An update on the Succession Crisis in the Kingdom of Pop

Many of you have expressed concern over the last few months that the succession crisis that has held the Kingdom of Pop in its grips since the untimely death of Michael Jackson last year has not yet been resolved. Even without an heir apparent most of us expected that the Kingdom would be up and running again by now, even if it was just a temporary government. In fact, try as we might, we have not been able to get even the most basic of services up and running again, and there is no prospect in the near future of any real measurable progress. As we said, though, it's not because we haven't been trying. Now that we have had time to go through all of the records left in the Kingdom's library we can explain a bit more about what has made this succession crisis so difficult to resolve.

First of all, the Kingdom of Pop has been in decline for many years. It was managed well for a few years, but over the years it has slipped into a nearly unrecognizable state. Many experts had hoped that with the passing of the First King of Pop there would be a chance to get the Kingdom back to its original glory, but the layers of disappointment are still being unraveled today. We aren't trying to blame Michael for this decline--that would be disrespecting him and would violate our own rules. We are, however, blaming the decline on the world's reactions to Michael's unconventional approach to government.

Beyond the generally stagnant state of the Kingdom of Pop, however, is the more pressing problem of general apathy. The subjects of the Kingdom have for so many years had a government that did not respond to what they saw as the issues affecting them that they have become apathetic. A survey of 8,192 subjects revealed that a mere 14 believed that the Kingdom of Pop needs a new king in order to function. With apathy at such high levels it is no wonder that the temporary government set up by Michael's family was never considered legitimate.

A third problem is that there are no candidates for the job that compare in any reasonable way to the former King of Pop. He was so talented, quirky, and just plain bizarre that any candidate seems sadly unqualified. Experts consider two candidates (Michael's brother Jermaine and a relatively unknown singer by the name of Arthur) as the most likely choices, but as time wears on we wonder whether the Kingdom of Pop will simply be disbanded.

At the GNU Public Dictatorship we are nothing if not saddened by the decline of the Kingdom of Pop, which is why we have offered to annex it. Considering the apparent level of apathy among its subjects, however, we fear that nothing can be done and that it will simply cease to exist over the next few years.