Atlanta supporters rally around [Jesse] Jackson

[AndrewR]

By Ernie Suggs, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Despite the Rev. Jesse Jackson's stunning public admission Thursday of an extramarital affair that resulted in the birth of a child, his friends and supporters in Atlanta are sticking by him.

"It is unfortunate that such a powerful leader has to have such an unfortunate thing happen to him," said the Rev. C.T. Vivian. "But at the same time, we realize that this is not unusual. Many fine politicians have had this happen and still served. I know Jesse as a person that is more valuable and more important than any one mistake."
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Ok, "an unfortunate thing happen to him"??!?? As my wife said when she read this, sperm doesn't just fly through the air and impregnate a woman. Nothing "happened" to Jackson -- he did it all himself.

The other problem is the "one mistake" aspect. Oh, it's just one tiny little mistake that happens to live and breathe.

Of course, don't put it past the Atlanta Urinal-Constipation to give these morons sympathetic front page coverage for their inane ramblings.

 

[KingHam]

Well it won't be long before Jackson is praised as a hero and a role model for taking "responsibility for his actions.

KingHam

 

[jjm]

Wow, that's news!

Jackson's supporters are supporting him. What a surprise! Never would have expected that. Gosh, golly, what's this world coming to?

 

[ltk007]

What the hell was with that quote, it didn't just happen to him. Some woman didn't just fall on his dick and start bouncing up and down! I'm sure what they think is really unfortunate is that he was caught...

 

[GL]

LOL ltk007,

Don't you guys get it? The more mistakes a public figure makes, the more he likens himself to the vast majority of the population which make mistakes readily, frequently and without even trying. This is probably the best thing to happen to Jesse Jackson...now he doesn't have to strive for a story to get himself into the headlines for at least a month!

-GL

 

[Moonbeam]

What I said in the DefRef thread:

First of all, it might help to take seriously the positions presented here by classy, on one side and the one, for example, well articulated by Defref. By taking seriously I mean treating them as points of view that contain genuine and sincere opinions, not stupid ass bigotry etc.
The first thing that can happen, if we take the other person seriously is to open a dialogue instead of a shouting match or insult feast. That's not to say that some in a slugfest aren't dialoging. But we can emphasize that both points of view represent some real world perspective that has validity. But isn't that interesting? We have two points of view that are true; how can these truths be reconciled, subsumed in a greater, third truth that unifies them as different aspects of the same thing.

The truth that reconciles, is, of course, the same one I always mention, the fact that everybody has a huge, hidden inferiority complex. The result is that everyone is also a walking putdown machine. It gets expressed racially as well as every other way involving identity. The enormous advantage that minorities have over the dominate race, opinion, religion, you name it, is that those in the minority are much more sensitized to that aspect of prejudicial putdowns that get directed their way.

That means, for example that black people are far and away more aware of that portion of the general putdown 'machines manifestation' in a given culture that comes their way. This is, I think what classy is trying to say and something that most white people are deaf to. It is something you can know, and only know in a first hand real way, if you really are black. Can we not generously extend to him the courtesy of trusting him on this? The bottom line is that for black people, putdowns come with color.


The problem with sensitivity to the color aspect of putdowns is that it can become harder to see the larger mechanism behind the putdowns at work. It is easier to see the person doing the putdowns as a racist instead of a person with a hidden inferiority complex. The struggle then gets focused more so on doing something about racism than on doing something about hidden feelings of inferiority.

Thus we have an inner and an outer dimension to this problem. There are, on the one hand, putdowns in the world, many of them racial, which we could do without, and on the other, the inner damage done by these putdowns, the internalized feelings of inferiority.

In this example, white people will see that racial putdowns aren't a problem. They aren't for white people, or, for that matter, any black person who, for what ever reason, either ignores or hasn't internalized them. Since there is nothing wrong with anybody, the world is open for all. This means, though, that white people will focus more on getting past racism then of seeing the damage done by racial putdown.

In all of this there is one central truth that is avoided, how bad we all feel about ourselves. The inability to look into this reality, the desire to do anything but look, means that we continue to spin our wheels pointing fingers at each other in one way or another.

I have no doubt that there needs to be a dialogue on race in the US, but I think that dialogue needs to be broadened to include a deeper understanding of the 'universal putdown, inferiority dimension' before their can be deep healing.

 

[Vendetta]

Hmm, I think I'll come out of lurk-mode to speak my thoughts.

Anyone who says that he's morally correct for coming out and saying it is just wrong. Let me make that clear: Anyone who defends him on the grounds that he "did the right thing by admitting it" is wrong. The sole reason that he came out about the entire affair was because he was about to be roasted to a crisp by the tabloids and Drudge. Lets not forget that this affair happened about 20 months ago. All this crap about focusing on repairing the rift in his family is just bullshit. If he really cared about them, he would have 'fessed up before now.

And lets not forget the treatment that this woman has recieved ever since this happened. He's spent $400K on her house, plus $40K to move her there, plus $4K a month for child support. Most people I've talked to (and I agree with them, knowing how JJ manages R/PC's funds) are of the opinion that the money came straight from the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition's tax-exempt coffers, which is patently illegal.

Now, if this had come out a year ago while Clinton wasn't quite so lame-duck, he might have had a chance in hell of coming out of this relatively untouched, seeing as Clinton has (had) Reno in his pocket, targetting his enemies and completely ignoring his friends. Now with Bush in the hot seat, we just might see some investigation into R/PC's finances (finally), with consequences to follow.

Even if JJ isn't officially looked into by the government (which may not happen, depends on politics and other factors), I think he'll be looked at quite seriously by his fellow civil rights leaders... and they just might realize that JJ's methods are seriously messed up.

JJ has done good things in the past, including helping racial equity (talking way in the past here) and such public activities as rescuing those captured soldiers, etc. Recently, though, I've lost all respect for the man, especially after he trashed our town (Decatur, IL, home of the "Decatur Seven", where the school distict dared to expel students for a savage fight at a football game. Yes, they're all black, and most have been arrested for other small crimes since then.) for no apparrent reason except to cry "Racism!" yet again. If he took the opportunity to just fade away, I'd feel a lot better about the civil rights movement.

 

[PCAddict]

Very nice, Vendetta.

 

[Scrapster]

Jesse Jackson apologizing to his wife:

Jesse: I'm sorry Ms. Jackson. I am for reallll!



Scraps

 

[Raspewtin]

<< Most people I've talked to (and I agree with them, knowing how JJ manages R/PC's funds) are of the opinion that the money came straight from the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition's tax-exempt coffers >>


Any proof to this or is this just conjecture? It's interesting if it's true, but I wouldn't believe it without proof. He probably ran it through at least a few hands first.



<< Ok, &quot;an unfortunate thing happen to him&quot;??!?? >>


hehe. my first response was that the &quot;unfortunate thing&quot; the Reverend Vivian was referring to was to the discovery of the affair, not the affair itself. Of course there will be people that try to portray Jackson as some sort of victim.

 

[AndrewR]

Rainbow/PUSH admitted that they paid the woman $15,000, though they said it was to offset the cost of moving. WTF? Last I checked, it doesn't cost anywhere near $15,000 to move, even if it is across the country. Moving a HOUSE, foundation and all, maybe. Geez.

Of course, that's only what they admit to giving her.

 

[Michael]

AndrewR - You have no idea how much it costs to move a household across the country.

Michael

 

[DesignDawg]

<< sperm doesn't just fly through the air and impregnate a woman. >>


Hey. Speak for yourself, buddy!

Ricky
DesignDawg