On July 5th, soon after Michael Jackson passed away, Congressman Pete King, a republican from NY's 3rd congressional district, spoke out against the intense media coverage in the aftermath of Michael's passing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-gH2gAXjAw
Congressman King spoke about who we should be honoring and calling our heros: men and women in the armed services, police, firefighters, nurses to name a few. Of course he is 100% correct, there is no disputing this fact. As a congressman from Long Island, a district so hard hit by the terrorist attack on September 11th 2001, he, no doubt is speaking out on behalf of his constituents (and having grown up in his district, I could not agree more).
What I, and the undersigned, take issue with is the way in which Congressman Pete King used a tribute to our everyday heros to defame and slander Michael Jackson. One can certainly argue that media coverage surrounding Michael's death has been nothing short of a circus but lashing out at Michael Jackson (and in this case his 3 minor children) is 1) inappropriate because it is cruel, 2) inaccurate because he did not seek the truth and 3) ignorant because he, who speaks out against the media, has bought into, hook, line and sinker, tabloid journalism and biased mainstream media. By calling Michael Jackson a "low-life", "child-molester", "pervert" and "pedofile", he has wronged an innocent person.
There is no need to detail Michael Jackson's humanitarian efforts they are well documented. Many millions of people the world over know this. I urge Pete King to learn about this as well.
It is our wish that Pete King recognize the ignorance in his actions and publicly apologize to Michael Jackson's children as well as admit that his statements were not based on fact.
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Articles
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/06/michael-jackson-fans-rais_n_226532.html
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/ny_rep_peter_king_blasts_micha.html