The fawning over Michael Jackson has now surpassed surreal and entered some sort of weird alternate reality.  Believe it or not, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas (I’m sorry to say) has written a congressional resolution honoring Michael Jackson – a CONGRESSIONAL RESOLUTION!

Don’t get me wrong, I liked a lot of Michael Jackson’s music and there’s no denying the impact he’s had on the music world in general.  But has everyone completely forgotten that a couple of weeks ago he was widely believed to be a child molester?  Now I’m not saying that he was a child molester…just that most people believed him to be.  I mean, the guy couldn’t catch a break anywhere in America.  He had to go to Europe in order to make his comeback.

It defies logic that we should now honor Michael Jackson like he was some sort of statesman or saint.  At best he was a strange, confused, drug addicted, former pop star.  At worst he’s a strange, confused, drug addicted, former pop star who molested/molests children in the circus like atmosphere of a place he called “Neverland.”  While one of those scenarios might have won him legions of fans, it hardly qualifies him to be honored by our Congress or our nation.

Still, it’s good to know that our “representatives” are working on such important endeavors.  I mean, it’s not like our nation is in need of anything at the moment…

Below are a few snippets from the resolution.  You can read the whole resolution here if you can stomach it.

Whereas Michael Jackson was labeled `The King of Pop’, Jackson’s music is internationally recognized and critically acclaimed;

Whereas Michael Jackson was one of the few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice;

Whereas in the early 1980s, Michael Jackson became a dominant figure in popular music and the first African-American entertainer to amass a strong crossover following on MTV. The popularity of his music videos airing on MTV, such as `Beat It’, `Billie Jean’ and `Thriller’–widely credited with transforming the music video from a promotional tool into an art form–helped bring the relatively new channel to fame;

Whereas, on January 10, 1984, Michael Jackson visited the unit for burn victims at Brotman-Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles, and demonstrated his concern with people suffering from grievous injuries;

Whereas, on April 9, 1984, David Smithee, a 14-year-old boy suffering from cystic fibroses was invited to Michael’s home, in response to a dying request to meet Michael. David passed away 7 weeks later;

Whereas, on April 14, 1984, Michael Jackson was single handedly responsible for equipping a 19-bed-unit at Mount Sinai New York Medical Center. This center is now a critical part of the T.J. Martell Foundation for leukemia and cancer research;

Whereas, on July 5, 1984, during the Jackson’s press conference at Tavern On The Green, Michael announced that his portion of the earnings from the Victory Tour would be donated to three charitable organizations: The United Negro College Fund, Camp Good Times, and the T.J. Martell Foundation;

Whereas, on July 14, 1984, after the first concert of the Victory Tour, Michael met 8 terminally ill children backstage;

Whereas, on December 13, 1984, Michael visited the Brotman Memorial Hospital, where he had been treated when he was burned during the producing of a Pepsi commercial. He subsequently donated all the money he received from Pepsi, $1.5 million, to the Michael Jackson Burn Center for Children;