The king is dead, and I’m not too broken up about it.

If I spent hours mourning the loss of every drug-addicted alleged child molester, I wouldn’t have time to sleep at night, let alone write this column.

I realize that Michael Jackson was an entertainment genius. He brought us countless number one hits, the best selling album of all time and dances I could never even attempt.

As a black man in a predominantly white industry, he broke cultural barriers. For those reasons, I’ll admit that his death deserves some attention.

But hours of coverage of his memorial, watched by a billion people? Maybe not.

First of all, the man hasn’t done anything culturally significant in seven years, unless you count a star studded trial that came within a hair’s breadth of proving this smooth criminal molested children, which no one seems to want to talk about.

His doctors all seem to be running and hiding, lest their names get dragged through the mud for supplying him with the drugs that likely killed him.

Regardless of the illegal things he may or may not have done, several accounts of the man say he was a narcissistic jerk.

Workers at Neverland Ranch were instructed to never make eye contact with him. He named two of his children Prince Michael Jackson and Prince Michael Jackson II.

I’m sure he wanted to name his daughter Princess Michael Jackson, but was advised against it.

Even in death, the King of Pop has been selfish. California, one of the states hit hardest by the recession, has had to foot the bill for the extensive police force required to keep the peace as mourners throng the streets.

If a person like this who hadn’t been famous since the age of 5 died, I doubt anyone would show up to the funeral, let alone billions of people through the TV and Twitter.

I really believe that not just Americans, but humans as a species, have made far too much of his death. I’m tired of hearing Wolf Blitzer give us the latest update on who is going to execute the will. I don’t want to hear Bill O’Rilley tell me how important it is that his children are provided for. It distracts us from what we really need to talk about.

Can anyone tell me where the G-8 summit is happening? How about health care expansion? You can’t if you look on the front page of CNN.com.

Guess what is dominating that particular Web site at the time of this writing? “Jackson’s changed color baffled public,” “Michael’s daughter, ‘Daddy has been the best,’” and “Jackson a challenge for celebrity grave hunters.”

China has seen three days of intense ethnic violence leaving 156 people dead, but we’re not covering any of their funerals.

Most importantly, two soldiers and one marine, men who have probably never been addicted to pain killers or even suspected of molesting children, died on the Fourth of July. Why aren’t we in the streets mourning them?

- Carey O’Neil is the associate news editor of The Red & Black. His favorite Michael Jackson song is “Beat It”.