Wannisky on Jacko and the Muslims

[arisbe]

So what is this business with Michael Jackson all about? After a scan of the internet, it does look like the Santa Barbara District Attorney has the keenest interest in having Jackson go before a jury that is pre-disposed to think ill of him. I immediately think if how the U.S. Attorney in New York, Rudy Giuliani, more than a decade ago made a name for himself by putting billionaire Michael Milken in the slammer, with the help of Wall Street Journal editors and reporters. Guiliani fed hearsay accusations about Milken to the WSJ that were fed to him by a real crook, Ivan Boesky. Once he was thoroughly demonized in the "trial by press," he didn't stand a chance. The Santa Barbara DA is likely to remain a small-town lawyer for life but for this opportunity to put away another high-profile rich guy, a world-renowned entertainer, by any means possible.

Comments

[yechezkiel.livejournal.com]

A) I think Jackson's conversion to the NoI is so he can 1) play the race card, and 2) take advantage of their long-honed tradition of thug tactics and legal maneuvering.

B) Yup, the SBDA is looking for a ready-made conviction. Which is no different than what's done across the US and it's sick. The real meat of a trial is in the jury selection, after that is details. 'Trial by your peers?' Forget it. Makes me sick.

[nandan.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't know the deal with this lawsuit, but the secret bedroom downstairs from his own bedroom seemed a bit Jon Bennet-ish.

[arisbe.livejournal.com]

Is the evidence so weak that the DA wants to convict him in the press before going to trial?

[nandan.livejournal.com]

And your problem is that the DA released the information that Jackson is working with Nation of Islam? or that he's sharing other evidence with the media?

What is it specifically that he's doing that enrages you?

[supergee.livejournal.com]

Perhaps. The Times certainly seems willing to do their part, just as they did with Wen Ho Lee. They did a repulsive editorial when the indictment came down, with the usual pious denial of prejudgment followed by a statement to the effect that he was so immature and creepy that you could expect him to fool around with 12-year-olds.

[forioscribe.livejournal.com]

MJ doesn't help his cause any by telling Ed Bradley in that 60 Minutes interview that he was roughed up at the police station, and shows a bruise on his upper arm that he claims was from too-tight handcuffs on his wrists. He says his shoulder was dislocated and is in constant pain, but then minutes after leaving the station he waves to the crowd with both arms above his head. If he had indeed been roughed up, then his not-camera-shy lawyer, Marc Garagos, would have been screaming bloody murder. The whole thing stinks, and I mean on both sides.