Well, apparently I’ve set off a few firestorms this week with my comments about the death of Michael Jackson.  On Facebook and Twitter, I have appeared to  minimize his death, mainly in light of some other deaths that have occurred recently.

Michael Jackson was an incredible performer.  An artist in his particular field like no other.  I might even go so far as to say he surpassed Elvis in his overall impact of the music industry.  He was bleeding edge innovative with both his music, dancing and use of the latest technology.  Absolutely the top in his field during his peak years.  I feel sorry for his family, close and extended and the fans that truly loved his work.  Personally?  There were maybe a handful of songs that I even remotely liked.  Just not my style, but I do recognize he was an incredibly talented man.

His personal life left a lot to be desired.  While some may say I am convicting him of something the courts acquitted him of, he was a freak of nature when it came to his personal life.  Between his eccentric behavior with regards to his skin color and his criminal behavior with young boys, he was just weird.

While I am not minimizing his death and the impact it has on his closest family and friends, I think as a country, our priorities are screwed up.  (Oh, and this applies to Farah Fawcett and Ed McMahon as well).

Network television pre-empted regular programming on the day he died to run specials and video clips of Michael all evening long.  Newspapers had his face plastered all over the front pages of online and print versions.  And within 5 hours of the confirmation of his death, I was tired of seeing him rolled out of an ambulance, and reporters saying the same thing over and over and over again.

Here are some questions for you.  How many US Troops died this week while defending freedom?  Can you answer that?

How many innocent civilians died because they are Christians and the “Religion of Peace” decided they should die?

How many freedom loving people in Iran were killed, again by animals who proffer the “Religion of Peace”?  Do you know who Neda Soltan is without searching on Google?

Did the House of Representatives observe a moment of silence for Christopher Leggett?  An American killed by Al Qaida for being Christian?

I don’t minimize the impact of the death of Jackson, Fawcett or McMahon.  But I refuse to minimize the impact of the deaths of our troops or any other person killed because of someone elses beliefs.

So get Michael Jackson off my screens, and lets cover the Christopher Leggetts and Neda Soltans and American Troops that are gone.  They had family and friends too and were fighting for the good of many people they don’t even know.

Let’s pick our heroes carefully.