Michael Jackson

I’m not a huge fan of Michael Jackson these days but yesterday I found myself counting down the minutes until the verdict was announced. I found myself hoping that he wouldn’t be found guilty and I found myself excited when he was in fact found not guilty of all counts.
For whatever reason I’ve somehow recalled much of the respect and admiration that I once had for Michael Jackson. I was, as most people were, a big fan of his throughout the eighties and early nineties. I would watch the making of Thriller video, which we had on tape, usually several times a week and even then I had a sense that he was very talented and larger than life. I realized yesterday how sad it is that this same man is now the "freak" that you hear almost nothing good about anymore. He should be highly respected for what he offered to the music industry, but instead he is looked upon like a dirty old man completely void of any accomplishment.
I’m tired of hearing people say that he "should have been found guilty on at least SOME of the charges". This makes absolutely no sense. Some of the charges were that he had molested a young boy, and the others were that he had gotten them drunk to do so. How can he be found guilty of getting the boys drunk so he could take advantage of them if he wasn’t found guilty of taking advantage of the boys? It doesn’t make sense.
The fact of the matter is that he has been found not-guilty and therefore should be treated as such. People need to leave him alone and allow him to go on with his life, whatever that means for him professionally and personally. Myself, I enjoyed his last album Invincible and hope that he releases at least one more studio album. However, since the sales of Invincible were so low I’m guessing that he’ll start a farewell tour singing the songs that made him famous to packed houses across the world. He deserves a grand departure.