A bunch of readers have been quizzing me about two points I made at the end of today’s syndicated column . The relevant section is here:

The Michael Jackson story is an extremely exaggerated microcosm of Hollywood’s moral climate. Hollywood is ruled by a class of people who believe that money solves problems and that the worst sin in the world is to judge another person’s behavior. “Comedian” Bill Maher, for example, recently explained that he thought the charges were no big deal, even if true. After all, Jackson didn’t rape anyone, he’s merely accused of “servicing” young boys — and that’s not nearly as bad as getting beaten up by schoolyard bullies. Wrong. In normal America, if kids beat up your kid, you demand a reckoning. If a middle-aged freak “services” your kid, you call a hearse.
Obviously, there are lots of people in the entertainment industry who are horrified by the allegations and behavior of Michael Jackson. But only in Hollywood could such a thing happen in the first place.

Before I explain myself, I’d like to note that this is actually a column from last week. I wrote it en route to the Atlanta fest and between the travel delays and the rush to get there, I want to shamelessly blame any inadvertant lack of clarity on the deadline pressures involved. That said, I stand by what I wrote.

The first question is, basically, What do you mean about the hearse line? Several readers asked if I support capital punishment for child molesters. While I am certainly open to the idea in some cases, that’s not what I meant.

What I meant — and still believe — is that, as a parent, if some kids beat up my kid I’ll be very, very angry. But to a certain extent — particularly for boys — getting into scraps is part of growing up. Things would have to get really out of hand for me to call the cops. However, if some adult, particularly an authority figure, repeatedly molested my kid the cops would be necessary to keep me from killing that person.

Bill Maher doesn’t think child molestation is that big a deal in the scheme of things — or at least certain kinds of child molestation. And neither do the parents who sent their kids to Jackson’s house. Certainly the parents who kept sending their kids to Jackson after the allegations were made are, simply, horrible parents. I don’t care if they believed the allegations were true (i.e. they convinced themselves they weren’t true). It doesn’t matter. No decent parent takes those kinds of risks. Period. And in my mind, it’s inexusable to let your child to sleep alone in any non-relative adult’s bed the way these kids did with Jackson. Even if Jackson weren’t a self-evident freak and even if no one ever raised these charges, I don’t think a good parent would have allowed this to happen the moment he or she became aware of it. If that makes me judgmental, so be it.

Which gets me to the second question from readers. They disagree with my assertion that such a thing could only happen in Hollywood. They make the entirely fair point that child molestation happens all over the place. Moreover, the Catholic Church covered up such cases in an institutional scandal of huge proportions. All fair points, and I guess I would clarify a bit if I had the column to do over.

But I think my point is still right. For the most part, parents didn’t send their kids to Priests once they were aware of such allegatons. And if they did, they did so out of a denial that didn’t involve getting piles of cash from the likes of Jackson. Also, while the Catholic Church covered up for some Priests, this was as much an attempt to protect the Church as an institution. This was a misguided “for the greater good” motive. The slime — woops, there I go being judgmental again — who created the vast enabling system for Jackson had no such motives. They did it because they were paid to. They’re doing it now becaus they’re paid to. I don’t think the CEO of a major corporation anywhere else in America could count on everyone from the janitors to the legal department covering up for him in that way. In other words, Only in Hollywood.