act. Today, there are United States soldiers fighting and dying in Afganistan. Iran is about to obtain a nuclear weapon. North Korea warns of our annihilation. Unemployment is nearing ten percent. And Fox News considers this spectacle "newsworthy." Guess they can't afford to get scooped on the freak show by CNN or MSNBC.

The broadcast showed aerial shots of Los Angeles, as the vehicle bearing the casket plied downtown streets. Then there were several images of people milling around outside the arena. One, in particular, a young woman wearing a wife-beater, sporting colorful tatoos all over her shoulders and arms.

I wonder why they feel the need to drag the gilt-encased carcass all over the place. The memorial service is for the living, not the deceased. Perhaps the people involved believe there are special powers intrinsic within the coffin. There has been some hyperbole surrounding this person's passing. While the image of him dangling his baby out of a hotel room window is burned into my mind, there are clearly some people who have elevated him to Christ-like levels.

Thus, they shouldn't bury him. They should tote him around like some modern day ark. He could smite the enemies of any who bore him. Who would dare oppose them? Perhaps he would start to get a little gamey, no matter. Natural decomposition would actually be an improvement for his gruesome appearance.