MJ and Rush

It is not terribly surprising that Rush is left clueless about MJ.
Other than Rush’s addiction to Oxycontin he shares little with the ex king of pop.

Measured against MJ, talent for talent, Rush is a flea standing next to a blue whale. For most of Rush’s life he was a failure, he was man who finally found a shtick and a niche in talk radio.

If Rush is tiny compared to MJ his imitators are even smaller. If Rush’s so called talent is barely visible theirs can only be seen by an electron microscope. Most of this outcry from the conservative chattering class is pure envy.

This is not to say that other, darker feelings don’t lie beneath the surface. The ugly reality of race baiting, racial politics and pure vicious racism are always part and parcel of any conservative pundits stock and trade.

Pop music and pop culture are shot through with the rhythms, emotions, movements, hopes, fears, dreams, songs, loves, passions, losses, hurts and triumphs of people of color. No wonder Rush does not get it. No wonder he tries to squeeze MJ’s story in to his warped vision of reality. Thus MJ becomes a part of the success of Ronald Regan, Rush’s cultural / political hero. MJ becomes an adjunct to the deification of Don Reynaldo, MJ becomes part of the Ayn Rand Positivist myth.

That is the only place MJ fits in the world view of the right wing. He can only be useful as proof of the glories of unfettered capitalism. Otherwise he is one more example of how “liberals” in “Hollywood” are undermining the moral fiber of the USA. This is were the accusations of child molestation fit in for Conservatives. It is a gold mine for them. It is proof that performers in general and A-A performers specifically are degenerate sex fiends. It is “proof” that pop culture is nothing more than a plot to destroy our moral fiber.

The corporate media chimes in because scandal sells, sex sells and sex scandal sells the most. Keep those eyeballs glued so the network can sell those ads. It is all about the money Lebowski.