If O.J. Simpson died tomorrow ...

I think the music means something more to people. I don't think people are ignoring the weird/sick side of MJ over the last part of his life as much as they are celebrating the music. It was amazing music that, perhaps, was lost amid the tabloid craziness. I'm not defending MJ the person but his death caused people to turn on the music again. While driving around on a family vacation over the weekend, the radio stations were playing MJ's music almost nonstop. My 8-year-old was hearing it for the first time and was loving it.

As for OJ, one big difference is that OJ was involved in the trial of the century, with people tuned in and watching every move for more than a year. The case and the result had wide cultural/racial implications. Comparing the two is apples and oranges.

 

I don't. In just about every other circumstance, I am fairly sympathetic to the mentally ill. I have a close friend who battles clinical depression and another one who is a therapist, so I have learned a bit about it.

But if you can't stop yourself from harming children you need to make sure you are put somewhere that you can't do it any more. If that means having yourself committed, so be it. If that means eating a guy, so be it. Maybe that is just the overprotective parent in my speaking, but there is just no excusing that type of behavior. None.

 

I can get on board with being angry at someone for not seeking help rather than being angry at them for being mentally ill.

I know some might think we're splitting hairs, but I think it's a really important distinction.

 

Waylon, there was a time I probably would have agreed with you about pedophilia and mental illness. No more.

Right now, I am covering two pedophile cases, both involving highly-trained and educated men in positions of power.

After reading the criminal complaints, I call bullshit.

It's evil. Stomach-turning (yes, I threw up after reading the complaints) evil.

If they can't control their compulsion to rape children, then they need to commit themselves to never again see the light of day.

There is NO SYMPATHY WHATSOEVER on this one.

 

There's a line between having a mental illness and being a criminal. Pedophilia skirts that line.

If you know you have a problem of any kind, seek help. If you know you have a compulsion toward children, don't put yourself in a position where you will act on it. If you're anorexic or bulimic, make sure you get help so that you can 1) improve your self-image of your own body and 2) make sure you get the nutrition your body needs. If you're clinically depressed, make sure you find a way to treat that.

If you have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADD, getting help for that can make the difference between drifting through life and living a productive one.

If you act on your compulsions with pedophilia after recognizing that you have a problem and failing to seek help for it, you get no sympathy from me. None.

 

I'm no MJ apologist. He was an absolute weirdo in the truest sense of the word. But the children who accused him of molestation had serious family character questions. There was a lot more reasonoble doubt with MJ then OJ.

 

More importantly, if the help isn't enough, you have to be willing to put yourself away. If you are taking the steps to lure children in, as Jackson supposedly did, you deserve no sympathy. If you are paying people off rather than face up to your actions, you deserve no sympathy.

 

....it would be 15 years and 3 weeks too late.

 

I can't believe there is any sympathy towards a pedophile, none.

Scum of the earth, and if anybody has sympathy for a pedophile it makes me question what kind of person they are.

 

But I'll tell you, not one cop on this force will rest until the scum that did this is behind bars.

Now let's get a bite to eat.

 

I don't know anything about this, but my wife informed me that since MJ died, the one boy (I think the one with cancer) who accused MJ of molesting him admitted he lied.

 

totally agree.

By arguing it's a "sickness", you're more or less excusing the behavior. People can't avoid getting sick....so it's never anyone's fault.

Some people are just evil.