A couple of points -

1. There's many other
reliable sources that document Michael as being a kind, affectionate,
thoughtful parent, aside from the Bashir documentary. In the absence of a mother and if he was ever incapacitated on anesthetics,
he had a devoted nanny whom he was very close to, as were the children,
she basically being a member of the family.

2.
painting him as a megalomaniac is dead wrong. people often forget he was thrust into stardom by his family, it wasn't something he chose. He never made sense of his life, and often said the only time he ever felt comfortable was on stage. He was very confident of his performing abilities, as he should be, but it surely was not an arrogance that extended to his off-stage life, which was plagued by constant self doubt and anguish.

Listen
to accounts of people who actually knew him: given his unprecedented
global fame, he still remained a kind, altruistic person. Just one
example, the amount of money he gave to charity is staggering, much of
it not publicized until revealed by the intrepid journalist or
biographer.

This was a decent, moral, extremely talented though
troubled man...who was more unfairly vilified and misrepresented than
any celebrity I can think of.

erm, i guess the formatting in that is a bit off, not sure why, probably pillow's fault

Probably

Thanks. I'm receiving a small stipend from a PR firm to act as a Michael Jackson apologist on the webbernet.

The sad thing is that Jackson has not been properly mourned- it seems. Is that purely because of the kiddy-tampering issues? $13 (?) million is a lot of money to pay off to the parents of a kid that you denied touching up. If you were MJ how much would you pay to call off the hounds, if you were innocent? $13m sounds like guilty pay-off dough, in anyone's backyard.

Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty. How can we conjecture about something we know nothing about. I tend to think he was innocent of that deranged accusation. I think he genuinely likes children and some twisted minds tried to take advantage of him. Poor guy.

It's August. Michael deserves more, yet he's pretty much forgotten. I genuinely can't work this one out. The saddest thing is that his death registered just above that of Jade Goody's, in UK column inches.

Jade Goody speaks from beyond the grave in today's tabloid headlines through a psychic medium. This story will never die.

How much longer before Michael Jackson does just the same?

The glossy/ red top UK press is more interested in Jordan/Katie and Peter than Jacko. What does that tell us? Not that they would have reported Lennon's murder for 2 months, of course. But Jacko, trash mag icon that he was, is actually slipping behind Miss Tits & Miss Andre, in recent and unresolved death.