Remembering a Legend . . . Not

"Remembering a Legend" was the caption on some live coverage today of the Whitney Houston funeral.  


What a crock.  Soldiers dying in Iraq and Afghanistan are legends, not a washed-up pop singer completely responsible for her own downfall and eventual death.  


Whitney's story is tragic alright, but not for the reasons cited by the talking heads on TV over the past week.  It's tragic because a great talent chose to throw all that away in order to indulge in drugs.  


It's as simple as that.


All week, we've seen and heard people talking about what a great talent Whitney Houston was, and there's no denying that.  But instead of holding her up like some sort of angelic goddess, we should use her death as a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of fame and the clear and present danger of drugs, either illegal or prescribed.


CNN's coverage described the "private" (yet televised) funeral as a "homegoing."  That is not a typo for "homecoming."  Home GOING, presumably because she was GOING back to the church.  The talking heads were all quick to point out Whitney's gospel roots.  And, guess who one of the "gospel" singers was today at the funeral.  


R. Kelly.  The same guy who was indicted on 21 counts of child pornography in 2002 stemming from a videotape that allegedly showed him having sex with an underage girl.  Yes, I understand that he was acquitted of those charges.  But, really, come on.


The woman is dead because she was a drug addict.  


That, my friends, is an American Truism.


UPDATE:  THIS is how the media SHOULD have covered the Houston death, from Charing Ball, the author of the blog People, Places & Things.