On the day of the big Michael Jackson memorial at the Staples Center (along with the private service at Forest Lawn), my sincere thanks to Tony Martin, editor of the Melbourne-based Scrivener’s Fancy, for re-running “Jackson Virus” plus a flattering intro.

“The public funeral for Jackson at LA’s Staples Center on Tuesday July 7,” I wrote, “is going to be a huge Diane Arbus event, like nothing ever seen or imagined. A Multitude of Grotesques.” Meaning that today will be, in effect, if you want to look at it that way, a day of national mourning. Not for the memory of a talented but diseased man but for the whittling away of America’s soul. Who, really, is proud of what today’s Staples Center is saying to the world about the communal values and character that define this country?

This high-quality TMZ live webcam, by the way, is very cool.