You know what’s great about when Congress gets involved with anything?  NOTHING.

WASHINGTON — Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee may have trouble keeping the promise she made at Michael Jackson’s public memorial for a House resolution that “forever” honors the late pop star.

Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat, took the stage Tuesday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and hoisted a framed copy of the resolution, embossed with a gold seal. The measure will be debated on the House floor, she said.

For that framed, embossed resolution to be completely legit, it must first get past some opposition.

Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican who called Jackson a “pervert, child molester, pedophile” in a video he posted on YouTube this week, vowed Tuesday to do “whatever I have to do” to oppose honoring Jackson.

Without mentioning King by name, Jackson Lee noted at the memorial that Michael Jackson was acquitted of child molestation charges. She blasted critics who “don’t understand the hearts of entertainers” and “don’t know how they heal the world on behalf of America.”

“We understand the Constitution. We understand laws and we know people are innocent until proven otherwise. That is what the Constitution stands for,” Jackson Lee said, clutching the framed resolution in front of her shiny white suit.

Her legislation, House Resolution 600, lists several charitable acts by Michael Jackson over his long career and proclaims him as an American legend, musical icon and world humanitarian. He is, Jackson Lee said, “someone who will be honored forever and forever and forever and forever and forever.”

In the House, non-controversial resolutions honoring a person who has died or carried out a noteworthy accomplishment normally move quickly from committee to the House floor and then pass on a voice vote. The Michael Jackson resolution, introduced June 26, is awaiting action in the House Foreign Affairs Committee, of which Jackson Lee is a member and King is not.

An opponent could ask for a recorded vote, which then requires a two-thirds majority for passage. So far, Jackson Lee’s resolution has just one co-sponsor, Rep. Diane Watson, D-Calif.

Jackson Lee hosted a 2004 meeting in her Capitol Hill office that brought Michael Jackson together with ambassadors to the U.S. from African countries. At the time, Jackson was considering a tour to raise money to fight AIDS. However, he was also facing child molestation charges and was unable to leave the country without court permission.

Even so, Jackson was greeted by screams, applause and flashing cameras.

Here’s the thing.  There’s nothing about this debate that most of us aren’t dealing with right now.

Michael Jackson was talented, and flawed.  Michael Jackson did things that you and I wouldn’t be allowed to do without scrutiny, comment, or scorn.  Money bought him the ability to step over lines of logic.

It’s frustrating, really.  Because he meant a lot to a lot of people.

But that meaning is varied.

I loved some of his music.  As a comedian, I slammed some of his actions.  It’s a lot harder to be cynical and sharp, in the light of a person – let alone somebody’s father – passing.

But what DOESN’T need to happen, is for a bunch of shiny suited opportunistic political hacks to make something out of this.  Whether it’s this, or health care, or torture, there is NOTHING our current House and Senate can’t turn into a circus.  Look at what the LA Mayor did when he “reached out” to people to pay the price for the security for Michael Jackson’s funeral.  It’s always gross, it’s always poorly thought out.

Everybody gets to deal with this the way they want to.  Friends of mine point out that it’s the first time a musician crossed racial lines, and that opened my eyes.  Me?  I’m moderately frustrated at what I feel is a glossing over of Jackson’s personal predilections and a disgust for some of his family (Jermaine), and COMPLETELY in battle mode over the coverage of his death.  Entertainment Tonight has an “investigation?”  Seriously?  You have a unit?

Look.  It sucks that he died.   Whether you were someone who wanted him to make a comeback or someone who wanted him to face justice, we all needed time.  But it’s over.

He’s gone.

Let positioning go with it.

I’m not going to link a news story here.   

Why would I?  It would be like posting a news story that says “Oxygen proved important to breathing” or “feet needed for walking.”  You know what happened – at the least the main headline of it all.

Needless to say, this is a bummer.  It is a bummer when an icon dies.  It is a bummer when a young father dies.  This is sad, sad news.

But as sad as it is, I don’t have a short memory.  It is the curse, I think, of being the age I am.  I remember the rise, the weirdness, the allegations, the fall.  I remember all of it.

This is a man who created great music.  And this is a man who did sketchy things with underage boys.  I can’t separate my sadness for his passing with my feelings that he never, truly, paid for some of the things he did.

Let me be clear – I do not cheer this on any level.  I am as shocked as anyone else.  It is sad, sad news.  

But with all the tributes to his talent, it needs to be remembered – there was something… not well with this guy, and if that quirk of his personality was damaging children for any reason, all the talent in the world cannot outweigh that.

So, I hope wherever he is, he’s at peace.  I wish his family peace.  His kids peace.

But I also can’t stop but think – this is also the Jesus Juice guy.  The Bubbles guy.  The degenerative plastic surgery guy.  The sleepover with kids guy.  This is a guy who more than likely did some questionable (at best) things to some of the weakest members of society.

I mourn the loss of an iconic talent – the “Elvis of Gen X” as someone put it.  

But it’s tinged with reality.  He did not pass a martyr to me, he passed a flawed, flawed man.

And parts of him will truly be missed.  I will try to remember those.