There's a link on CNN.com this afternoon that reads, "iReport.com: How are you honoring MJ today?" This caught my eye, of course, and so I thought, "Well, same as always: Roll a fattie and burn it during the news." But no, it was yet another reference to Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, who is still dead after a week or so of intensive coverage. Clearly, MJ has busted a major move here. I wonder how long he can keep it up...

Because this has been his finest hour, career-wise, better than crotch-grabbing or moon-walking or any of his various other signature moves or twitches that are so beloved by so many people. Michael Jackson The Tragical Dead Guy plays ever so much better than Michael Jackson The Musician (hate to be the one to tell you, but), Michael Jackson the Child Molester, or even Michael Jackson the 50-Year-Old Child Star.

Look at it this way: The bills are going to be paid, and his name won't be taken in vain in the press for a while, apart from the occasional crackpot blogger — talk is treason? — and he doesn't have to sit through the next election cycle. There's a lot to admire here, perhaps even envy.

You don't think so? Listen, you can just bet your ass that there's a small army of spent celebrities out there, worried about paying for that next round of plastic surgery and not enjoying the prospect of smaller turnouts and fewer casting calls, mentally or perhaps physically sifting through their medicine chests, looking for something that will buy them that really big headline, once and for all...

But not right now. Timing is everything in this business, and anyone who dies amidst suspicious circumstances over the next few weeks will be tagged "unoriginal," and viewed with contempt in the media. There will be no Death Bounce for your career, sweetie. Might as well jet off to the third world, find a skinny kid to adopt, officially change your sexual preference, flash the paparazzis, whatever. Because the Death Card has been played, sugar booger. Too bad. And you weren't there to goose the zeitgeist. 

So: Let us mourn the loss of A Great Man, A Seer, A Genius In His Own Time. And we will mourn him for some time to come — can't wait for those New Year's media wrap-ups — because that's what we do in this culture. Every dead crank is a Late Genius in someone's book, and Michael Jackson was a crank for the ages.

So, yeah. Another great man done gone, alas & goddamn.

Next.