Jesse Jackson Jr.’s guilty plea for using $750,000 in campaign money for lavish living expenses was a stark conclusion to a political career once seen as limitless. When Jackson was first elected to Congress in 1995, at the age of 30, he thanked his parents for giving him “a wonderful name.” That name is now tarnished.
For many years, Jesse Jr. appeared to be living up to the legacy established by his father, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader and 1984 and 1988 presidential candidate. Jesse Jr. fought for increases in food stamps and helped bring racial disparities in health care into national focus. He deftly juggled the interests of an urban-suburban Chicagoland district that was 65 percent black and 35 percent white. Esquire magazine endorsed him in 2006 as “an impressive member of Congress, keenly attuned to the needs of middle-class Americans, whatever the color of their skin.”
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Jesse Jr. is a worthy successor to Jesse Sr. Jesse Sr. did many praiseworthy things but he was also a hustler and a thug, and a serial philanderer of course, and Jesse Jr. is a thief. My brother will always remember Jesse Sr. fondly, however. He got picked for jury duty for a murder trial in Suffolk County in 1988 and when he showed up wearing a "Jesse Jackson for President" badge, the assistant DA had him out of there so fast he left skidmarks on the linoleum.
This is a very sad story. There have been allusions to Jesse Jr. having some type of diagnosed mental illness. From news reports it's impossible to tell if that's really at play. In any case, the situation is a tragedy.
No, it's not a tragedy, it's hilarious. Jesse Jr. is depressed. If Jesse Sr. was my father I'd be depressed too.
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I'm surprised that the race card hasn't been raised--pro OR con.
Honestly, since he comes from that Chicago polital system, which is corrupt and shameless, it's not surprising that he ended up a crook. Jesse Sr, himself, was a rogue and played loose with the rules, so the kid did not have a good role model. Too bad, hopes were high.
Is increasing the money spent on food stamps really something to note as an accomplishment? Wouldn't it be better if he had decreased the number of people who need food stamps?
Not with his constituency.
A huckster like his dad