Press Talk: Praise Jackson for work, but

Lou Brancaccio

'Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;

I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.

The evil that men do lives after them;

The good is oft interred with their bones;

So let it be with Caesar."

Certainly, I didn't expect the Mark Antony speech that William Shakespeare famously wrote, but it did cross my mind as the extravagant memorial played out for Michael Jackson.

His family and friends and fans came to bury him and to praise him. This often is what happens at memorials. We tend to downplay the warts and blemishes. We push forward the accomplishments.

For the most part the media — especially TV — played along. And my sense is, it's the proper course of action. After all, timing is everything, and when one is putting someone in the ground that is not the time to beat him. Still, some perspective is warranted.

Remember when former President Nixon died? It was a bit of an issue for the media. Here's the guy best known for Watergate and impeachment, and his resignation from the world's most high-profile office yet — still — he had been our president, and he was dead.

Many cried, "Have some respect!" Others countered, "Let's never forget!"

So now we have the King of Pop and — no question — he was a huge force in the music industry. He also did many, many gracious, wonderful things … for the world! And for that he should be praised.

But this guy had some issues. The least of which was his ever-whitening skin and his shrinking nose. Really, who cares? It's his skin and his nose, and let him be, for goodness' sake.

But the inappropriate kid stuff was another issue all together. Who cares? We all should care.

Still, I can see at the time of his memorial to not rehash this ugly piece of his past. Then, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee showed up. Lee — in my view — should have simply praised Jackson like all the others. But then she opted to give us all a constitutional law lesson.

"We understand the Constitution. We understand laws, and we know people are innocent until proven otherwise. That is what the Constitution stands for," she said.

She was speaking about Jackson's high-profile criminal case, in which he was eventually found not guilty of doing inappropriate things to a child. And it was this not-guilty decision that she used as "proof" the pop star was a good guy. And since he was such a good guy, well let's have Congress pass a resolution honoring him.

Huh?

Look, if Lee has the chutzpah to push forward a congressional resolution praising Jackson, then she better be prepared for some chutzpah in return.

And if Lee is looking for a law lesson, here's one I think she missed: A not-guilty finding does not mean one is innocent. Our country is set up to err on the side of letting the guilty go free rather than letting the innocent be put in jail. Any judge or attorney would tell you this.

As it should be.

Sure, the system makes mistakes and sure, innocent people are jailed. But these rarities do not diminish the idea that there are far more guilty people who are free than innocent people in jail. That's why court findings say "not guilty." They do not say "innocent."

So when Jackson settles out of court by paying millions of dollars to a child in a settlement, that says something.

So the media should be cautious about unconditional praise. So should Congress. And it's a little unbecoming for Lee to hold up one's not-guilty finding as proof of innocence.

Just ask O.J.

Lou Brancaccio is The Columbian's editor. Reach him at 360-735-4505 or lou.brancaccio@columbian.com.