King of Pop Commemorative Stamp Wait

In response to the recent blog posting regarding a Michael Jackson Commemorative Stamp, we received this interesting comment from CardsDirect Blog reader:

Although previously the waiting period for a person to be on a postage stamp after their death was 15 years (Ex. Elvis Presley’s stamp came out in 1992, 15 years after his death), exceptions have been made. Commemorative stamps were made for President John F. Kennedy after his assassination in 1963, and Roberto Clemente, who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, after he was killed in a plane crash in 1973 while delivering supplies from his native Puerto Rico to Nicaragua after the country was struck by an earthquake.
Although many people may or may not have liked Michael, I would not be surprised if President Barack Obama waives the rule for deceased people to be on postage stamps and commissions a stamp or a series of stamps to honor the memory of Michael Jackson. My proposal would be four stamps, representing the various stages of his career (as a youth in the late 1960s/early 1970s, the teenage years of the late 1970s/early 1980s, the “Thriller” album era [the most successful pop album of all time], and either the “Bad” album era or the later years). However, some people still have ill feelings of Michael Jackson after the child molestation charges he faced (although he was found not guilty).

Be it this year, 2014, or whenever, I believe there will be a stamp honoring “The King of Pop”, Michael Jackson.

In years past the waiting period for a commemorative stamp following someone’s death (other than a U.S. President) was 15 years. It was then changed to 10 and is currently at five years. Of course, there are always exceptions to any rule and perhaps this individual will prompt such an exception as our reader suggests. What do you think?