Chamone! Jackson Beat It!

Michael Jackson has been found not guilty of all 10 charges of child abuse and child molestation levelled at him by Gavin Arvizo and family, thereby escaping a possible 20 year jail term.

Quelle surprise!

The Antagonist finds it very hard to believe that Jackson wouldn't have been nailed (no pun intended) for child abuse a very long time ago, if indeed there were any truth in any of the allegations.

Jackson, labelled the Peter Pan of Pop, was cleared of all four counts of child molestation, one count of attempted molestation, all four charges of giving alcohol to a minor and one charge of conspiracy to commit child abduction, false imprisonment and extortion.

Apart from the rather bizarrely ironic childrens BBC web site dedicated to coverage of the trial, media reports are citing the jury's lack of faith in the testimony (read: 'the lies') of the accusers as the prime reasons for allowing Michael Jackson to walk free from a trial that should never have happened in the first place.

Now we can put Michael Jackson child abuse scandals to bed, once more, and go about our daily lives knowing that the plastic-prince of pop didn't really do all those nasty things that everyone's been talking about and that have now filled the consciousness of media consumers everywhere.

Still, the whole affair has provided a very nice distraction from Iraq, Afghanistan, ID cards, European constitutions, CCTV, automated number plate recognition systems, satellite tracking of cars, and anything else of any real relevance that relates to us all, and that appears to happen around us, ever further from our direct control.

And the media circus rolls on.