The national train wreck

What could I possibly add that hasn't been said about Michael Jackson's untimely death? Fifty years old...damn.

Let's be honest: did anybody really see Jackson living to a ripe old age? Multiple surgeries, a questionable mental state, a dysfunctional support system; it all came together to suck the life, heart, and soul from the man. If he had the strength and willpower, Jackson would have been better off to exile himself and cut the cord from the life that was programmed for him from an early age.

Go fishing. Read some Hemingway. Watch game shows. Make spaghetti. Drive an RV to the Grand Canyon. Get drunk at a NASCAR race.

Too late. Even so, he was planning a comeback tour and the life he's only known. A shame that.