Congress to Michael Jackson: No ‘King of Pop’ honors

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Congress manages to waste more time arguing about ridiculously featherweight issues than any other deliberative body known to man. So it’s somehow reassuring that the House of Representatives, which normally prefers speechifying over legislative action, especially when it comes to important matters like climate change or healthcare, has pulled the plug on a misbegotten resolution that would have honored Michael Jackson as an American legend and world-class humanitarian.

As the Associated Press reports, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) quashed an effort by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) to honor Jackson with a House resolution. At a news conference today, Pelosi said that ‘a resolution, I think, would open up to contrary views to--that are not necessary at this time to be expressed in association with a resolution whose purpose is quite different.’ By the way, if you read, well try to read that sentence again, with its exquisite mangling of the English language, you would have to wonder whether Pelosi and Sarah Palin were schooled by the same public speaking instructor--or just taught how to speak English by Yogi Berra.

At any rate, Lee’s resolution now looks like the longest of long shots to ever come up to a vote, especially with the House being full of Jackson critics like Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), who has pledged to block any vote, having blasted Jackson as a ‘pervert and a pedophile.’