"Michael is dead, and I don't feel so good myself." *

The local news went to Katie Couric last evening, and for 15 minutes there she was live in L.A. covering the funeral plans today. Nevermind the Afghanistan offensive, the fate of our soldiers there, or the fact that Michael has been dead 11 days now...

There was no "news" in L.A., just CBS serving up what they think people want. Like TIME magazine years ago, when they began to feature Joel Stein covering the news, I shake my head in amazement. (It would be interesting to run a poll of extreme Michael "grievers", I think, to see how many believe O.J. Simpson was innocent of murder. Large overlap, I'd guess.)

11 days, and only now the body is being put to rest... poor thing. In death, as in life, people circle, consuming the poor man and pricing him up. Shame.

You begin to understand too just how the child molestation in the Catholic Church was covered up for so long: untouchable, and unending forgiveness for those we (wrongly) worship. Not our guy. Not this one. Nevermind the bad and dangerous warning signs: what parent would neglect their child and put him in such a position? Exaggerated; gentle loving not rape; never happened...

Surely I'm not the only one who has wondered too, what if Michael had been born just a bit later? If he'd been able to be sexual, normally, as a gay celebrity in 1988 or 1998, instead of what he faced in 1978 in the days of shame and hiding?

Of course, maybe he'd be dead of AIDS by now, as celebrity erases some of the economic and societal pressures to conform to a more traditional normality and as we see in death as in life, the consuming vultures would never risk disfavor or shutting off the spigots that might consequentially result from enforcing limits, saying "no".

Since it will be nearly impossible to avoid today's spectacle, I imagine I'll be looking at those "grieving" faces who won "the lottery" to get in to the memorial service, and wondering, "Why is it so hard to accept that Michael -- your magician on the dancefloor -- was a gay man?"

Black acceptance of that simple fact might go further in advancing Michael's true legacy, than all the for-profit projects to come after his financially lucrative early death. Little boy from Gary got his own -- God bless ya kiddo; they killed you long ago.








Billie Holiday / Arthur Herzog jr.

Them that's got shall get
Them that's not shall lose
So the Bible said and it still is news
Mama may have, papa may have
But God bless the child that's got his own
That's got his own.

Yes, the strong gets more
While the weak ones fade
Empty pockets don't ever make the grade
Mama may have, papa may have
But God bless the child thats got his own
That's got his own.

Money, you've got lots of friends
Crowding round the door
When you're gone, spending ends
They don't come no more
Rich relations give
Crust of bread and such
You can help yourself
But don't take too much
Mama may have, papa may have
But God bless the child that's got his own
That's got his own

Mama may have, papa may have
But God bless the child that's got his own
That's got his own
He just worry bout nothin'
Cause he's got his own.

---------------------------
* Apologies to the late Lewis Grizzard.

We need rain here, but otherwise, it's been a swell summer, sunny and dry. Namekagon and Apple Rivers, Silver and Shell Lakes -- the best thing about northern Wisconsin waters are they're north of any industry, and the intimate size allows shading on the banks. Works for me.