Just this

I can understand that Michael Jackson was an icon. I can understand people's attachment to him and his music, especially if they were children when he hit it big. I can appreciate his contribution to pop music and culture. I get all that. Fine.

What I don't understand is the "shock" a lot of people are expressing over his death. I would say, outside of Keith Richards or Patrick Swayze, this is one of the least shocking deaths I can imagine. Michael Jackson was a sick mess of a man -- physically, mentally, emotionally. Did people really expect him to live to a hundred?

Princess Diana's death was shocking. JFK Jr. (and Sr.) Hell, John Ritter. Michael Jackson? Not really.