The US Government Killed Michael Jackson

To be quite frank, this hub is going to have very little to do with Michael Jackson, nor am I seriously suggesting that the United States government played a part in his untimely death. That would be completely absurd. What this is really about is priorities, specifically those of the American people.

Think for a moment about the state of the world and America especially. The economy is in the worst recession in years, troops are still stationed in the middle east, and North Korea is just about ready for an old fashioned showdown with the U.S. of A. Only rather than six-guns they'll be bringing nuclear equipped ICBMs.

And then, just to top it off, pop music legend Michael Jackson kicks the bucket at the ripe young age of 50. A tragedy to be sure, but is this event really worthy of more public attention than a possible nuclear conflict or the government's rampant "stimulus" spending?

Apparently most major news venues seem to think so(*CNN cough cough). After all, coverage of Jackson's death has been almost non-stop since the occurrence. No time for boring,trivial things like politics or economics, we simply must know what every member of Michael's family was doing the day he died, how much they cherished their eccentric and super-famous relative, and how they plan to exploi---I mean mourn his death.

So, with everyone's eyes on Neverland Ranch on the west coast, rather than Washington D.C. on the east, public scrutiny on the government's dubious actions is even lower than usual (which, by the way, is normally no higher than knee level, though right now we're only making about ankle). After all, which is easier, reigning in our irresponsible, monstrously large(and growing) government or lamenting the death of a pop star by listening to "Thriller" until our ears bleed.

This is where the conspiracy theorist enters the picture and says that Wacko Jacko was in fact whacked by Big Brother to shield the government's evil plans and schemes from the eye of the people and give the government cronies in the mass media a fat, juicy bone to chew on until their teeth fall out. Not a bad plan actually. Hell, someone on capitol hill could have legalized slavery again and the citizens of America wouldn't have batted an eyelash. This is mainly because their eyes would be inextricably fixed on something shinier that makes noise when you squeeze it (and did I mention the noise is catchy and fun to dance to).

Still, the honest fact remains that the government, no matter how conniving and corrupt, probably didn't kill Michael Jackson. But does that mean they wouldn't use this event to pull the wool (and a nice thick burlap sack) over our eyes? Of course not. This is not to say that they aren't usually up to such shenanigans (if you can call covering up torture and the federal reserve shenanigans) but this is truly a golden opportunity for them.

And the saddest part about all this is that they know they can do this to us. Escapism has defined our culture for years and we're not going to let that go, even during the most dire of national situations. In fact, it is precisely in the dire and bleak moments of our nation that America's escapist attitude shines the brightest.

Perhaps its time for us to grow up.