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The New York Post is like Karl Rove: As much as you hate all it represents, you're also periodically forced to stop and admire its sheer, unapologetic, evil brilliance. This is one of those times.

The small icon the paper has been running on all its MJ-gets-off stories, plastered on seemingly dozens of pieces yesterday and then returning for an encore performance today, is perhaps the perfect apotheosis of Postiness, all distilled into a little, two-inch-tall box. There's the clever hed ("He Beat It" is much, much better than "Boy, Oh, Boy"), the obsession with tawdry stories, the nod to early-'90s pop culture, and, finally, the characteristic News Corp. tradition of making every story ultimately about a blond, white person.

We really hope ol' Mac will be making Post appearances for the rest of the week.

Teen Watches Jacko Justice [NYP]
EARLIER: Boy, Oh, Boy [NYP]