But I suppose it is worse for Jackson, since "his people" looked up to him. Since his father was a minister who should have instilled in him values of right and wrong.... just like you'd have to be surprised that Jesse Jackson sr was too dumb to wear a condom so he wouldn't get a woman pregnant out of wedlock...a source of *his* shame when growing up....of course children who don't know their daddy's names let alone what he looks like is all the rage these days...
Anyway, a media person said a stupid thing and Rush makes some very good points:
RUSH: I'm surprised they even reported it, Snerdley.
Snerdley's in there having a cow right now over what CNN's doing. CNN's got a graphic up there: "Jesse Jackson Jr. Pleads Guilty, Sad Day for the Civil Rights Community." Snerdley's very cynical today. "What the hell did he ever do for the civil rights community?" You ought to be thankful they're even reporting it! Do you realize how few people care? The son of the Reverend Jackson, Jesse Jackson Jr. -- and his wife -- are pleading guilty here to the inappropriate use of campaign funds, fur capes and who knows whatever else.
And it's a "Sad Day for the Civil Rights Community." (interruption) I don't know why it's a sad day. See, you and I don't think in these terms. You know, when Ronald Reagan died, did anyone say, "Oh, it's a bad day for the white community"? People just don't think this way, but they do. So Jesse Jackson Jr. engages in some criminal activities. Does that taint the whole civil rights community? Not to me it doesn't. What did he ever do for it anyway? He wasn't at Selma.
Anyway, it's part and parcel of the way CNN sees the world. "Sad Day for the Civil Rights Community." If the Reverend Jackson had a son, wouldn't he look like Jesse Jackson Jr.? (laughing) I wonder. You know, I say these things, and you know the left's out there, and they have outrageous reactions, and they just have no sense of humor. They don't understand that we relate things to things other people have said months or years ago.
You people listen every day and you're up to speed. You know the context of things in this program. But if you happen to be a Democrat and you just turned the radio on and you heard me say that you are probably smoking now. (laughing) You're writing letters to the FCC and whoever else. Low-information voter voters are scratching their heads. "He does have a son, and it is Jesse Jackson Jr., and Jesse Jackson Jr. looks like Jesse Jackson Jr.! What does Limbaugh mean?"
We have an audio sound bite from CNN newsroom this afternoon. This is Suzanne Malveaux talking to Mary Mitchell of the Chicago Sun-Times about the tragic decline of Jesse Jackson Jr. Suzanne Malveaux said, "You know the Jackson family very well. Why did this happen? Why did this just go downhill and deteriorate, Mary? I mean, Jesse Jackson Jr. comes from a very prominent family. His father's had his own problems, yeah, but why did he succumb to all of this?"
MITCHELL: I see an American tragedy. You have Jesse Jackson Sr. and you have a son who was raised at his feet, the feet of civil rights leaders. Great education, great opportunity, Chicago royalty. I have to say this, that even in Chicago there were signs than that was not quite right. The high living, the going to Washington and immediately buying a very expensive house in a very expensive neighborhood. Those things should have been red flags. I don't think we asked enough questions that could have gotten to the heart of this before it got way down this road. We never put the dots together. I think not putting the dots together allowed him to go on down that path. It's his own responsibility, but as media people, we should have seen it coming.
RUSH: Well!
So there you have Mary Mitchell of the Chicago Sun-Times, saying (summarized), "We coulda stopped it in the media if we'da connected the dots. It's our fault he's a crook. If we'da seen those dots being connected... We saw the dots. We didn't connect 'em, and we in the media -- I mean, it's his own responsibility, but we in the media -- as media people, we shoulda seen it coming and we could have stopped it. Why, he's out there buying houses in neighborhoods he shouldn't be living in."
Why not?
Let me ask a simple question: With all the shakedown operations that have taken place over the years, why would anybody in the media assume that Jesse Jackson Jr. doesn't have any money? Wouldn't it be quite natural to assume that Jesse Jackson Jr. has access to all kinds of money? You media people in Chicago, you're putting way too much pressure on yourselves. The media in Chicago is beating themselves up for allowing this to happen. They saw the dots. They just didn't connect 'em. The high living? Well, he's Jesse Jackson Jr.'s son. What's he supposed to do? Live in a slum? He goes out there and buys "a very expensive house in a very expensive neighborhood."
Well didn't he grow up in one?
Where's he supposed to live?
He's Jesse Jackson Jr. There should have been red flags. I don't think we asked enough questions. Coulda gotten to the heart of this before it got way down the road. So they coulda stopped him. They coulda saved him if they'da just asked. What are you doing in this neighborhood? Can you imagine if they had asked that? Ms. Mitchell, are you supposed to do a story in the Chicago Sun-Times saying, "Did Jesse Jackson Jr. buy that Rolex himself?" Is that what you shoulda done?
RUSH: You know, I'm sitting here in uncontrollable mirth, ladies and gentlemen. Mary Mitchell of the Chicago Sun-Times said the media shoulda connected the dots on Jesse Jackson Jr. You mean just like they did on John Edwards? Just like they did on Bob Menendez? Just like they did on Bill Clinton? They never connect the dots. They never ask the questions about Democrats. They never expose any of this. All she's upset about is they weren't able to cover it up. That would be my guess.
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