IF there is one thing that the unnerving TV programme on Michael Jackson revealed this week it is that money talks.

And nowhere more loudly than in America.

How on earth can a man like Jackson be allowed to have three children of his own -- one taken straight from the mother at birth -- plus other sundry children sleep at his weird home, and in his bed?

Never was there a stronger case that someone should be protected from himself. And that a couple of innocent youngsters should be prevented from struggling to cope with the reality of the world later on.

For whatever reason -- and I for one can well believe that his strange and allegedly brutal childhood may be to blame -- the painfully flawed Jackson is not of this planet.

He is a self-obsessed fantasist. His mind is revealed in his face. A face, incidentally, that he denies has had drastic surgery when all the world can see that the opposite is true.

He lives in Never Never Land, spends millions like he's choosing sweets from the 5p tray in the newsagent's and says that he is Peter Pan.

He is probably not a deliberately dangerous person, and he appears to love his children. In fact, all children.

Unfortunately, no one in his fragile state of mind should be allowed such free rein over everything and everyone within purchasing distance.

The Californian authorities are said to be considering looking at whether he is fit to look after his children. Many people in this country may think that it is a disgrace that they have done nothing so far.