Good-bye, Michael, We Loved You Even if We Couldn't Help You

Dr. Murray is guilty. The Michael Jackson trial, and probably a big part of the media frenzy over what killed him and why, is over.

During the course of the trial, we had confirmed in spades that Michael was addicted to at least some drugs, if not the ones we usually associate with drug addiction. We learned that he had paid staff to protect him 24-24, and that he was willing to pay a doctor $150,000 per month to watch over his medical needs, including those related to his addiction to dangerous sleeping drugs.

But, we also learned a lot more, if we were paying attention.

We learned that Michael Jackson would not have died, at least not at the hands of Dr. Murray, if anyone had cared enough about him to intervene.

Where was his family, who would have had to be unconscious not to have known about his addictive tendencies? They were making money off his genius, as were the professionals who only wanted to get him on a stage one more time to rake in the dollars. He had paid security all day and night and they didn’t warn anyone. He had doctors - not just Murray - but a whole pocketful of doctors who did the minimum to try to stop him from killing himself with dangerous drugs.

Perhaps Michael Jackson had no friends, at least not after Lisa-Marie Presley and Brooke Shields quit the camp, possibly in the effort to avoid seeing at first hand what they knew was coming.

That leaves only his fans. They stuck by him. They idolized him. They grieved with him when he made mistakes and they celebrated with him when he succeeded. They wore copies of his clothes and learned how to do pretty good imitations of his moonwalk. But, we all know that fans are not friends. They are too far away to be real friends to a star.

Is that why he spent almost all his time with his children? They, at least, did not want money or reflected glory. They only wanted love, almost as much as he did.

It is an American tragedy, if ever there was one. And, deep down in our hearts, we all must feel a little guilty that we could not help the genius who brought us so much joy and love and human kindness and music and divine dance.

We are our brothers’ keepers, to be sure, but sometimes it is not an easy task.