On Michael Jackson's death

I guess I'm even more out of the loop than I'd thought. The amount of coverage of Michael Jackson's death (e.g. on CNN and MSNBC) baffles me. It seems to have almost totally replaced reporting on the Iran crisis, the Baghdad bombings, the deaths in Afghanistan and Pakistan and just about everything else going on in the world.

I've never doubted that Michael Jackson had incredible talent, going all the way back to the Ed Sullivan days. And I know he's done a ton of good, such as with his Aid To Africa effort ("We Are The World.") But my strongest emotion over the years and since learning of his death has been one of feeling deeply sorry for him.

When I think about his life offstage, I mostly see grimness. A horribly abusive father who persecuted and beat him. Since age 26, at least 10 cosmetic surgeries on his nose, chin and eyes. (Reportedly his father used to call him "big nose.") Years of addiction to prescription medicines like morphine, OxyContin, Demerol and tranquilizers. (When Jackson asked his friend Dr. Deepak Chopra to write him an OxyContin prescription, he refused; Chopra calls the doctors who supply drugs to the stars "legalized pushers.") Years of very bizarre behavior, like masking his children, and the Berlin incident where he dangled his youngest over the edge of a hotel balcony. His marriages. Then there are the two child abuse mysteries. (Was Jackson a sex abuser or just a clueless middle-aged kid?) Endless grimness.

The immense reaction to Jackson's death--from Los Angeles to Mexico to Peru to London to Paris to India to Pakistan--has amazed me. I'm surely out of the global loop that apparently includes millions, maybe tens of millions. And at 71, I may be farther than ever from understanding my own human race.

Cool it, Senator McCain

A message for John McCain: Please just cool it, Senator.

As countless young Iranians have filled the streets of Tehran in the struggle for reform, McCain has called on President Obama to "speak out that this is a corrupt, fraud, sham of an election."

But Obama says he does not want to meddle. And good thing. Every Iranian knows about the history of US meddling in their country (to use a very mild term for what our country has done.) The last thing that the reformers need is to be seen as connected to the US.

* In 1954, the CIA (along with the Brits) funded and gave hands-on support to the coup that took out Mohammad Mosaddeq. Iran's democratically elected president. (Mosaddeq had committed the mortal sin of nationalizing the oil industry. Way before the Cheney neo-cons came into power, Cheney-types were already asking, "What are they trying to do with OUR oil.")

* The US then installed the Shah, and soon the CIA trained his secret police.

* After the Shah was overthrown, the US heartily supported Iraq's Saddam Hussein, who then attacked Iran, starting a horrendous war that lasted from 1980 till 1988 and destroyed half a million lives. US aid to Iraq included weapons, military intelligence, training, billions of dollars and even direct war involvement

Obama is right again.

Obama in Cairo

Barack Obama got a standing ovation in Cairo today. If I were there, I surely would have stood up with the Egyptians. From the BBC's summary this morning:

* "I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect."

* "Palestinians must abandon violence. Resistance through violence and killing is wrong." (But the) "situation for the Palestinian people is intolerable".

* "Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israel's right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestine's."

* There "can be no progress towards peace without a halt to such construction" (of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.)

* On the key issues of Iraq and Afghanistan, the president said the US sought no permanent bases in either country.

* On Iran: "No single nation should pick and choose which nations hold nuclear weapons" and he said Iran had the right to peaceful nuclear power.

* On democracy: "America does not presume to know what is best for everyone".

* "No system of government can or should be imposed upon one nation by any other."

* On women's rights: "Our daughters can contribute just as much to society as our sons."