House holds moment of silence for Jackson

[link to rawstory.com]

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By David Edwards

Published: June 26, 2009
Updated 3 hours ago



Report: White House undecided on statement

The US House of Representatives held a moment of silence to remember Michael Jackson following remarks by Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.

“I come to the floor today on behalf of a generation to thank God for letting us live in his generation and era,” Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., D-Ill, told the House.

“A young man has left earth, but now resides in the stars,” said Rep. Diane Watson, D-Calif. “We pay tribute to the culture that he has left behind, his legacy.”

According to a published report, the White House is still mulling on whether or not to release a statement.

CBS News’ Mark Stoller reports,

The White House hasn’t yet decided whether Presiden Obama should issue a statement on the death of Michael Jackson.

He was a world-renowned superstar, but there are parts of his life that hardly merit words of tribute from an American President.

….

In 1977, then-President Jimmy Carter faced a similar dilemma after the death of Elvis Presley. The White House switchboard was reported to have been inundated with phone calls urging Mr. Carter to declare a national day of mourning for Presley.

The president eventually issued a carefully-written statement, declaring that Presley was ‘unique and irreplaceable’ and his music ‘permanently changed the face of American popular culture.’

Knoller reports that Obama might “take a page from Jimmy Carter’s playbook.”

This video is from C-SPAN, broadcast June 26, 2009.

[link to rawstory.com]

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