Free Republic

Hi, I'm Ben, a 25-year-old white guy from rural Virginia. I used to be a directory assistance operator, but now I work at the Wal Mart in Waynesboro. I still live with my parents. Sometimes, I like to go it the big city and play in the streets. My favorite game is to dress up in black, and run around town with my friends. We block traffic, yell at shoppers, and call the cops "pigs." They don't seem to like it very much, but they're powerless to stop us, because we're protected by the First Amendment! Oh, did I mention...

I was in Michael Jackson's bedroom once. This was long enough ago that he still had brown skin and God's intended nose. Contrary to the allegations that have surfaced in his child molestation trial, Jackson offered me neither ''Jesus juice'' nor pornography. I remember only a rattan chair and shelves full of movie memorabilia, including Disney, the Three Stooges and a likeness of Jackson himself as the scarecrow from The Wiz. His room was the last stop on a tour of the family home in the L.A. suburb of Encino following an interview. To get inside the Jackson compound, you...