Here at trashwire.com, we rip on a lot of things, but I want to get serious for a moment, and talk about something that I personally feel very strongly about. That something is Michael Jackson.

I have been a huge fan of Michael Jackson since I was a baby. I think his music is truly amazing and he was, at one time, the biggest celebrity in the world. He is astonishingly talented musically, as well as the best dancer the world will ever see. He is the greatest artist of our time; the sales of Thriller will tell you that. Lately, however, there has been a swarm of bad press surrounding the superstar, which is scaring his image beyond repair.

First of all, theres the child molestation thing, which Im sure weve all heard about. I cant say as to weather it happened or not, but I have read several books on the subject, and it just doesnt seem possible to me. There are a lot of facts about the case that were never really brought to the public eye. For example, the idea that it was all an extortion attempt by the boys father. Lets face it, making allegations such as these about a guy like Michael Jackson, who is regarded as peculiar anyway, is not very hard to do. And after all, there is no proof that anything happened; hes no R Kelly for God sake! Regardless, the media blew this up like there was no tomorrow. Most people dont have the time or patience to listen to the whole story so they accept the headlines, and carry on with their lives. This is no ones fault, but making jokes about it is as lame as Jay Leno making fun of the OJ trial. Its too obvious, theres no thought or creativity involved.

The next huge issue was the charity thing that was ruined because of a gay porn producer. I heard that Jackson was trying to do a benefit concert and video for the victims of September 11^th, but the person hired to be in charge of it all happened to be a former gay porn producer. Isnt that some sad sh*t? Even when he tries to do something good, it gets messed up. People kept freaking out about this, but cmon, he was just trying to help people out. Its not his fault that there was external scandal.

Another big one is the dangling the baby from the balcony. I know it looks bad, but think about it for a minute, Im sure other, perfectly sane parents have done more dangerous things with their kids than this. Look at the classic "macho-dad baby-toss" for one. Thats not a very safe game, but we dont hear about that on the news.

Then theres the obvious things people rip on: the nose, the skin, the surgery, the grabbing the crotch. These are things Jackson had been doing since he first became famous. He had his first nose job when he was a teenager, and hes 44 now.

As far as the skin, he has a real skin condition. Im sure he wears makeup to even it all out, but it is true. Its called vitiligo, and its a disorder that destroys the cells that make pigment. It affects all races, but is more noticeable on darker skin tones. If you dont believe me, just ask a dermatologist, or plug it into a search engine. Ive personally seen several African-Americans who have it, and they look a lot like Jackson, only with more splotches of color.

Next, theres the nose. Theres no question that he has had work done to his face, especially his nose. You cant go from having a nose like Joseph Jackson (his father), to having a nose that looks like an anime cartoon. Im not one to say an unkind word about the King of Pop, but I do think he went a little off the deep end in that department. With all that aside, his plastic surgery is nothing new. Its no surprise. I dont see why the same tired old Michael Jacksons nose jokes are being repeated now. Again, I bring up the OJ thing. Making a joke about Michael Jacksons nose is as stupid, unoriginal, boring, and worn-out as making wise cracks about OJ Simpson or Monica Lewinski. I ask you, how is that funny?

So it all comes down to one question: why is this still newsworthy? Are we actually surprised that Michael Jackson does something odd? Michael Jackson doing something peculiar is about as astounding as President Bush mispronouncing a word. Why do we care? Maybe if we concerned ourselves with relevant things like AIDS or Bin Laden we would be able to have a grasp of whats really important in life. My point is, if youre going to make fun of Michael Jackson, which I know some people will regardless of what I say, at least make it original. Otherwise, its just as dumb as an OJ joke.