Tito, get me a tissue!

When Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009 it was such a heart wrenching time for America. The King of Pop was now dead and his music was left to live on in all of our hearts.

July 7th, 2009 was his memorial at the Staples Center in LA.

As all lives paused to honor his legacy, I felt irritated. I know this was a celebration of life and love but I found myself at work getting bombarded by tweets reiterating events of the service, and then E! was playing the memorial over and over (repeat 500x). Then VH1, then MTV, even the TV Guide channel.

The last time something got so much coverage was the September 11th attack in New York. Are you kidding me? I could hear myself saying in my head, "Jermaine, stop.. stop laughing!" I needed a break from the madness. OK, we get it. We get it again. We got it on June 25th.

I am not saying that this ceremony was not beautiful, and that it was not appropriate. But the coverage is saddening to me. Michael Jackson touched everyone's lives somehow, at some point. But move on. It's over with and done. Maybe this is what it took to help people move past it. I was over MJ when he wanted to become white and then wrote a song about how it doesn't matter if you're black or white. I was over MJ when he became a pedophile. (Thank God he didn't write a song about that!)

I think the most heartfelt moment of the whole event is when his daughter Mary Katherine Gallagher, I mean Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, spoke at the end of the service. Young words and honesty is what was needed during the ceremony. Not Brooke Shields attempt at comedy by talking about "What's up with the one glove?" Good one, Eyebrows.

I understand the sincerity of the moment, and the attachment that everyone had with this man. I understand that he wanted to be Peter Pan and lived in a fantasy world called Neverland. I understand that he had 3 kids to make him feel complete, and that he underwent plenty of plastic surgeries to become something of a skeleton....Awesome.

There is a lot more going on in the world than the death of Michael Jackson. How come Ed McMahon didn't get as much coverage, or Farrah Fawcett. Farrah Fawcett was subjected to American abuse by medical professionals publicly releasing her medical records stating she was diagnosed with Colon Cancer. Are you kidding me? Lets get some live coverage on the inconsiderate A-Hole of a doctor who let that one loose.

Gather at the Staples Center if you will, to help you cope with the fact that your dancing hero is now gone. But let us all remember the GOOD things that are happening in America, and the issues that we are SOLVING and OVERCOMING through these hard times.
Let a celebration of soldiers coming home be our forefront.

Tito, get me a pedestal!