It literally took Michael Jackson's death to drive the latest outcroppings of Sara Palin's troubled career off the front page and to even overshadow the passing of Robert McNamara, JFK's brilliant and embattled Defense Secretary, a national figure who fell into disgrace for managing the Vietnam War and then later renounced it himself as a war we should not have fought.

While the memories of that unpopular conflict continues to weigh on American foreign policy 40 years later come back into painful view with the death of its chief architect, we should perhaps be excused for taking time to celebrate the life of another extraordinary individual who brought joy to the multitudes.

Even the current budget crises in both Sacramento and Washington, which together are having a global effect and show few signs of abatement, was briefly ignored as Jackson's extraordinary memorial was viewed by an estimated 1 billion people from Marin to Manchuria.

History has been usually defined by planet-changing events such as the dismantlement of the Soviet empire or the beginning and end of titanic conflicts, such as those that shattered the globe three times in the 20th century - all arguably transformative.

But given the focus and adulation bestowed on Jackson, an iconic figure whose fame spanned several generations and could indeed be the greatest entertainer of all time, for future decades we may be adding a new bracket - the pre- and post-Jackson Eras.

In recent years, only Obama's inauguration drew higher TV ratings, but even that historic event did not generate the global fascination that the King of Pop was able to conjure.

What do we learn from this?

Government ineptitude, global warming and Supreme Court nominations - and on a more local level - housing policies, transportation planning and providing for our future water supply are all highly divisive topics which generate fierce debate and few universally acceptable solutions. It requires taking sides, and our perspectives about these weighty issues are framed by our personal backgrounds, our cultural mores and our innate biases.

But Jackson's consummate talents - writ larger than even those of Elvis, the original "king", transcended, if briefly our every day concerns.

Looking at the collection of powerful figures from every walk of life who took the stage at Los Angeles's Staples Center this week, we saw once again how music has a uniquely restorative and binding quality that surpasses perhaps all other remedies.

Perhaps they should set aside 30 minutes each day at the Board of Supervisors and in the California Assembly to pipe in Mozart, the Beatles or Michael Jackson. Given the usual speed with which laws are made, the distraction would probably go unnoticed and - who knows - the feeling of good will that might spill over the chambers could carry over long enough to have a very salutary effect.

The world has not entirely changed with Jackson's passing, but for a little while - like the Peter Pan character of every child's imagination that he revered - it gave us time to pause and revel in the interconnectedness of our planet.