From what I've read and seen of him, I have to say I respect him immensely as a person. You have to keep in mind the kid is just 17 years old, yet he shows more maturity and understanding than singers almost twice his age [unnamed twenty-somethings (sadly mostly female) who for whatever reason feel they must sing about crude sex/drugs and show off their bodies and/or do ridiculous pseudo-artistic ripoffs of others' work to sell records].
You could not imagine the amount of pressure this kid must be under, and the amount of insults he gets from people twice his age and older are barbaric--and all for what? Singing squeaky-clean songs [which, admittedly, are a bit corny--but if you don't like, don't listen]. Other artists can say they've gotten teased and made fun of or whatever without anyone to really corroborate these claims and the media kissing their ass for all it's worth, but if anyone can successfully claim any sort of mistreatment in this day and age, it's this kid, and only because the whole world has witnessed it.
His gender is called into question [among other things] by people who are twice his age and should know better, it's quite sad, and yet he continues to do what he wants to do despite all that. The only annoying thing about him is his fan base, other than that I think he's an okay singer and a great person, shockingly more down-to-Earth and not a self-obsessed wretch like other mainstream artists who are older than him and should theoretically be more mature.
The fact that he talks about MJ doesn't offend me in the least--you want his legacy to go on, this is one of the ways in which it will go on. If Bieber talks nice things about Michael Jackson, it will reach his fan base, who will want to check out what Bieber likes, and thus potential new MJ fans are born.
I'd take this over someone trash-talking Michael any day.