Wasn't a big fan, but...

[badrose]

...I was hoping this wasn't true:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/michael-jackson-paid-23million-buying-2011662

[CitizenBBN]

A very long way from surprised. Few pedophiles (if any) engage in such behavior just once.

Two thoughts:

1) What kind of sick bastard do you have to be to agree to be paid to cover up such a thing? From the Holier than thou people at PSU to those paid by Jackson, they are all just accessories to these horrid crimes. Who takes money to cover up such things?

2) If the FBI really had these files, knew he was a serial pedophile and had proof of it or at least the names of victims and where to start a major investigation, why was it buried? Another fine example of our transparent government that has convinced me it is completely out of all bounds of control. If the FBI knew of such a crime it is their moral and legal obligation to prosecute it. They weren't withholding it to investigate a broader crime ring like protecting the assassin to get the mob boss. Jackson would have been the main target of any such effort, there is no excuse for allowing him to continue to abuse children or be living outside a deep dark hole in prison.

Those responsible in the FBI and those who privately knew of such a thing should probably all be prosecuted if they are within the statute of limitations, probably under RICO. Their actions allowed an ongoing criminal conspiracy to operate and continue, some paid to allow and further the enterprise, exactly the reason RICO was enacted.

[Darrell KSR]

Would have been surprised otherwise.

[badrose]

At one time I strongly suspected he was but after the trial, which threw me off, I just kind of wrote it off as him having some kind of Peter Pan complex. The truth makes a lot more sense.

[badrose]

Well,...I looked to see if Drudge had anything on this and...nothing. Did a google search and found this:

http://www.showbiz411.com/2013/06/30/michael-jackson-slimed-by-british-press-heres-the-real-story-from-2005

[CitizenBBN]

The problem I have with the British story is the FBI part. You'd think if they had evidence of a crime they'd do something with it, but you just never know b/c it's impossible to have much faith in even the FBI these days. The problem with this response story is that it doesn't really refute some of what is in the British article, and doesn't address a couple of their claimed sources.

Nonetheless, I have no doubt Jackson was a very messed up individual, that like far too many mega stars their families and friends and business partners have their share of the blame in it, and that letting a child near him was a really bad idea. You don't even have to get to the pedophile question to come to that conclusion.

I'd like to conclude you couldn't pay off so many families, so many people to keep such a horrid secret, but PSU changed my mind on that part. Apparently people are willing to do an awful lot, willing to tolerate great wrongs, in the service of the group mentality. The Milgram Experiment was no fluke, we've seen it play out in real life all too often. You really can get people to violate their deepest moral beliefs by overriding their morality with their desire to follow authority. His methodology was limited and science has forbade use of similar techniques to study it further, but we've seen at PSU the lengths to which otherwise good people will go in service of the authority or group.

So it's not hard for me to believe in far more massive crimes like this one of which Jackson is accused, b/c people seem able to shut up just to keep their jobs, much less for their jobs plus a retirement pension.

[UKHistory]

Reading about J. Edgar's tenure, I am not sure everyday Americans should have ever had faith in the FBI.