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Beat it ... to death

Just when you thought it was safe to return to morning TV, the "Today Show" began airing shark attack stories again last week.

Now Michael Jackson has been acquitted in One of the Most Overcovered Trials of All Time.

I won't go near that remote tomorrow morning.

Posted by Allen Johnson on June 13, 2005 5:32 PM | Permalink

Comments (14)

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govtwriter said:

Teehee! Yeah, the MJ thing is about to be over, finally, thank goodness, now if we could stop with all the coverage of the runaway bride I might actually turn the telly back on!

Posted on June 13, 2005 6:24 PM

mrproduce said:

govwriter, do you really think the media is going to let go of the MJ fiasco so quickly. They gonna beat that drum for all it is worth. I daresay we will still be hearing about this for several weeks to come. I actually give it about 2 more weeks then it may die down to a trickle. The runaway bride story will go on and on and on until the trial, the media circus, and the crusifixtion is over. Of course we are going to get a replay of the OJ fisco also when comparing the MJ ,waste of taxpayer money, deal. So it aint over til its over. I have given up watching anything except HGTV and Discovery for the next two weeks with perhaps a little History Channel thrown in. I suppose Speed would offer some respite. Until then lets hope the media finally wears out the drum and let us have some rest.

Posted on June 13, 2005 6:53 PM

Lilly said:

He BEAT IT! Free like O.J., all day.
Only in Cali.

Posted on June 13, 2005 7:12 PM

Sue said:

Why not mention that this is a success for the jury system (one need not care about Michael Jackson's weirdness)? Reasonable doubt is just that; juries are not instructed to assume that where there's smoke there is fire; they are instructed to follow the law. In this case, there was no jury nullification (as in the OJ trial). This is a fine example of a jury following the law and coming up with a verdict that is legal and respectable.

No one (especially me) is saying that the jury found him innocent; rather, they found him "not guilty" according to the law.

In this day and age, that's astounding and I leave it to Faux News to come up with "they shouldn't have" when by all rights of the rules of evidence, they should have.

Posted on June 13, 2005 9:10 PM

Michael Christopher said:

Thank you for that, Sue.

Posted on June 13, 2005 9:32 PM

Eric said:

What upset my wife (the only one in the house that watches TV more than a half hour a day) was that several networks shut down their regular schedule to put on hastily-prepared specials on Jackson's verdict. They've long since beat this thing to death, all around the media. There was no need to rub our noses in this mountain of slime yet again.

We shut off the TV and played Scrabble. I bet a lot of other folks did much the same.

Posted on June 14, 2005 4:53 AM

govtwriter said:

As a news gatekeeper myself, I have to say that he is a world renown celebrity and this was a nasty crime to be accused of, particularly since he spent so much time in past years with so many children and has three minor children in his care. So, I think it was newsworthy. I didn't, however, folo the trial gavel to gavel (did anyone?) and don't think it should have had the intense over the top coverage it received. But as a woman who spent much of her teen years "in love" with MJ and who remember him before he became "eccentric," I did stop what I was doing yesterday to hear the verdict.

Posted on June 14, 2005 11:39 AM

mrproduce said:

Well, fortunately for MJ,he had lots of money, he was a celebrity, and the world was watching. Had he been convicted, the world would have called it a travesty, some would have called it racist, others would have blamed it on the President and Fox News.
Had he been poor or perhaps only middle class, worked for a living and only a few people in a couple of counties been watching he would have gotten 10-25 yrs minimum. Why would I say such? Because that is exactly what happened in WNC,in the small town of Hendersonville. A man, age 35 or so, owner of a small business, single, a former reserve sheriff's deputy was convicted on less evidence than was presented in the MJ case. His accusers were two teens, ages 15 & 17, both had priors of drug possession convictions. They did a plea, since both had been arrested and were awaiting trial on possession with intent to sell, they testified, the DA got a conviction. Not one other shred of evidence was presented except the flawed testimony of these two accusers. Each day in the paper instead of the accolades we read of MJ, the following was printed at the end of each segment concerning the trial; "He is 35 yrs old, owner of (xyz)shop, a former reserve deputy, and is single."
Now tell me that the jury in either case really did their job.
Someone posted previously that the jury disliked the Mom so the decision was made on this basis. I can see that happening since the case in Hendersonville was decided by the daily sentence in the newspaper.

Posted on June 14, 2005 3:06 PM

Fred Gregory said:

I saw juror #1 being interviewed tonite. He said MJ was a pedophile but couldn't convict on these particular charges. I think that is the convential wisdom but the verdict is in and he is a free mxaxn er, 47 yoa child.

Lily speaking of California. Perhaps the lawyer for the Dutch kid down in Aruba should ask for a change of venue to the Acquittal State.

Posted on June 15, 2005 1:05 AM

cicely said:

My comment is that I feel the same way that Sue feels, the jury is not saying that MJ is not guilty. They are just simpply saying that the law states that if there is any (ANY) reasonable doubt that they must let him go. So they did just that and let him be free.But instead of people looking at it like he got away with something they should just let it go because I'm sure we will be back here again. One if you believe he did it he will do it once again and two if you believe it was about money for the people it will happen again because he will let his self be open for these type things again in another two years. BUT THE WARNING SHOULD BE FOR EVERYONE IF YOU BELIEVE HIM OR NOT! IF YOU HAVE CHILDREN, AND WHETHER THE PERSON IS FAMOUS, TEACHER, BIG BROTHER/SISTER, PRIEST/PREACHER DO NOT LET YOUR CHILD BE WITH THESE PEOPLE BY THEMSELF OVERNIGHT OR FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME! BECAUSE THEY SEEM TO BE OK BY LOOKING DOES NOT MEAN THEY ARE NOT PREDATORS!!!!! AND OF COUSRE I KNOW WE CAN'T ALWAYS BE THERE BUT WE AS PARENTS NEED TO STOP BE SO TRUSTING OF INDIVIDUALS!!!

Posted on June 15, 2005 7:34 PM

bbn said:

Posted on August 2, 2006 8:42 AM

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dfc said:

Posted on December 6, 2006 11:14 AM

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Beat it ... to death

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