Tell us what you really think Jessie

[Gaspar]

Obama doesn't have to worry about McCain.  It's those closest to him that can do the most damage.

[Gold]

I kind of think this helps Obama is a perverse way.  Obama is going to win whatever group Jessie Jackson appeals to.  He may have trouble with people who tend to dislike Jessie Jackson; this creates some distance.

Did you see the SNL cartoon about the involvement of Sharpton and Jackson in Obama's campaign?  Obama sent one to the desert and the other to the jungle on BS missions, to create distance.  

This kind of does the same thing.

[FOTD]

There is an ancient school of thought that says Judas Iscariot was a hero.

http://ronmwangaguhunga.blogspot.com/2008/07/is-jesse-jackson-secretly-helping-obama.html

A statement from the Obama campaign: "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," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.

A statement from Jackson Jr: "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. "


"In a many dark hour
I've been thinkin' about this
That Jesus Christ
Was betrayed by a kiss
But I can't think for you
You'll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot
Had God on his side."
Bob Dylan (Brady 8-27-08)

[RecycleMichael]

All press is good press.

When was the last time Jessie Jackson was on television? Now he is on Fox News non-stop.

He is just getting old and making mistakes. He is only five years younger than McCain.

[Rico]

Jackson is a racist........

Would be good for any candidate to distance himself from him.

I was just surprised he didn't say "he would cut his cahones off in Hymietown"

The "Hymietown" flap was in 84... was he old then too..?

No excuses Jesse. Just go way.
[}:)]

[Hometown]

Well Jackson has lived his life in the public eye for decades now and has fought the hard fight for just about every underdog out there.  Jackson is a statesman.  That is history.

And Jackson was right, Obama has been talking down to Blacks.

At the same time, this will play out in Obama's favor.  It is sort of like his Sister Soldja (spelling?) moment.  It will make him appear more mainstream and more acceptable to the hicks.

Meanwhile, I've been hearing about how little Obama has opened up his campaign to Clinton supporters and staffers.  The unity talk has been mostly cosmetics.

Obama does appear to be running a smart campaign, but his supporters still sound like they are from another planet.  I heard one surrogate refer to him as the "post-racial candidate."

Oh well, wish I had a better sense of Obama's agenda.  From what I can tell, it doesn't appear to be an agenda formed through consensus.  Wonder where he will take us if he reaps the anti-Bush vote and wins?

[cannon_fodder]

lol, Hometown and Jesse Jackson want to hear Obama say "You'z neds ta' get on with your youngins lest the white man take dem." Or some other drab, stereo typical and bascially racist phrase.

The fact is Obama just told it like it was.  The black community is behind in education, income, medical care and every other factor you care to measure.  The solution:  father's taking care of their families, communities trying to keep children away from crime, and a cultural emphasis on education.

Gasp!  That racist prick.  How dare he make an intelligent and compelling cause for picking Jesse Jackon's people up out of poverty.  Jesse Jackson was right when he said Obama needs to "stop acting white."  He was also right when he said that New York is full of "hymies."   And who doesn't agree that we should cut Obama's nuts out?  Noble and sage advice.

Find leader there.  In fact, his leadership has greatly furthered the cause of "colored people" in his time as a leader.  Other than educational levels being below par, more blacks being in prison, continued drug use even as other groups saw it taper off, and in spite of more scholarships and government money a stagnant rate of education.  If my goal was to instill racism and to keep the black man down, I'd be a huge Jesse Jackson fan.  The guy hasn't had a worthwhile purpose in decades.

Furthermore, Fox actually withheld additional comments.  How bad is that when Fox News protects you?  No one buys his "oops" remark as he has been an attention whore for decades.  And the "cut out" his balls vernacular is a particularly harsh nomenclature (as opposed to simple castration by cutting them off).  Unreal.  He isn't taking flack for disagreeing with Obama, it's the little added comment that has him in trouble.

So explain to me how Obama has been talking down to Blacks?  Is McCain talking down to whites when he tells us we need to stop looking at the Government to solve our problems?  Defend a "distinguished leader of the black community" saying he wants to cut someones balls out.  And for that matter, what does Jesse Jackson making an donkey of himself have to do with Obama not wanting to give your candidate of choice a seat as his table?

And yes, based on your post the "unity" talk was just so much lip service.

[Hometown]

Well something struck your nerve.

It's not everyday a Republican/Independent lectures me on the virtues of my party's Candidate.

Anyway, my household is voting Obama.  I just haven't gone crazy in the process.

Jesse Jackson has been a friend to everyone without a friend for a long time now.  Old timers will remember the Rainbow Coalition and how important it was to expanding and defining civil rights.  

I appreciating both Jackson and Obama for different reasons.

And I suggest you don't try your not-so-funny Black talk if your car breaks down on the way home from work in North Tulsa.

[FOTD]

Yes, Mista Fodda needs to get out of his self imprisonment and mingle with the true American out there suffering. Not that we all don't suffer but it's how you deal with it. Republicans not only don't want to deal with other's suffering, they pretend it does not exist.

Faux news withheld what this time? FAUX only protects the facts from finding the light of day. Deal with "it" CF.

[cannon_fodder]

Obama is one of the better scripted orators I have seen in my life.  He speaks very clearly with a perfect American dialect.  Presumably Jesse Jackson and others wanting him to act and speak less white would indicate they want him to adopt some stereotypical "black talk."  Which I aptly took the extreme to illustrate the point.

Obama has many virtues.  He is a good orator as mentioned above.  I think he is an earnest individual.  And I think he is really interested in changing the system.  Just because I do not like his policies does not mean I can't recognize his virtues.

But, the issue at hand is Jesse Jackson, and in my opinion he is a media grandstander and nothing more.  Before I paid attention to politics he was worthy of note and did fight the good fight, but no longer.  His latest great deed was defending 6 kids who nearly beat some other kid to death, he struggles to find "causes" to get in the news.

He is an anti-Semite and thinks black people should adhere to a stereo type (and thus, not act white).  When Obama pointed out (as Cosby did) that much of African America's problems are a result of African American culture, which included fathering illegitimate children and not being part of the family... it struck a nerve and pushed Jackson over the edge. Personally,      I think he is jealous that Obama accomplished what he never could.

Jackson is still stuck on the "what can they do" attitude.  He is worried about fighting the establishment in an effort to over come racial divisions.  The problem is he has not only helped shaped the establishment he is now PART of the establishment.  Time to look elsewhere for a solution as it is clear the course and leadership on these issues for the last 20 years has made no headway.

I agree with the Cosby attitude.  Time for a culture change in black communities.  When crime is viewed as a badge of honor, education is "selling out" and speaking clearly is "acting white" there is a problem.

And, as a typical disclaimer, this is all based on a generalization.  In GENERAL the black community has a societal problem with crime, drugs, and broken families.  In general the educational levels are not as high nor the correlating income.  That means nothing disparaging towards any individual nor group as a whole (i.e. there is no inherent reason a black person can not achieve as much as a white person in any catagory), I'm merely pointing out what problems exist.  The very ones that Jackson tries to bring to life and has been attempting to resolve for many decades.  Since they are clearly not genetic or otherwise race based, the causes are either exterior oppression or within the culture itself.
- - -

FOTD, if it is not clear by my rhetoric that I understand there are problems then you simply have not been paying attention.  I have been dirt poor in my life, paid my and my wife's way through college (she worked mornings, I worked 2nd shift) while raising our son and living in a crappy trailer with 2 roommates.  I operate under no illusion that everyone has an equal chance or is equally successful.

And how do you know who I mingle with?  I have friends that are attorney's, software engineers, research scientists for Intel.  I have friends that are factory workers, mower repair guys, preachers, county workers (plows/lawn), and mechanics.  Black, white, Indian, native, Hispanic.   Who counts as a "true American?"

While at present I live a comfortable life and most of my friends in Tulsa are professionals (I met more than half the people I know from Law School so it stands to reason), that doesn't really indicate my life's story.  But tell the "true Americans" that you hang out with about how evil I am.

And finally, I'm not even a Republican.  I believe both major parties are more interested in staying in power and being "right" than improving the situation in any way.  A stance I have repeated to you numerous times.

[Hometown]

The only difference between the poor Whites of Oklahoma and the poor Blacks of Oklahoma is that the poor Blacks of Oklahoma have a few advocates.

You know, you just kind of fall apart when the subject turns to women or race.  That's okay, you're as sincere as all get out.  Sincerity counts.  But you clearly don't grasp Jackson. Or know his past.

You won't be so bad once your wife gets you trained Cannon.  Just stay away from the ORU crowd.  And have a great weekend.

p.s.  I got my Dyson.  It was on sale at Target.  This weekend, I'm going to vacuum like nobody's business.

[cannon_fodder]

I freely admit I did not follow Jackson back in the day.  My opinions are only formed from my perspective and are, of course, only my opinions.  so I appreciate the disagreement.  We are always able to have civil disagreements and I really value that.

Also, let me know if you find the Dyson worth the extra money.  I've heard good things about them, but they left me with sticker shock when I went vacuum shopping a couple years back.

[we vs us]

This is intergenerational stuff. Jackson fought for and represents a major historical era in civil rights, but the historical era he's fighting for has come and gone. Obama's benefitted from Jackson's efforts, but also now has to speak to all the different beneficiaries of those efforts.  So that includes much more affluent black Americans, more conservative black Americans (the Cosby set), and the people that Jackson represents right now, which are mostly church going urban blacks.  

I don't think black America is anywhere near as monolithic as it once was.  Jesse probably thinks it still is.  He thinks Obama was talking down to all black people, when in reality, he was only talking down to Jesse's black people.  

And I don't think we was talking down to anybody, but then, I'm just a white dude who lives in a redneck state, so what do I know?

[santalar]

Jessie Jackson, for the love of god and all that is great and good in the world, your fifteen minutes of fame ended two decades ago.

[inteller]

now, APOLOGIZEEE![}:)]