Reply #150: Oh, please. If anything, he's overprivileged due to his stardom [View All]

[Hekate]

He acts as if he has more money than God, he's a superstar of sorts, and has built an exceptionally reclusive life, in which he reveals only what he wants to and as much as he wants to at any given time.

His fan base is fanatical and will believe anything he wants them to believe. Just because the rest of us think he's creepy as all get-out doesn't make us racists.

Don't believe what you hear about Santa Barbara County on shows like CNN's Larry King, Paula Zahn, Extra, or Access, either. They and their guests sometimes talk as though they personally know we are a bunch of rednecked racists, which is crap. I live here in Goleta and I put in almost 12 years as a County Affirmative Action Commissioner, so I know that while we may have our problems we certainly have worked on them.

Michael Jackson's little kingdom is about 40 miles to the north of Goleta, and Santa Maria, where the trial will be, is 70 miles to the north of Goleta. (It's not a straight line, as the county is transected by mountains.) South County is traditionally more liberal and suburban, while North County is traditionally more conservative and rural, though Santa Maria is growing fast.

I don't remember any more why Santa Maria was chosen over Santa Barbara's court house, though it is possible our County was hoping to minimize the media circus if at all possible. It's also possible Jackson's attorneys asked for it. Whatever the reason, everything about this dog and pony show is costing us beaucoup bucks, and it's a royal pain. We are not Los Angeles: we don't have their money, resources, or infrastructure.

Both Tom Sneddon and the judge in the case have good reputations -- they are not, repeat not, racists in the way they administer justice. Just because a DA pursues a case against someone accused of a crime, it doesn't make him a racist. What would you have him do? Bow in awe before the mightiness of a powerful and wealthy man, or do everything in his power to prove or disprove the complaint of a child who said he was sexually molested?

Just because a judge is stern and strict in adherence to protocol in his courtroom, it doesn't make him a racist. What would you have him do? Ignore the disruptive antics of the defendant, including lateness, and allow dozens of camera-wielding reporters and film crews into the courtroom, thus losing control of the situation like Lance Ito?

Yes, it is costing the County of Santa Barbara a lot of money, but somehow I don't think that should be a consideration when it comes to prosecuting serious crimes such as pedophilia.

As to whether and what I believe about Jacko's guilt or innocence, it doesn't matter, since thankfully I am nowhere near the jury pool. I do think the man is sick, and he wears his sickness on his face like a mask. The amount of surgery he has undergone is pathological, yet he still is not satisfied and will undergo more if he can find a surgeon. On top of the surgically altered face he layers lots and lots of makeup, none of it especially flattering, but then the face itself looks scarcely human anymore.

Seriously creepy -- and that's leaving out his relationship with his own children...

Hekate