A bit Roman?

Is it just me, or does the image of scores of fans and entertainers regaling the casket of Michael Jackson in the Staples Center strike you, too, as a bit Roman like something out of "Satiricon?"

All I mean is, it's ludicrous that a city like Los Angeles would spend $4 million on this memorial service when California is sending IOUs to all its contractors, laying off its teachers, and no longer able to process rape kits.