There once was a talented performer named Michael Jackson. But that individual died long ago, and was replaced by a strange caricature of a human being whose sexual proclivities would have put a less famous person behind bars.

That new-and-not-improved Michael Jackson died yesterday at the age of 50.

Debbie Schlussel offers an observation that I join in.

. . . I miss the original Michael Jackson--the one with talent, a voice that could range several octaves, feet that made us all dancing "the moonwalk" in the '80s, composing music and writing and singing that had him melding rock guitar with pop in songs like "Beat It" in a way that even demanded the respect of the heavy metal world. He was an original, all right. And he was a phenom.

That he was, and his music will, undoubtedly, stand the test of time.

Unfortunately, there is unseemly celebration of this warped individual as some sort of icon -- which writer Jonah Goldberg notes is a perversion of the term given its roots in religion as an item that represents holiness and is intended to bring people into closer contact with God. I also share in his observation about the accusations made against Jackson regarding the sexual abuse of young boys.

I know that Michael Jackson wasn’t convicted of the despicable crimes he was accused of. And that’s why he never went to jail. Three cheers for the majesty of the American legal system. But in my own personal view he wasn’t exonerated either. Nor was he absolved of his crimes because he could sing, moonwalk or sell 10 million records. (Though many of us suspect the money and fame he made from those things is precisely what kept him out of jail).

And, while I merely think he was a pedophile, I know he was not someone responsible parents should applaud, healthy children emulate nor society celebrate.

And while we’re at it, his relatively early death wasn’t “tragic.” He was one of the richest people in the world. He spent his money on perpetual childhood and he was perpetually with children not his own.

Meanwhile, in the last ten days, we’ve seen or heard of remarkable people who’ve given their lives for freedom in Iran. We’ve heard of innocents killed because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. In the last decade, America has lost thousands of heroes in noble causes and thousands of innocent bystanders who were denied the simple joys of life through no fault of their own. Those deaths are tragic, and we're hard pressed to think of more than a handful of names to put with the long line of the dead.

If anything, Michael Jackson’s life, not his death, was tragic.

Personally, I'm rather disgusted at the adulation being poured out over Jackson, and the wall-to-wall news coverage his demise is generating. It obscures what is really important today -- not just the situation in Iran, but also great debates on health care, energy policy, and the political leadership. Whatever cultural importance Michael Jackson may or may not have, it does not merit this sort of hagiography.

That said, I do feel for his family members who mourn the loss of a loved one this day. But I cannot say that I feel any sense of loss that Micheal Jackson is no longer among the living -- and do believe that the children of the world are a little bit safer today for his no longer being in it.

UPDATE: May I note my disgust over the House of Representatives having a moment of silence to honor this man who paid $20 million to make accusations of child abuse go away?

I'm (D)isguste(D) by this farce -- an(D) can't help but note the party affiliation of all of the buffoons who gathere(D) to see the (D)ecease(D) pe(D)ophile honore(D).

I'm opening comments -- and reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments.