Leftists Complain About Jackson Coverage, But See Smear Potential

FINAL EXPLOITATION

Lefties Angry, Opportunistic Over Michael Jackson's Death







It's not generally in dispute that Michael Jackson was exploited as a child for his immense talent. Later, it was Jackson himself who was accused of predatory behavior. Now, his death provides potential opportunities to score cheap political points through false associations and unfounded smears.

Over the past several hours, many have focused on how the world has changed since Jackson's career peak in 1983-1984. One key difference today is the way nearly every key news event, especially the celebrity obit, quickly becomes politicized.

The King Of Pop's unexpected passing is clearly no different: from Al Sharpton to TMZ to left wing smear sites, many are making irrelevant "connections" that elevate liberals and slander conservatives.

And within the next 24 hours, it is a certainty that conservative talk hosts and political figures will somehow fall prey to the "gotcha" game that now surrounds these news events. The only variable will be the nature of the faux "controversy" over their reaction.


Initially, comments left at several liberal blog sites expressed anger that Jackson's death would almost certainly bump the Sanford affair off of the front pages. Here's one from TVNewser:

pinkpinkbear - 10 minutes ago

Enough of Michael Jackson.

Let's see what Gov. Sanford is up to. Nothing like getting the news off himself.

Democratic Underground:

lame54 Donating Member (1000+ posts)

Thu Jun-25-09 07:12 PM

195. Great news for Mark Sanford

But as the evening went on, it became clear there were more appealing opportunities to both smear conservatives and use Jackson's death to reinforce the idea of Barack Obama as The Gloved One's rightful heir. As a result, Sanford was no longer the primary talking point.

Here, the Reverend Al Sharpton shamelessly uses the death to tout both Jackson's support for the Democratic Party and make the Obama connection (2:55):





Here, TMZ connects Internet outages related to Jackson's death with Obama's inauguration:

In the moments following Michael Jackson's death -- so many people rushed to the Internet, that it practically stopped the entire WWW in its tracks.

Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, AIM -- just a few of the scores of major web sites bombed by a tidal wave of traffic. Most of the sites still worked, but the epically high traffic numbers caused them all to move at a snail's pace.

The last time the 'net had this kind of traffic -- Obama's inauguration.

It's hard to believe there's any comparison, however: while slowdowns were generally not seen on that January day, many sites (including our own) have been inaccessible since the Jackson news first hit.

But the mission has been accomplished nonetheless: tying Michael's legacy to that of Obama.



And while some lefty sites have been carefully moderating comments that could lead to a potential backlash, others have been sloppy. Your Radio Equalizer found these smears at HuffPo, the Washington Post and the blog site of Alan Colmes:

(WaPo)

Oh please - far be it for me to speak ill of the dead, but he was only 'king of pop' because he insisted MTV call him so to get his videos. Anyone calling him a great dancer has never seen a good broadway musical. The 'moonwalk' is just basic pantomime walking that any high school drama student can do. There is nothing in his music that was as good as the Clash, Patty Smith, the B52s or many other groups in the late 70s and early 80s.

Like Rush Limbaugh, Jackson was the king of self promotion, and once he was wealthy we squandered his millions on plastic surgery and a little boy seduction park. Sadly he won't live long enough to redeem himself, but please, in the world of music jackson was a minor talent who's music will be long forgotten.

Posted by: marcedward1 | June 25, 2009 7:19 PM | Report abuse


(HuffPo)

slaxx

HOLY SH*T!! i was just thinking about how odd it would be if michael and farrah d.i.e.d on the same day.

lately, tmz has shown him going to an LA medical center frequently. congestive heart failure? bad diet?

RIP michael.


Posted 05:52 PM on 06/25/2009


MichaelMcKLA

Please start thinking such things about various wingnut media guys.


(Liberaland - Alan Colmes)


America has lost one of its finest molesters.

jake


Reply:


June 25th, 2009 at 6:28 pm

True – never liked the guy. I guess this leaves Rush Limbaugh as America’s highest profile child molester.

Posted by FISHLEGBOOTS

June 25th, 2009 at 6:26 pm

As the left was caught off-guard by Jackson's sudden death, this is only the beginning. Expect the smear machine to be operating at full capacity today and through the weekend.

In particular, watch for further attempts to use Michael's passing to smear conservative talk hosts, it's as certain as fireworks on the Fourth of July.



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