Obama Dissed by Jesse Jackson Hot Mic.

Looks like Barack Obama cannot make everybody happy these days. Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson tore into Obama with comments he thought were off-air. However the video was presented on the O’Reilly Factor show on FoxNews, July 9th 2008. Drudge broke the story earlier in the day.

So what did Jackson say? In the video Reverend Jackson says that he wants to “cut his nuts out” for lecturing in black churches about the welfare state. The crux of Jackson’s argument is that Obama is not talking racial victimization enough.

Anyone who has carefully heard Obama speak would probably come to the opposite conclusion. Both of Obama’s parents were Marxists and some of the Big Brother attitude toward a care-taking welfare state has seemingly rubbed off on Barack himself.

Most people believe that Jackson’s remarks help Obama by contrasting him with the victimization culture promoted by a few other black leaders. Speculation is already rampant that Jackson’s comments may be a staged event to show Obama is not “one of Us” but that theory seems silly. In only makes sense given that Obama is still paying the price for joining a controversial church and for his wife’s writings at Princeton. Literally Obama clearly is “one of Us” in the black community given the overwhelming support for his candidacy. However, I do not think this was an orchestrated event.

Regardless Reverend Jackson has apologized for the remarks saying they were “crude and hurtful.”

“For any harm or hurt that this hot mic private conversation may have caused, I apologize. My support for Senator Obama’s campaign is wide, deep and unequivocal. I cherish this redemptive and historical moment.”

The worry now is that a Barack Obama presidency could be plagued by racial posturing. Some civil rights leaders like Jesse Jackson will pound on him for not doing enough to lift urban America. Another large segment will continually criticize him for putting individual communities above the common culture by his support for affirmative action programs. Some will do both. Only two weeks ago Ralph Nader simultaneously accused him of appealing to “white guilt” AND talking “too white.”

Such turmoil may be the price paid for our nation’s first black president since we will thankfully have one sooner or later, whether that person is Obama this year or someone else another day. The potential governance problems with having a liberal black president is one of the reasons that pundits have predicted that the first will be a conservative. As always the decision will be up to the electorate.

See the video below.


Jesse Jackson Obama Video

O’Reilly video here or here.