Michael Jackson was a talented entertainer, but he was not, by any stretch of the imagination, a global humanitarian. A Zogby poll shows that 80 percent of Americans are opposed to a congressional resolution honoring Jackson sponsored by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas).
Jackson Lee introduced Resolution HR600 "Honoring an American legend and musical icon" on June 26, when it was referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. What does Michael Jackson have to do with U.S. foreign policy? Nothing.
The resolution is in the Foreign Affairs Committee because Jackson Lee is on the committee, which gives her a venue for this absurd legislation, and because the resolution recognizes "Michael Jackson as a global humanitarian and a noted leader in the fight against worldwide hunger and medical crises."
As I wrote the day after Jackson died, when the Democrats had a moment of silence on the floor of the U.S. Congress: SERIOUSLY? Jackson Lee wants the U.S. House of Representatives to officially deem Michael Jackson a "global humanitarian"?
The Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela are global humanitarians. Michael Jackson sang "Thriller," carried a monkey, defended sharing his bed with young boys and dangled his baby out of a window.
Although House Speaker Nancy Pelosi allowed those fools to have the floor tribute, to her credit she drew the line at a congressional resolution. The speaker controls what legislation gets to the floor for a vote, so when she said, "I don't think it's necessary for us to have a resolution," it should have put the kibosh on it.
But never underestimate the self-promotion of Sheila Jackson Lee, who has defied her own speaker by insisting to Congressional Quarterly that she would push for the Michael Jackson resolution: "We will move it at a pace that may take months. It may take this session, it may take another session."
Jackson Lee has shamelessly tried to profit politically from the Michael Jackson media frenzy. She was the only elected official to speak at his L.A. memorial service, where she held up a framed copy of her congressional resolution honoring Jackson. (She reportedly instructs her staff to cull obits and then asks families to speak at the funerals.) But this poll shows that she is also completely out of touch with Americans values' and protecting children.
Jackson Lee's extremely long list of reasons ("whereas" in Washington speak) for honoring MJ includes these:
Next time they are both on the House floor, maybe Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) will repeat his opinion to Jackson Lee: "It's all we hear about is Michael Jackson. Let's knock out the psychobabble. This guy was a pervert. He was a child molester. He was a pedophile. And to be giving this much coverage to him, day in and day out, what does that say about us as a country?"
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