The Jackson media circus

Pop singer Michael Jackson has been charged with several counts of sexual misconduct towards children, and recently he was arrested and allowed out on his own recognizance. This week he reported to court for arraignment. The result was the same as if they held a rock concert at the court. Huge throngs of people, many of them with placards that said that he was innocent of any charges, lined his pathway to the court building. When he left, the throngs had to be pushed out of the way by police to allow Michael Jackson through. This was a media circus, and it received far more press than would be warranted in this case.

On 2004 February 13, Michael Jackson will be coming up to court again. And probably the same media circus will be there. Will they be charging admission to this circus? Most circuses that I know of charge admission.

These circuses are ominiculous. They tell me that the Third Turning is still with us. The breakdown of societal norms is still going on. People are having a huge conniption about sexual "predators" (as though they were lions or something) preying on children, but when an actual apparent instance such as Michael Jackson appears, they cheer for him. First we go one way and then another. And much of it is media hype, which thrives on Third Turnings.

To me Planeattack on 2001 September 11 was a False Turning. It looked like a Fourth Turning, but it is clear that the Third Turning is still with us. The Fourth Turning will not be with us until a societal attack is made on media hype.

Me? An Actor?

Don't expect to see me in the next blockbuster. But I did get involved with a new play production group this weekend. It started with some play reciting in a club called the Beyond Toastmasters Club. There we recited a couple of humorous plays, one dealing with a man about to admit to his father that he is gay, and a young wanting to go to Harvard. The person with the idea for these plays, Gwynn Owens, held a preliminary meeting this past weekend, and the result is A Force of Nature Productions. I am hoping for a good participation in this production and that the productin is successful, for this is one play company that will be put on by people with enthusiasm but with only hidden potential for acting (and support activities). It is a People's Drama Company. If you are in the Richmond area, come see the plays, help produce them, support it. I probably will do support activities, but there is the off chance that I may be in one of the plays.

The Last Debate before Iowa

Here it is. The last debate before the Iowa caucuses. Maybe they should be called raucouses. Because that is how they were tonight. There were several donnybrooks. The main one was when Al Sharpton kept hammering at Howard Dean about how many black and Hispanic senior officials did he have in his Vermont government. Howard Dean did not have any at all. But does that mean anything? Not very many blacks or Hispanics live in Vermont. So to not find any in Dean's government would not be too surprising. A little later on, Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun criticized Sharpton for continuing a "racial fight".

At another time the moderator asked a candidate to ask another candidate about some specific issue. He asked Lieberman and Lieberman kept talking and talking and talking and talking despite efforts from the moderators to get him to stop and ask a short answer question of the other candidates. That lowers Lieberman in my estimation. I don't want blabbermouths and firehoses in the government of this country. I bet Lieberman got a lot of practice in the Senate with its filibusters.

By far the sharpest comment of the night was made by Rep. Kucinich of Ohio. He was asked if the US should pursue a space program; in particular to put people on the Moon and Mars. Kucinich said that Bush wanted to put our people in Iraq, and now he wants to put them on Mars and the Moon; he asked if Bush was still hunting down those weapons of mass destruction.

After all these debates, I feel that the best of the candidates is Dennis Kucinich. He has more positive and definite plans than the other candidates and further, his actions would improve our image abroad. To me Dean is losing his luster; he acted evasively at times tonight. Clark, who did not participate tonight, looks even better than ever, but he does not have much domestic experience; with a governor for his running mate, that should not affect him much. Here is my ranking of the candidates now:

1. Dennis Kucinich

2. Wesley Clark

3. Dick Gephardt

4. John Edwards

5. Howard Dean

6. Carol Moseley Brown

7. Al Sharpton

8. John Kerry

9. Joe Lieberman


However, any of these would be vastly preferable to Bush.