As millions of Michael Jackson's fans were mourning the singer's death, a U.S. congressman from New York ventured onto the Internet with a You Tube "rant" against the "King of Pop."
Congressman Peter King doesn't like the wall-to-wall positive coverage of the singer. "This guy was a pervert, a child molester, he was a pedophile, and to be giving this much coverage to him day in and day out, what's it say about our country?" King said.
The congressman was referring to controversies surrounding the entertainer's alleged behavior with children and several cases in which Jackson was accused of child molestation. In one case, a jury found the singer not guilty of charges brought concerning a 13-year-old boy. Jackson maintained his innocence throughout the trial and said his accusers were trying to extort money from him.
Michael Jackson's fans have long been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and ignore the accusations, choosing instead to focus on the entertainer's talent.
Throngs of fans turned out in Los Angeles on the day of his memorial service to bid farewell to their "idol".
But amid the many tributes to the singer, there was a growing chorus of dissent. On the day of Jackson's funeral Congressman King's You Tube video had been viewed almost 50,000 times.
King told a New York City television interviewer that even though Michael Jackson may have been a good singer, "there was nothing good about this guy." He told the New York Post that his remarks have "hit a nerve" but that he has received more positive reaction than negative.
Comments on You Tube about King's remarks were mostly positive, but not all of them. "The only fact is that is important," one respondent wrote, "is that he [Jackson] went to trial and was acquitted." Another summed up the feelings of many, telling King, "How dare you belittle the memory of a man who had such a great impact of the world."
