Michael Jackson Update

Michael Jackson's latest CD release has tanked.

Michael Jackson's latest greatest hits album has sold just 8,000 copies in the US in its first week of release, reaching number 128 in the chart.

The Essential Michael Jackson is the star's first release since he was cleared of child abuse a month ago.

Jackson's two-disc set went straight to number two in the UK - but he failed to match that success in his home country.

The number one US album, multi-artist compilation CD Now 19, sold 436,000 copies in its first week.

Jackson faces a struggle to repair his image and repay debts that prosecutors in his trial claimed amounted to $300m (£170m).

British public relations supremo Max Clifford has revealed he turned down a request to represent the singer after his trial.

"He came to me a month ago and I turned him down," Mr Clifford said.

"It would be the hardest job in PR after Saddam Hussein and I would be astounded if he could turn things around.

"People were extremely offended by even some of the things he admitted in court.

Okay, let's review a few things.

Michael Jackson's last CD featuring new material tanked, apparently because it wasn't very good to begin with. Jackson and his entourage tried to accuse Tommy Mottola of sabotaging the project and being a racist, et cetera.

Michael Jackson has released several greatest hits compilations, so there's really no reason for anyone to buy another one if they already bought one previously. I looked at the track listings, and it's just the same thirty year old Jackson 5 songs, and the stuff that he did in the '80's and '90's that all of his fans have already.

Michael Jackson is almost certainly a child molester. The acquittal had less to do with whether or not he did it, and more to do with the legal wrangling from his high-priced attorneys and a burden of proof that the jurors didn't feel was met by several questionable witnesses.

Whether he was guilty or not, the trial has forced the world to see Michael Jackson even more clearly for what he is: a twisted freak with no connection to reality who they wouldn't let their children look at, let alone spend time with or listen to the music of.

Bottom line? Michael Jackson's the new O.J. Simpson. He's essentially free not because he's innocent, but because he victimized people who weren't credible to begin with so that if things ever went to trial their story wouldn't meet the burden of proof. People don't like him, people don't trust him, and the people who can't see right through him already have the music that his agents have tried to repackage and resell. It's not going to fly.