Republican Congressman calls for end to Jackson mourning

Worried that coverage of Michael Jackson's death is "too politically correct", , Republican Congressman Peter King has decided it's time to redress the balance:

Rep. Peter King, a Long Island Republican, said in the video posted Sunday that society is glorifying a "low-life" while hardworking teachers, police officers, firefighters and veterans don't get the credit they deserve.

"This guy was a pervert," King said in the video, shot Sunday by a staff member outside an American Legion hall. "He was a child molester. He was a pedophile. And to be giving this much coverage to him, day in and day out, what does it say about us as a country?"
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But in a telephone interview Monday, King said that Jackson had "admitted to sleeping with young boys, traveling with young boys. ... That's the definition of pedophilia."

It's odd that King suddenly seems to have lost the courage of his convictions and has started to backtrack slightly from what he clearly meant, to what he can actually prove.

Still, it's amusing to think that somehow Al Sharpton can believe the media is being too harsh on Jackson, while King can equally stridently believe that it's giving him way too easy a ride.

King is considering seeking the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, which is up in 2010.

He said he has posted other Internet videos on issues such as cap-and-trade legislation to control pollution, but those videos did not receive as much attention as the Michael Jackson comments have.

Whoever would have thought?