- The circus outside the courtroom did not match the circus within - even unto a Jackson camp follower hiring his own spokesman.
- Jackson may not have been at once done in and saved by his celebrity - as, among others of the rich and famous in California criminal courts, were Robert Blake and the great OJ.
The Jackson acquittals confirm that California is, in fact, a case unto itself.
Still, this is not merely a state but an entire nation consumed by celebrity, even unto its juries - celebrity against which the credibility of practically any accuser shatters. So lofty entertainers (Jacko, Bill Clinton) can do just about whatever they choose, and explaining it rationally to our children becomes an impossible task - as impossible as explaining (or comprehending) priestly predation. Whether a Jackson moonwalk or a presidential look-you-in-the-eye lie, the result is acquittal - and the spin is, well, the system really does work.
But in cases of celebrity, does the system work anymore?
At this freaky moment perhaps we are arrived in a fantasy realm wherein survival requires a suspension of too much belief. And that in turn may lead to this final question deriving from the cases of wacko Jacko and others: Regarding celebrity, at least, do we need to revise the maxim that "no one is above the law"?