Does anyone take Jesse Jackson seriously?

Jesse Jackson was recently honored by the Congressional Black Caucus for the 25th anniversary of his first Presidential campaign. As usual, he didn’t miss an opportunity to make himself look like a fool. During his speech, he had this to say about Rep. Artur Davis, who voted against the health care bill:

“We even have blacks voting against the healthcare bill,” Jackson said at a reception Wednesday night. “You can’t vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man.”

Let me get this straight. Is Jesse Jackson saying that race should determine how one votes? Is he also saying that that Mr. Davis is less of a “black man” because he opposed this legislation? I shouldn’t be surprised by this, since he seems to see race as the primary determinant of every outcome. To Jesse Jackson, there is no individual reasoning. Instead, we are all influenced by history and controlled by pigment.

Of course, Jesse jackson himself is different. Many black voters supported Barack Obama during the 2008 election, but Mr. Jackson didn’t seem to be as impressed. Here are some remarks he made about Barack Obama:

“See, Barack been, um, talking down to black people on this faith based … I want cut his n–s off … Barack … he’s talking down to black people.” Jackson appeared to make a stabbing or cutting motion with his hand as he made the remarks.

Mr. Jackson’s vile comments were in response to these remarks made by Barack Obama:

”There’s a reason why our families are in disrepair,” Obama said in a Father’s Day speech at Apostolic Church of God on Chicago’s South Side. “And some of it has to do with a tragic history, but we can’t keep on using that as an excuse. Too many fathers are AWOL, missing from too many lives and too many homes. They’ve abandoned their responsibilities. They’re acting like boys instead of men.”

In response to this statement, Jesse Jackson had this to say:

“My appeal was for the moral content of his message to not only deal with the personal and moral responsibility of black males, but to deal with the collective moral responsibility of government and the public policy which would be a corrective action for the lack of good choices that often led to their irresponsibility.”

Do you notice a pattern here? Jesse Jackson has no use for individual opinions or personal responsibility. To him, all black Americans are in the same situation due to the events of the past, and no amount of hard work and self-reliance will change that. Maybe it’s me, but I would expect someone who presents himself as a leader to be a bit more inspiring. What he says is that you can’t help yourself, only the government and “society” can do that for you.

Here’s a question: Jesse Jackson says Artur Davis can’t call himself a black man because he opposes certain aspects of the House health care bill. Does the same hold true for Mr. Jackson, who continuously calls into question the ability of African-Americans to take care of themselves, and feels they need the government to take care of them? Artur Davis has nothing to be ashamed of, but unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Jesse Jackson.