What I do is when you log into minecraft when you hit the button that says log in above that is options hit that then hit force update that always fixes it for me
its most lilkley a graphics/video card error, making it un-suitable to launch minecraft, if you try what has been suggested, and it dosent work, u may want to reset your Minecraft.jar
who me if it is me than it is on ubuntu (linux) but all you do is click the options thing when you log in onto minecraft. Options is above log in button then click force update under options
Have you updated all your video card drivers? Have a quick read of this thread. Spoiler http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1880952