Don’t Buy Shmuley Book On Michael Jackson Tapes

My Response to article by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach article on Huffington Post promoting his new book about Michael Jackson “The Michael Jackson Tapes”. I tried to post this three times on Huffington Post but it has yet to appear, I guess I am being censored. I have posted here what I tried to post on the Huffington Post plus additional comments exclusive to my blog.

I have written in response to the Rabbi before and here I am again. The Rabbi speaks out both sides of his mouth. What is the most appalling thing the Rabbi is saying is that Michael confessed to sharing a bed with his 2003 accuser on national television. NO HE DID NOT SHMULEY, you need to go back and check the records.

Michael said he slept on the floor and gave the boy the bed, check the record. I just finished watching the Larry King interview and listen to the Rabbi say that sharing a bed with a child is an immoral thing. It seems that for all the taping the Rabbi never paid attention to Michaels words.

Michael admitted to sleeping with his own children and that he allowed his children to sleep at Barry Gibbs house. Michael was ok with his children sleeping with Barry Gibbs because he knew Barry wasn’t going to moleste his children. The Rabbi claimed that Michael did a very immoral thing. By holding up this false confession the Rabbi gives credence to the acussation made against Michael. The Rabbi is no friend to Michael.

(this is what I didnt post)

Like the media the Rabbi is twisting his words. But the fans know what Michael said so you cannot fool us Mr. Shmuley. I did not know there was a controversy about whether Michael liked Hitler but according to the Rabbis own words Michael loathed Hitler and I wondered why that section of the tape was not played.

My immediate reaction was here is another person exploiting Michaels death for money. I admit that I considered buying the book for a minute but the Rabbis Larry King interview made me think twice, I am glad I came here and read the reviews and commentary first. I don’t think the Rabbi knows any more about Michael than his average fan right now.

I too was suspicious of the Rabbis claim that these tapes intended to be a book. Did Michael reference this “book” anywhere on any of these tapes, if so the Rabbi should play it so that we can hear it from Michaels own mouth. Maybe Michael thought these tapes were confidential, and if they were intended for a book why did the Rabbi wait until Michaels death to write this book.

The Rabbi claims to have written this book because he wants the world to hear Michaels own words and to judge him more charitably. He needs to understand that it is people like himself that needs to judge Michael more charitably and stop insinuating that Michael may have molested children. In one breath he is saying that he did not believe the allegations and in the next breath he is calling Michaels actions with children immoral.

It is people like him, people in the media who have distorted the character of Michael Jackson, it is people like him who need to report the facts. In the first case the family took money proving they were only extorting Michael for money. If their case had merrit why didn’t the prosecutor bring charges. There were no charges brought against Michael because there was no evidence that anything the child accused Michael of ever took place, the photograph taken of Michael did not match the description given by the boy. The second case was tried and Michael was aquited on all charges.

The Rabbi stated Michael did not need to have all these tributes and be revered as a “king” because he was just a man and an american icon. Why shouldn’t michael get praise and tribute, he was a man yes, but he was a great man. He touched many hearts and impacted many lives. Those of us who appreciated him while he was alive deserve the right to speak of him in loving terms because that is how we remember him it is how we can change minds. His fans knew of his pain it was not something that Michael tried to hide from us.

For many years Michael warned his fans about the media and the parasites that tended to attach themselves to him. We saw this with the Bashir interview, another person who gained Michaels confidence only to betray him. Michael had a distrust for the media because of their lust for sensationalism and the time they spent intruding on and distorting the lives of celebrities. Michael warned us that the driving force behind all of this was consumption. He told us not to become “tabloid junkies”.

We need to heed his words and not buy this book. Shmuley should not get rich from exploiting Michaels Michaels death and contributing to the defamation of Michaels character.

read article on Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-shmuley-boteach/michael-jackson-despised_b_300158.html#postComment

watch Michael Jackson interviews:

http://thepollitikat.com/2009/07/05/michael-jackson-is-not-dead/