Well said Solomonic,
I can't call it. Normally I'm the first person to say you're innocent until proven guilty. In this case, you have a man who paid out millions to make the whole thing go away. That money would have been better spent paying lawyers and having his day in court. To me, if you have nothing to hide you go to court and stand up for yourself. If for nothing else, it stymies the ambitions of future extortionists. by Solomonic
"Peripheral issue: Funny how we blacks vehemently defend people who want nothing to do with us. First OJ, now MJ. Not saying either one was or is guilty, but why rally around celebrities who clearly want to distance themselves from other African Americans?" by Solomonic
Heck, and 99.999% of the time Michael Jackson shared his bedroom, toys, gratuity, time, money, benevolence, interest, etc., with Caucasian children, and/or their Caucasian family members. Just like OJ, Michael Jackson didn't identify with Black people until facing bankruptcy, criminal indictment, and/or civil lawsuit damages for breach of contract, etc. Just like OJ couldn't wait to shack up with his next Caucasian female companion, should this whole set of circumstances end tomorrow, Michael Jackson will continue to spend 99.999% of bedroom, toys, gratuity, time, money, benevolence, interest, etc., with Caucasians.
Heck, Michael wanted to be Caucasian, to the extreme that he has ruined his appearance, health, etc., while Caucasian medical doctors make that financial killing off of his desire to be something that he will never be. It is even doubtful the kids he now has are even his. Neither of them look like him, or have any features of Black people. All that ex Caucasian wife/ registered nurse wanted, is to live the life of easy street, namely through alimony payments, etc., financed by you guessed it, the head over heals for Caucasian anything dis-associate themselves from Black people, truly disoriented very confused world renowned soon to be financially insolvent Michael Jackson.
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"Although he released a new greatest hits package Wednesday, Jackson's career has been in decline for years, a victim of changing tastes and a series of lurid stories about his personal life. They included allegations in 1993 that he had molested a 13-year-old boy. Although no criminal charges were brought and Jackson insisted that he was innocent, he eventually settled a lawsuit brought by the alleged victim for a sum reported to be at least $15 million." This Statement Says it all Because it is Highly Unlikely That Any Sane Truly Innocent Individual is Going to Settle a Civil Lawsuit for Child Molestation and/or Otherwise, Out of Court for $15 Million. On the flip side it is highly likely that a truly sane child molestor and/or other serious criminal offender, would make such an arrangement, if nothing more than to keep from facing the music of that felony jail record or penal incarceration, that would result should the victim(s) choose to file charges against the perpetrator, the alleged perpetrator in this instance being Michael Jackson. It has been reported by reputable sources that the out of court settlement was actually more like $20 Million, to which the plaintiff's attorney received one third of the actual court settlement!Although no criminal charges were brought and Jackson insisted that he was innocent, he eventually settled a lawsuit brought by the alleged victim for a sum reported to be at least $15 million.
"Jackson Released on Bail After Arrest on Molestation Charges
By William Overend and Andrew Blankstein
Times Staff Writers
November 21, 2003
SANTA BARBARA "” Michael Jackson, the international pop sensation whose career has been eclipsed by his increasingly erratic behavior, surrendered to authorities Thursday and was booked on multiple counts of child molestation.
Arriving by private jet from Las Vegas, the reclusive singer was driven to the Santa Barbara County sheriff's office and escorted inside, his wrists handcuffed behind his back.
After being booked and surrendering his passport, he posted $3-million bail and was released, flashing a "V" sign before being driven away in a black SUV under police escort.
His attorney, Mark Geragos, said Jackson had denied the allegations that he had committed "lewd and lascivious" acts on a child younger than 14. He said Jackson had called the charges "a big lie."
"Michael is here," Geragos told a swarm of reporters outside the sheriff's office while Jackson was being processed. "He has come back specifically to combat these charges head-on. He is greatly outraged by these charges, and has authorized me to say the charges are categorically untrue. He looks forward to fighting this in court."
Authorities would say almost nothing about the case against Jackson, even declining to specify how many charges he faced.
The Sheriff's Department did release a copy of a booking photograph in which Jackson's sunken cheeks and surgically enhanced features appeared to be accentuated by makeup and lipstick. His thick, black, shoulder-length hair hung over and partly obscured his right eye.
Jackson, 45, is listed on the booking sheet as 5 feet 11 and 120 pounds.
A lawyer for the Jackson family has said the case stems from a 12-year-old boy's charges of molestation during visits to Jackson's 2,600-acre Neverland Ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley. The alleged victim has not been identified by authorities.
According to two sources, including a close friend of the boy's family, the boy alleges that Jackson served him wine and molested him several times last winter.
In addition to those sources, Los Angeles criminal defense attorney H. Russell Halpern said Thursday that he had had discussions with the boy's father, who lost custody after being accused of physically abusing two of his three children. The father pleaded no contest in 2002 to a single count of domestic violence.
Halpern said his client did not have any information about whether Jackson had committed the crimes that have been alleged. But he said the father had told him that Jackson had met the boy while the boy was being treated for cancer at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.
Jackson was visiting children and "became particularly interested in my client's son," the lawyer said. As time passed, Halpern said, Jackson, the boy and his parents became friends.
"My client thinks he's a good guy, and he was very proud of their friendship," Halpern said.
He said the father believes, however, that the boy's mother exercised poor judgment in allowing the child to stay overnight at Jackson's home.
The mother could not be reached for comment.
According to one person familiar with Jackson and the alleged victim's family, the boy's mother and other siblings were with him when he stayed at Neverland Ranch.
A documentary about Jackson that aired in the United States and Great Britain in February showed the singer holding hands with the boy as the child discussed his sleepovers at Jackson's ranch.
In the documentary, Jackson said the boy slept in his bed while he slept on the floor, but he also defended sharing a bed with children. "Why can't you share your bed? The most loving thing to do is to share your bed with someone," he said.
After the documentary aired, Jackson called it "terrible and unfair," and said the filmmaker had betrayed his trust.
"Everyone who knows me will know the truth, which is that my children come first in my life and that I would never harm any child," he said at the time.
When Santa Barbara authorities executed a search warrant Tuesday at Jackson's ranch, he was in Las Vegas, making a music video.
He returned voluntarily on Thursday, two days after an arrest warrant also was issued, arriving at Santa Barbara Airport in a Gulfstream jet that taxied to a hangar under intense media scrutiny. The jet pulled partially into the hangar, allowing Jackson to emerge and enter a car without being seen. He was then driven to the county jail.
In a brief announcement to a crowd of more than 100 reporters and photographers, Sheriff Jim Anderson announced that Jackson had been taken into custody at the airport at 12:05 p.m. The booking procedure lasted about 45 minutes.
After leaving the sheriff's office, Jackson flew back to Las Vegas, where clusters of curious pedestrians approached his black SUV as it paused in heavy traffic, touching the fingers that Jackson offered through a partially opened window.
Throughout the day, as Santa Barbara residents watched the unfolding saga on television, a few dozen local spectators "” mostly high school and college students "” joined the media crowd at the compound housing the sheriff's office and jail.
Two UC Santa Barbara students held a cardboard sign reading, "Moonwalk 2 Jail," a reference to Jackson's signature dance step.
"It's really the biggest news event of the year, other than the war," said Jared Lyons, 18, a student from nearby San Marcos High School, who had come with two friends after watching the media scrum on television.
A child star alongside his siblings in the Jackson 5, Michael Jackson soared into the pop world's stratosphere in the 1980s.
Although he released a new greatest hits package Wednesday, Jackson's career has been in decline for years, a victim of changing tastes and a series of lurid stories about his personal life. They included allegations in 1993 that he had molested a 13-year-old boy. Although no criminal charges were brought and Jackson insisted that he was innocent, he eventually settled a lawsuit brought by the alleged victim for a sum reported to be at least $15 million.
Among those jumping to Jackson's defense Thursday was his brother Jermaine, who heatedly charged in a brief interview with CNN, punctuated by an on-air obscenity, that the charges amount to "nothing but a modern-day lynching."
"The whole family supports Michael 100%, 1,000%," he said, adding, "Michael is in very strong spirits because he is innocent. My brother is not eccentric. We had an incredible, wonderful childhood."
Geragos, in a telephone interview, said Jackson was eager to face his accuser. An arraignment was scheduled for Jan. 9 in Santa Barbara County Superior Court.
"I spent quite a bit of time with him, and I can tell you he is strong and resolute and determined to fight what he considers to be absolutely scurrilous allegations," said the lawyer, who also represents Scott Peterson of Modesto, who is accused of killing his pregnant wife.
Geragos said Jackson had been outraged by the accusations.
"This is a gentleman who has spent the greater part of his life donating millions of dollars and devoting countless hours to benefiting children and those who are disadvantaged," he said. "That's the most hurtful thing of all of this. Michael Jackson doesn't have urges or desires to ever hurt or damage a child. He finds that utterly repulsive."
"Their success and station in life is what is important to all of us especially our children who need to see success in the black community so as to emulate it and make them aspire to success themselves. It does not help if all they see of successful blacks are pimps by and drug dealers." by Henry38
More Like, "It does not help if all they see of successful blacks are pimps, drug dealers, child molestors, other Black people blaming Caucasians for crimes when Black people are in fact the true perpetrators, other Black people who defend misfits in a Michael Jackson or otherwise, etc. Heck, Michael Jackson has used the "race card" to deceive the gullible of Black America, into believing that he is innocent, when the writing is all over the wall that Michael Jackson, is in fact a pedophile."
Why else would any forty five year old man want to share his bedroom with children? Why else would any adult lure children into his bedroom? Why else would any adult have additional secret bedrooms and/or alarms, to which the act of child molestation can occur, right under the nose of friends or family members who may be visiting the "Jackson" residence. Come on folks, this is not considered normal from any vantage point, no matter how you look at it!"**So in other words, you are taking speculation and turning it into facts to satisfy that self-hating mindset of yours? Is that the case Lofton.....any black is whatever you choose to label them as? I didn't ask you what the f-k adults from all walks of life know. I asked you what factual proof do you have that Michael is actually a child molester? can you answer THAT question please?" by Kevin41
A self hating individual:
A. is any individual who pays hundreds of thousands dollars to plastic surgeons to have his nose straightened, lips modified, skin deformed from being natural, etc.
B. is that Black man or woman who has his or her hair straightened so as to be more Caucasian like!
C. is that individual who allows medical doctors to inject silicone into their breasts or legs, for very short lived outward beauty, which is very harmful to the inner body.
D. is that very dark Black man or woman who dyes their hair blonde, or who chooses to wear blue contact lenses, so as to fool themselves into believing that they have Caucasian features.
E. as it relates to sexual perversion, self hatred, self destruction, being sleazy to their own people, bending over backwards to serve every other ethnic group but black people, the killing or maiming of Black people for recreation, etc.
F. are those who defend all of the above and more, who at the same time condemn other Black people truly worthy of praise.
I have done none of the above, and no amount of fame or wealth will cause me, to change what I came into the world as.
"yeah....i remember when James sung "say it loud, i'm black and i'm proud" that song did sooo much to help us transition from the mental shackles that whites tried to place on us when we were called negroes........" by Kevin41
Michael Jackson would be the very last to say, "say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud". Taking the reality of it beyond face value, Michael Jackson is a disgrace to himself and to Black people. It is very doubtful that James Brown, the "GodFather of Soul Music" would consider Michael Jackson as being a part of the essence of the meaning as applied to "The Blacker the Juice the Sweeter the Berry".
Afroman said it best, "I can't believe the metamorphosis he has made from childhood..check out the makeup, I really feel sorry for him..."
[This message was edited by Lofton on November 21, 2003 at 07:12 PM.]