Jesse Jackson Sr. says you have to be nuts to think he would
ever do anything to hinder the Obama campaign, and we must agree.
We all remember the old joke about the couple who were asked at
their 50th wedding anniversary if they ever considered divorce.
“Murder yes, divorce never.” It is not in his interest to, er…
undercut the Obama juggernaut. What his “real” opinions may be are
incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial. We all know that Jesse is
not hired to be sincere on an open mike but to play a part; he
should be paid at the regular cast rate.
What makes yesterday’s teapot-tempest more interesting than most
is the reaction of Jesse Jackson Jr., Democrat of
Illinois. The verbiage used in his statement responding to his
father’s remarks were in some ways more shocking than Dad’s
remarks. He did not content himself with giving Senior guff for the
gaffe, he used explosive language. Here are some samples:
“I am deeply outraged and disappointed in Reverend Jackson’s
reckless statements about Senator Barack Obama.”
“Reverend Jackson is my dad and I will always love him… So, I
thoroughly reject and repudiate his ugly rhetoric.”
“Reverend Jackson’s divisive and demeaning comments…
contradict his inspiring and courageous career.”
What this tells us — other than the fact that Junior never uses
one verb or adjective when two will do — is that the younger J.J.
has seen fit to step out of his father’s shadow. It is never easy
to navigate public life when your famous father is always hovering
nearby, outshining you with his accomplishments and sliming you
with his excesses. Doubly hard when you carry the identical name,
distinguished only by the Junior tag which makes you sound like the
pesky kid driving his Big Wheels over everyone’s bare feet at the
beach party. Now there is a new Jesse on the block, and he is
jettisoning the jaded, jejune Jesse like so much jetsam.
There is an irony to the Obama story providing the vessel for
this coming-of-age drama. The point that had raised Jesse Senior’s
hackles was Obama beginning to lecture black fathers about taking
responsibility for their children. Obama is hardly the first black
activist to take up this cudgel; it was the theme of Farrakhan’s
Million Man March a decade ago, and Bill Cosby has used both
literal lectures and comedy routines to broadcast this appeal.
Still, Jesse Senior felt either patronized or usurped by Obama
adopting this issue.
Senior himself has not been a bad father, other than by adding
more progeny outside the realm of wedlock. He has always “been
there” for Junior, at least in the public arena. Perhaps it doesn’t
take much convincing for Dad to go on camera for his son or anyone
else. But in all fairness, he has been very supportive: we all
recall his appearance in Congress, as a guest of then-Speaker Newt
Gingrich, to see Junior be sworn in. He has never directly done
anything to damage his son’s prospects.
His indirect effect has been somewhat less salubrious. The son
had to endure the revelation of the father’s philandering, and at
that time he could hardly voice his true assessment of that
behavior. He had to play Chelsea to his father’s Bill, and now the
bill must be paid. It reminds me of a very serious Rabbi we had in
Hebrew School, who was explaining Jewish law concerning proper
bathroom hygiene. We managed not to laugh through the whole
presentation, and he left the subject without incident. About five
minutes later he made some mildly amusing remark and we all
exploded with uncontrollable laughter.
It is certainly time for Jesse Senior to get his comeuppance,
and there is some satisfaction seeing him getting it through his
son’s step-uppance. We may find that the old man going into eclipse
will result in the son reaching his apogee. Perhaps we should keep
our eyes peeled for the Jesse Jackson Junior act coming soon to a
political theater near you: cabinet position, anyone?
