Jesse Jackson and Obama's nuts wtf

[Phoenix Dark]

WASHINGTON - In a shocking blast at Barack Obama that was caught on tape, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said, "I wanna cut his nuts out."

He made the astonishingly vulgar remark as he accused the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee of giving moral lectures to African-Americans.

"See, Barack [has] been talking down to black people . . . I wanna cut his nuts out," Jackson said.

His whispered comments - accompanied by his hand-miming a cutting motion - were picked up by a live mike before an interview on health care in Fox News Channel's Chicago studio Sunday.

In an effort to blunt the controversy, Jackson apologized publicly at a news conference before the tape aired last night on Bill O'Reilly's "The Factor" show on Fox News Channel.

video:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/07102008/news/nationalnews/jesses_a_nut_job_119244.htm

As far as I'm concerned this is just more evidence that Jackson - like Sharpton - isn't particularly thrilled with the success story that is Barrack Obama. Obama has no ties to the civil rights movement and has shown little interest in allying himself with the living remnants of that movement (Jackson, Lewis, etc). Bill Cosby, Sharpton, and Jackson himself often criticize certain aspects of the black community so why is he acting like Obama has no right to do the same? He doesn't want to hear some dude who grew up in Hawaii chastise "his people"

[demi]

oh black people, never change

[Eric P]

people get grumpy when they lose power

[TVC15]

I'd wager that Jesse Jackson is bitter that he won't be getting any sort of presidential appointments since Obama isn't aligned with him.  

[Phoenix Dark]

His son has been a major Obama supporter for years btw

Even Jesse Jackson Jr., an Obama supporter and congressman from Chicago, condemned his dad's remarks. "I'm deeply outraged and disappointed in Reverend Jackson's reckless statements about Senator Barack Obama," he said.

Eh, hate seeing that.

[Eric P]

His son has been a major Obama supporter for years btw

Even Jesse Jackson Jr., an Obama supporter and congressman from Chicago, condemned his dad's remarks. "I'm deeply outraged and disappointed in Reverend Jackson's reckless statements about Senator Barack Obama," he said.

Eh, hate seeing that.

he's outraged but he doesn't condemn his father's statements.

[Crushed]

I didn't think Jesse Jackson knew HOW to apologize to other people, only the other way around.

[Eric P]

wat

What the hell is with America and their FUCKED UP pastors. First Ted Haggard now Jesse Jackson, WTF weirdos.

america's east coast was founded by people who left europe because you pansies were too secular.

or people who were ordered to loot rape and pillage in the name of corporations for the carrying out of monopolies created by royal decree and given to their associates.

what other history COULD we have?

[FlameOfCallandor]

[Human Snorenado]

This is going to be odd for Jesse, he's used to having his ass kissed in the way of apologies, not vice versa.

[Mandark]

I do think that Obama's little lectures to black crowds on personal morality is mostly for the benefit of white viewers.  You won't see him telling the rednecks to eat healthier and pay more attention to their kids' education.

But Jesse's mostly mad that someone's got the black vote while completely circumventing him, a cocky young punk who doesn't show the right amount of deference at that.  It's funny seeing Obama's success get under the skin of older power brokers and politicians.



Triumph: This isn't completely new for him.  Remember Hymietown?

[Human Snorenado]

Mandark:  remember it?  I've got the Bloom County comic strips and SNL skits laying around here somewhere!  But that was a long time ago.

[DJ_Tet]

Maybe somebody should cut Jesse Jackson's nuts off so he won't father any more illegitimate children?

[siamesedreamer]

This is the biggest "who gives a shit" story of the year.

[Candyflip]

That video was pretty funny

[APF]

Isn't Obama supposed to be the fence-mender and not the bridge-burner?

[Human Snorenado]

This is the biggest "who gives a shit" story of the year.

No, apparently that's any thing that is critical of McCain.  No one seems to give a shit, either because they're not voting for him no matter what or because they've already decided he's "straight talkin' Johnny Mac!"

APF:  I fail to see how Obama is to blame for any of this, unless you think his lecturing black people or stealing Jesse's thunder as the new "Black Leader Guy" is what's at issue here, as opposed to Jesse running his mouth off.  But lord help me, I die a little inside when I try to figure out what you're thinking so nevermind lolz.

[huckleberry]

I do think that Obama's little lectures to black crowds on personal morality is mostly for the benefit of white viewers.  You won't see him telling the rednecks to eat healthier and pay more attention to their kids' education.

But Jesse's mostly mad that someone's got the black vote while completely circumventing him, a cocky young punk who doesn't show the right amount of deference at that.  It's funny seeing Obama's success get under the skin of older power brokers and politicians.



Triumph: This isn't completely new for him.  Remember Hymietown?

I thought the same thing when I heard he was pulling a Cosby.

Whitey wants to see him point the finger....so he points the finger.

[APF]

This is the biggest "who gives a shit" story of the year.

No, apparently that's any thing that is critical of McCain.  No one seems to give a shit, either because they're not voting for him no matter what or because they've already decided he's "straight talkin' Johnny Mac!"

APF:  I fail to see how Obama is to blame for any of this, unless you think his lecturing black people or stealing Jesse's thunder as the new "Black Leader Guy" is what's at issue here, as opposed to Jesse running his mouth off.  But lord help me, I die a little inside when I try to figure out what you're thinking so nevermind lolz.

Hah!

To your question though, if a controversy is created by the words coming from your mouth, it's hard to argue you're not somehow a cause of that controversy (this doesn't speak to whether or not you were right, or whether people are overreacting, etc; just whether or not your words were a causal factor in some shitstorm).  Since Obama is lecturing his half-brothers for the pleasure of his other half-brothers, who may be skeptical of exactly whose President will he be (and this is a fucking charitable explanation of who he's awkwardly trying to court--an labeling that wasn't extended to these folks when we were talking about a centrist white woman, but I digress), this reinforces that point, as well as demonstrating that actual bridge-building is a whole lot more delicate and nuanced than promising Bridges Will Be Built by your genius-level architectural skill, which when tested is only the idea that you're pretty and don't talk like you're one of those awful hoodlum rappers on the MTVs.  Certainly I didn't get my degree by fist-bumping the Dean, but maybe Obama is hoping the School of Architecture suffers from the soft bigotry of low expectations.

[Flannel Boy]

Maybe Jackson doesn't want Obama lecturing the black community on personal morality because such a lecture can be aimed directly at him: Jackson had an affair, resulting in an illegitimate child who he somewhat neglected.

You won't see him telling the rednecks to eat healthier and pay more attention to their kids' education.

And you won't see a white politician directly urging black people to do the same things. People don't respond to criticism from outsiders very well. If the criticism is coming from an in-group member, it's better received.

[Mandark]

Malek: Yup.  I guess the underlying issues I'm trying to tease out of this are:

*  White candidates aren't expected to give intraracial lectures on personal morality.  The expectation that a black candidate talk about broken homes reminds me of FoC demanding that Muslims constantly denounce the actions of other Muslims they've never met.  A lot of white people worry about a black leader siding with black people over whites in some kind of zero sum game, and a black candidate has to assuage those fears.¹

*  The idea that Obama's ascension would empower the traditional players² in and ideologies of black political influence was always crazy.  Yeah, he was very close to a liberation theologist.  But his stated attitudes towards racial conciliation were always very different³ and he dominated the black vote without using the transactional politics that makes Sharpton, Jackson, et al potential kingmakers.⁴




[1] Democrats in general, too.  That's what the Sistah Soljah moment was about.  That's what the supremely silly Farrakhan stuff was about.  I don't remember an explicit suggestion that he do this⁵ but the "celebrity tells fellow blacks to shape up" meme is well established.

[2] Sharpton and Jackson seem like assholes and the position of De Facto Minority Spokesperson creates all sorts of conflicts of interest, but I'm wary of anyone in politics who spends a lot of time criticizing them.  "Oh, I'd love to engage with and help the black community, if only those guys weren't in the way!"  Right.

[3] The thing that stuck with me about Obama's big race speech was how he acknowledged everyone's grievances as legitimate, including the white people who feel like they're the ones being treated unfairly.  My reaction to those people is a lot more rolleyes oriented, but from a pragmatic standpoint he's probably got the right of it.

[4] Huckabee did a similar thing on the right, using home school networks to bypass the old guard evangelicals like Robertson and Falwell.

[5] It's entirely possible that Obama's saying this stuff because he believes it and thinks it's important.  He's the son of an absentee black father and wrote a memoir about it.  But it's hard to believe anything in a prepared speech during a campaign would be apolitical, and it would keep me from having fun and overanalyzing it to death.

[laesperanzapaz]

Malek: Yup.  I guess the underlying issues I'm trying to tease out of this are:

*  White candidates aren't expected to give intraracial lectures on personal morality.  The expectation that a black candidate talk about broken homes reminds me of FoC demanding that Muslims constantly denounce the actions of other Muslims they've never met.  A lot of white people worry about a black leader siding with black people over whites in some kind of zero sum game, and a black candidate has to assuage those fears.¹

*  The idea that Obama's ascension would empower the traditional players² in and ideologies of black political influence was always crazy.  Yeah, he was very close to a liberation theologist.  But his stated attitudes towards racial conciliation were always very different³ and he dominated the black vote without using the transactional politics that makes Sharpton, Jackson, et al potential kingmakers.⁴




[1] Democrats in general, too.  That's what the Sistah Soljah moment was about.  That's what the supremely silly Farrakhan stuff was about.  I don't remember an explicit suggestion that he do this⁵ but the "celebrity tells fellow blacks to shape up" meme is well established.

[2] Sharpton and Jackson seem like assholes and the position of De Facto Minority Spokesperson creates all sorts of conflicts of interest, but I'm wary of anyone in politics who spends a lot of time criticizing them.  "Oh, I'd love to engage with and help the black community, if only those guys weren't in the way!"  Right.

[3] The thing that stuck with me about Obama's big race speech was how he acknowledged everyone's grievances as legitimate, including the white people who feel like they're the ones being treated unfairly.  My reaction to those people is a lot more rolleyes oriented, but from a pragmatic standpoint he's probably got the right of it.

[4] Huckabee did a similar thing on the right, using home school networks to bypass the old guard evangelicals like Robertson and Falwell.

[5] It's entirely possible that Obama's saying this stuff because he believes it and thinks it's important.  He's the son of an absentee black father and wrote a memoir about it.  But it's hard to believe anything in a prepared speech during a campaign would be apolitical, and it would keep me from having fun and overanalyzing it to death.

that sir, is a pretty fucking intelligent post. please post more.

also: i can't believe FoC is this crazy.  Is he Glenn Beck level, or Bill Reilly level?  perhaps Falwell level?

[drozmight]

Did he elaborate on why he wants to cut his nuts out?  Cause he's angry, or because he's envious of them and wants them?

[Flannel Boy]

Malek: Yup.  I guess the underlying issues I'm trying to tease out of this are:

*  White candidates aren't expected to give intraracial lectures on personal morality. 

If they did, they would be seen as exclusionary--as only concerned with the health, education, and welfare of whites. And if intelligent East Coast politicians gave the lectures, they would be perceived as elitists and lose the lower class white vote. The only intra-racial lectures white politicians can give are those regarding racism.

The expectation that a black candidate talk about broken homes reminds me of FoC demanding that Muslims constantly denounce the actions of other Muslims they've never met. 

Where does this expectation come from? Louis Farrakhan has given the same kinds of lectures on personal morality; he's not pressured into doing so by his non-existent white base. I think this originates more from within the black community than from without. From the black community recognizing that social pathologies exist in all communities, but not at the same rates!

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

My thoughts about people like Jesse Jackson are that they typically claim to be outraged on a daily basis for their own personal gain.  After all, he tried to run for President as a Democrat in 1988 and never was taken seriously then.

Obama has to speak to white voters as well.  Most middle class whites feel they are oppressed victims.  Most middle class whites feel that their hard earned salaries are being sapped by tax dollars that are being wasted on loafing, territorial bureaucrats and welfare queens who pop out more babies so they can keep getting their checks.  Since the Southern strategy of 1968, politicians have been running with this idea, with pretty good results.  Trying to not pull this card is a significant uphill battle, as shown with the elections of 1972-1988.  It seems like after Dukakis's defeat, finally Democrats just went along with the idea as well starting with Bill Clinton.

Obama lecturing black people works for white voters because it shows that the fault can all be pinned on black people so white people can be relived of responsibility in the matter.  While I do think that black people need strong leadership, simple lectures won't do anything since the system is primarily focused on funneling essential funds from inner cities to the suburbs, while the former group is left to their own devices, which has worked less than spectacularly.

In this election, all we are going to see is vote pandering.  In the end, this is what it is.  It is why my TV will not be on a news channel until November 3rd.

[APF]

How are funds funneled from poor areas into richer areas?  Wouldn't it be more accurate to say, funds stay in affluent areas and are not redistributed to poorer areas, and this maintains the status quo?  Not to mention, the problem in "inner cities" (I'm not even sure that term really makes any sense, but at least we all know what it means: places black people live) goes far beyond mere funding issues: corruption and apathy being extremely prevalent as well.

[Tauntaun]

also: i can't believe FoC is this crazy.  Is he Glenn Beck level, or Bill Reilly level?  perhaps Falwell level?

He's FoC level, i.e. the only person I have on ignore.  It's better that way.

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

How are funds funneled from poor areas into richer areas?  Wouldn't it be more accurate to say, funds stay in affluent areas and are not redistributed to poorer areas, and this maintains the status quo?  Not to mention, the problem in "inner cities" (I'm not even sure that term really makes any sense, but at least we all know what it means: places black people live) goes far beyond mere funding issues: corruption and apathy being extremely prevalent as well.

I thought that was the case where block grants were given to affluent communities first but I couldn't find a link.  I concede...until I find information.

I wouldn't say inner cities = where black people live.  Plenty of white people live there too.  Although nobody really seems to care what happens with them.