I’ve heard the comparison today a few times, and as far as mass funeral media spectacles it appears appropriate–to a point.

But  I’d say Michael is getting short-shrifted  in the comparison.

Diana was born into her fame and dazzled the world with her beauty and humanity.

Michael was born with such immense musical  gifts that simply  had to be shared with the world. For once, here was a man whose overwhelming talent warranted extreme celebrity.  It was the music that fueled  his ginormous fame and touched all our hearts.  When the music  stopped, the notoriety and scandals took over. But all that noise is temporal, merely yesterday’s tabloids.

It’s the music that  will live forever, to be discovered by future generations. You can’t  stop the music.

That’s the tragedy with a life cut short.

Mere celebrity warrants 15- minutes of fame. No more.

But there was never a 15-minute clock on Michael Jackson.

With his infinite talent, celebrity truly was royalty.

Proud to be an American of Asian descent? Or just proud to be here in the U.S. of A., free, but maybe not debt-free?

California’s giving out IOU’s, what can we give our creditors?

Before you blow off your safe and sane fireworks (from China)  this week,  or watch a replication of war played out in the night sky, just remember what a great thing revolutions are.

Where would we be without them?

Doing things the old way?

For some that could be a good thing, if you’re on the oppressor side of the equation,  you’re likely wringing your hands in exile somewhere, dreaming of counter-revolution.

For the rest of us though, July 4th commemorates all the good revolution has brought.

Celebrate it vigorously! Go AMOK!

Sarah Palin to step down citing a desire to affect change outside of government, reports the NY Times.

What does that mean? She’s going to be some kind of renegade activist type with some non-profit. (I assure you, it’s not PETA).

Or maybe she just felt tired of being the butt of comedians’ jokes the last year.

It was clear from last year’s campaign that Palin was both too unpolished for the GOP, but also too real.  She chafed under the limitations of handlers, talking points, and all the protocol. But who needs a loose cannon as your standard bearer? Palin isn’t the GOP’s answer. Unless she were  to enroll in the “Dick Cheney Charm School for Politicians,”  I doubt she would be viable for any higher office  in the Lower 48 anytime in the future.

Politics did,however, give her celebrity, so she’s perfectly positioned not for the White House, but for some kind of reality TV or a talk show.

What does Rachel Ray have over Sarah Palin?  Or “The View” girls?

Jay Leno called politics showbusiness for ugly people. Palin might have been too cute for the room. Ah, but showbiz. More fun. More money. Less explaining.

Power? Do you think Palin misses her chance to sit through sessions of Congress? Not unless she were able to shoot off a few shotgun rounds to wake up all the CSPAN viewers.

On the other hand, showbiz gives SP all the fame she wants , without any of the headache.

For sure, she won’t have to know how to say “Ahmadinejad” anymore.

And now she can market her  Tina Fey impersonation.

UPDATE: July 4

As Alaskans celebrate their independence from Sarah Palin, the rest of us in the lower 48 are wondering what that spectacle was called a “Palin News Conference.” Was that her audition for some cable show?

Wow. If she wasn’t a “political leader” it would be OK. I’d love to see her a hearbeat away from Kelly Ripa’s seat next to Regis.

But what has she done by quitting? I think she’s said goodbye to serious politics … for now. The people who were stupid enough to put her up for VP may be stupid enough to put her in play again.  But the country’s politcos  would have to sink to new low to do that.

What’s tragic is hearing SP’s tortured logic in thinking  she is doing some good for Alaska by quitting as a leader before her term is up. Now that takes some ballsy spin.

Either she’s running from something about to hit her hard. Or she’s running to something that is so lucrative and apolitical.

One thing, when the curtain rises on the next act, we will probably be watching.

The gray edifice that is San Francisco’s City Hall cast a large shadow on a small gathering of protestors on Tuesday afternoon.

It wasn’t exactly People Power. It was “little people power.”

On the frontlines were mostly kids who benefit from the West Bay Multi-Service Center’s after-school activities. The group, anchored in the city’s South of Market, the hub and magnet of the city’s immigrant Filipino community, wanted to know why their programs were being threatened. The city’s disbursement of some $9 million in funds for disadvantaged families included ZERO non-profits dedicated to the American Filipino community.

The children stood in the shadows of City Hall.

No one inside with any power came out to speak to them.

The children are innocents in this political folly. So we shall protect them.

It was for their sake that the adults like West Bay’s Rudy Asercion were there to demonstrate publicly the dismay over the lack of funding to his long-standing non-profit of 40 years.

Asercion took over for West Bay in 2006 after the group was implicated in a scandal that involved everything from motorized scooters for seniors to allegations of Medicare fraud at the Wilson Fung Clinic. West Bay’s involvement was relatively minor, but it wrecked its credibility and made it a target for opportunists who want to control the Filipino community politically.

The opportunists did what opportunists do. They exploited the situation and used it to purge what had been for the most part, a viable non-profit network in the South of Market.

At the center of the upheaval is South of Market Supervisor Chris Daly, who plays a major role in the “back story.”

CHRIS DALY’S LETHAL BLOW

On Sep. 29, 2005, West Bay went before San Francisco’s Budget and Finance Committee to seek release of some $351,000 in city funds it was due for its work providing services to S.F. residents. The funds were frozen when Daly questioned West Bay’s alleged involvement in the scandals.

Never mind that an audit by the city’s Office of the Controller, found no evidence that connected West Bay to the Wilson Fung Medical Clinic’s alleged fraud. West Bay merely had sublet space to the clinic, and was the landlord of the clinic.

The findings pretty much put West Bay in the clear. West Bay was even told by the controller’s office that all the city departments that work with West Bay had been consulted and wanted to continue their relationship.

All West Bay had to do is get on the Budget and Finance Committee agenda.

And that’s where Daly and his cohort Tom Ammiano, now a state legislator, did their political magic trick and prevented West Bay from getting the money it needed.

The two never allowed WestBay on the agenda. They had their foot in West Bay’s throat. And they never let up.

Four years later, mostly through Asercion’s fundraising efforts to corporations and individuals, West Bay has managed to stay alive. It’s nowhere near what it was. But it still serves the community well—to the dismay of Daly and his Filipino cronies who run competing non-profits in the South of Market.

THE NEW BATTLE FOR FUNDS, CLOUT

This year’s battle of funds is different. Money is tighter than ever. And new alliances are being drawn. The new budget committee chair John Avalos is a Daly crony.

But the new President of the Board of Supervisors is David Chiu, an independent who has reached out to WestBay and has led an effort to make sure it the community gets its fair share.

Behind the scenes, Asercion and key members of the Filipino community are meeting with the supervisors and Mayor Gavin Newsom to make sure the community isn’t shut out.

The politics behind it all dismaying.

Filipino Daly cronies are already starting an anti-West Bay campaign based in part on the “scandal” that is no longer relevant. They’re also saying West Bay doesn’t represent all Filipinos. True, it doesn’t. But the budget recommendations don’t give a dime to any Filipino non-profit directly. There may be other non-profits out there, but the ones dedicated to the community shouldn’t be subject to the political vindictiveness of an ambitious politician and those in his pocket.

To understand who the “good guys” are in this whole thing, you had to be at the rally Tuesday.

It was all about the kids. They held signs wondering why West Bay was getting nothing. As they marched a cry came from a bullhorn: “What do we want?”

“Funding” said the kids.

Bullhorn: “When do we want it?”

“Now,” said the kids.

The seriousness of the matter was often undercut by the kids’ awareness of what they were involved in: Democracy.

“Give me liberty or give me death,” said one, an homage to Patrick Henry.

When you celebrate your Fourth of July this weekend, think of the West Bay kids. They aren’t giving up. They’ve taken a stand.

It wasn’t “People Power,” it was “Little People Power.”

Now where is the community in solidarity behind them?