Rev. Jesse Jackson is part of our nation's history. I remember chanting 'Run Jesse Run' back in 1984 and 1988. I voted for him twice. He has been a lifetime hero in my household.
That ended today.
Rev. Jesse Jackson proclaimed his support of Obama last year. However, today, he slammed Barack Obama while talking informally with reporters. Jackson said that he wanted to 'cut his nuts off'.
Joking about castration is wrong whether it is done by KKK leadership or by PUSH leadership. Telling reporters that you want to castrate Barack Obama in private while touting him in public is two-faced.
Jackson is upset at Obama for his clarion call to the Black community to accept personal responsibility for our children and our families. I guess that Jackson took it personal in light of his own history of out-of-wedlock babies and such.
Jackson was dead wrong. His son, Jesse Jackson Jr. has released a harshly worded statement that reads:
"I'm deeply outraged and disappointed in Reverend Jackson's reckless statements about Senator Barack Obama. His divisive and demeaning comments about the presumptive Democratic nominee -- and I believe the next president of the United States -- contradict his inspiring and courageous career. Instead of tearing others down, Barack Obama wants to build the country up and bring people together so that we can move forward, together -- as one nation. The remarks like those uttered on Fox by Reverend Jackson do not advance the campaign's cause of building a more perfect Union."
"Reverend Jackson is my dad and I'll always love him. He should know how hard that I've worked for the last year and a half as a national co-chair of Barack Obama's presidential campaign. So, I thoroughly reject and repudiate his ugly rhetoric. He should keep hope alive and any personal attacks and insults to himself."
Jesse Jackson (the father ... not the son) lost my respect today. People that talk about of both sides of their face deserve no respect.
Of course, Jackson issued some mealy-mouth apology. I'm not going to even publish it. You don't say in front of reporters that you want to 'cut off his nuts' and then expect that an apology will fix things.
Obama is a better person than most of us, including me! His campaign issued the following statement, "As someone who grew up without a father in the home, Senator Obama has spoken and written for many years about the issue of parental responsibility, including the importance of fathers participating in their children's lives. He also discusses our responsibility as a society to provide jobs, justice, and opportunity for all. He will continue to speak out about our responsibilities to ourselves and each other, and he of course accepts Reverend Jackson's apology."I imagine that we will be seeing the full Jackson tape over and over in the coming days. The media will tie Jackson's comments to Jeremiah Wright. The media will make this into a Black leader vs. Black leader issue.
Jesse ... just shut up!
