Demagogue

Having posted earlier on the Michael Jackson trial, I must also say that although I'm not a violent person, part of me would like to slug parents like these:

The mother of a young man who received a settlement from Michael Jackson in the mid-1990s testified Monday that she allowed her then-13-year-old son to sleep in Jackson's bed countless times after the "sobbing" pop star begged her to.

... [The woman testified that] she allowed the boy to sleep with Jackson during trips to Neverland, Disney World and Monaco, and during more than 30 overnight visits Jackson made to her home in Santa Monica. She said Jackson gave her earrings, a necklace, a ring and a $7,000 gift certificate to a Fred Segal boutique, which she spent on clothes and jewelry.

She said the singer also gave her his credit card for a shopping trip, during which she bought two purses.

... she admitted that the boy's father, whom she divorced in the '80s, had hoped that Jackson would pay for a new wing to be built onto his house.

Mesereau also asked whether the boy's father at one point said their son's relationship with Jackson was a "wonderful means of [the boy] not having to worry for the rest of his life?" "Yes," she said.

The mother conceded during cross-examination that she allowed her son to continue to sleep with Jackson even after she came to regard the situation between her son and the pop star as "weird."