The jury has spoken - Michael Jackson is not guilty. Their verdict is a statement of fact, it is the closest thing we have, in the absence of a time machine and access to the Neverland Ranch, to the whole truth of this matter.
Yet, those who labeled Jackson guilty from day one will be ginning up outrage, just as they did in the aftermath of the O.J. trial.
As the media fumbles for explanations of the Jackson verdict, there is surely some value in recording all the quasi racist reactions targetted for a right wing audience, but just innocuous enough to pass muster with the population at large.
Exhibit A is the lead photo on Drudge:
Hmm, could be a shot of Jackson's feet. I was too young to remember most of the 80s, it could in fact be a snippet from a very famous photo. But the first thing that came to my mind was lynching.
On a white background it's impossible to tell if the subject of the photo is standing on his tiptoes, or hanging limply from a tree.
This plays into the narrative of a subversive, dangerously independent and ineffectual justice system, and the need for vigilantism to remedy its effects - both staples of the rhetoric of the right. (Orcinus is, as always, THE go-to blog for activities of those who take up the flag of vigilantism
Exhibit B, always reliable for crypto-racism, is the Intestimable Michelle Malkin, who declares under her "Michael Jackson Riot Watch" post that "Maybe L.A. won't burn today after all. But you never know with these people..."
Now, is Malkin referring to the aforementioned "freak show" of Jackson supporters at the courthouse? Does she really think this crew could make it into central L.A., let alone burn it?
If challenged that is her surest defense, but she more than implied that black residents of Los Angeles would be the ones doing the burning. The same prediction was made in anticipation of a guilty verdict for O.J.
Right wingers were shocked - SHOCKED - that blacks in Los Angeles would react violently to an acquittal of violent acts by police in Los Angeles against a black resident.
That is miles away from a similarly angry reaction to a guilty verdict against a black millionaire athlete or pop star, from Brentwood or Neverland and anyone not trying to instigate racial misperceptions and scapegoating would understand this after thinking about it for two seconds.
But instead, pea brains like Malkin concluded that blacks were prone to violence when verdicts were unfavorable and predict riot scenarios when any black celebrity is on trial.
That's just what I was able to round up in the last hour - What sorts of garbage can the rest of the Kos community round up? I'll post it as it comes.