The Journal Times Online - Racine, Wisconsin

Michael Jackson’s death was just what cable TV needed. Ed McMahon’s death, sure it was sad, but he was old, his financial woes were only minor and he wasn’t eccentric.  

Farrah Fawcett, well, her sad tale had already saturated the airwaves with specials about her struggle with cancer, plus, she was a ghost of the feathered visage that graced the walls of many a teenage boy in the 70s and 80s. But like many sex symbols, the shine had worn off her star. 

Jackson, well he was a bona fide sensation, a shooting star in the pop constellation, one that most people thought would never fade. So we’ll watch for the next few days, maybe weeks, as everyone shares in the collective grief that always comes when idols die. So, what or who killed this pop star? 

Incredible superstardom usually comes at a high cost. We demand a lot from our pop stars. That demand to be entertained comes with certain expectations. People crack under the weight of all the pressure.  

They start buying exotic animals. They develop weird predilections. Their lives dissolve into bizarre caricature. Then they die in the bathroom or somewhere else on their unusually large estates. 

Sure Jackson was a mega star, but he didn’t get that way without a little push from us. To take this as a denial of his talent would be foolish. There’s no need to argue about the fact that this incredibly gifted man’s unusual success was warranted. 

Plenty of successful people don’t turn out like Jackson. But they don’t carry the burden that he did — the burden of his family’s success and his own and the tragic consequences that often come with it. 

When all is said and done, Jackson was just a kid from Gary, Ind., who made it out by his talent and hard work. Sure his life unraveled. But that’s all part of the deal, isn’t it? 

So we’ll watch the tributes that will no doubt border on hagiography. Then there comes a point in the onslaught of media coverage where you can’t handle any more. So you step away from the TV, look in the mirror and ask who’s to blame. In a small way, we all are, aren’t we?