With moist eyes and soft voices, former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife pleaded guilty to federal charges on Wednesday related to years of using campaign funds for personal expenses that included purchases of Michael Jackson memorabilia and a Rolex watch.
"Guilty, your honor," Jackson responded to U.S. District Judge Robert Wilkins while dabbing his eyes with a handkerchief after he looked back at family members in the courtroom, including his father, civil rights activist Jesse Jackson.
The list of Chicago area politicians who were corrupt is long and there's no need to recount it here. I'm never surprised by corruption, because it has been so endemic there that you can almost set your watch by it. It's marginally more newsworthy because of the perp's name, but it's a very, very old story.
And remember, we are not supposed to question the wisdom of putting a Chicago politician in the White House, m'kay?
17 comments:
I'm never surprised by corruption, because it has been so endemic there that you can almost set your watch by it.
Of course in Chicago, the machine will sell you the watch in the first place - and then break your kneecaps if you ask what time it is.
Well, I guess it's true what the say: It really is about the money.
And of course, Michelle Obama's tripling of her pay at the U. of C. after her husband got elected to the Senate wasn't corrupt, nor were her efforts to push poor people out of their emergency rooms, nor was their purchase of their house with the help of convicted felon Tony Rezko, nor did Obama's efforts to open closed divorce records (twice) violate the law.
And certainly there's no reason that the Rod Blagojevich case broke open just before he would have been naming some very interesting names. Nope, nothing to see here, move on, folks.
Bubba, you are such a cynic. Nothing there.
Flattery will get you nowhere, Cousin Dan. :^)
Loved the link, Brad. Nothing like a minister of the Gospel teling the world how to shake people down fo rtheir money.
Was Chicago the inspiration for the Grateful Dead Song Shakedown Street? I'm not amazed that the Jackson's are corrupt. I am amazed that they still have supporters. Odds are Jackson Jr could run for office again and win, even with this conviction. What blind sheep people can be!
Now, Mr. D., as someone who grew up in the same rusty town as Uncle Joe McCarthy you should know the sin of guilt by association very well. No doubt Chicago is the most back-slappy-wink-wink corrupt city in the Midwest; how people there put up with those graft-happy cops I'll never know. But to tar Obama with that brush is really below you. Anyone who has spent a day in the Windy City knows what a grifting-clip-joint it is, but to say that everyone who has lived there can't keep their hands out of anyone's pockets is really a bridge too far. Try and keep your ball on the fairway.
Anon, you seem to be equating corruption and inability to "keep their hands out of anyone's pockets." The post doesn't actually do that. And as Bubba notes, there are certainly examples in Obama's past of corruption. I'd say that ball is on the fairway. The question is how long the drive was.
It's on the green. Sorry, anybody not politically connected with that kind of stuff is going to be spending time in the graybar hotel.
but to say that everyone who has lived there can't keep their hands out of anyone's pockets is really a bridge too far.
Well, everyone is pretty broad. I knew (and know) plenty of honest Chicagoans. They don't happen to be politicians, though. And they don't have to resort to strawman arguments, either.
It's easy to kick a guy when he's down. And perhaps we should in this case: Jesse Jr. playing the mental health thing up while still in congress and it now seems fully aware the law was closing in on his hilarious crimes - a mink cape! what a pathetic cliche for a black dude from the South Side to buy. That's fair game for sure. But then to yolk this Bozo's Circus with the guy in the White House without also showing Mr. Obama driving a Clenet and wearing a fur hat is kinda like a white dude being a little chippy. Okay, is that clearer?
But then to yolk this Bozo's Circus with the guy in the White House without also showing Mr. Obama driving a Clenet and wearing a fur hat is kinda like a white dude being a little chippy. Okay, is that clearer?
I got it the first time, actually. But I didn't agree. Is that clearer?
What can I say? I'm a chippy white dude. I assume that's still allowed, right? And I'm still not convinced that I yoked Obama to Jackson other than to say that he came out of the same miasma. Your mileage may vary, and apparently it does.
It's worth noting that we're not picking on Jackson for his fur coat or car. We're picking on him because he is a con artist from a family of con artists, and any thinking person who's read the Chicago papers at all in the past 40 years knows it.
And the link with Mr. Soetoro is pretty clear as well; he comes from the same tradition of Daley-enabled Democratic con artists from Chicago. Sorry, anon, but you don't get far in Chicago politics without getting the Daley slime on you.
clearly, Jr. is not his father's son. He got caught.
He must have gotten on the bad side of the machine, eh, Gino?
Jackson Sr. is nothing more than a lifetime gravy-trainer living off of the works of Martin Luther King Jr. He's taken full advantage of that association and has been consistently grifting his own supporters while showing up and singing Kumba Ya at every opportunity. He represents everything that is wrong with the civil rights movement, clouding corruption around what should and is a noble and worthy cause. In fact, let's take it a step further, as he really is a microchasm of the Democratic party. People like him and his cronies are why I stopped voting for Democrats who essentially are a patchwork quilt of corrupt special interest groups who use ideals to make bold promises while consistently stealing fom their constiuents who stupidly and gladly continue to elect then in to office. Obama rose from this machine and is most undoubtedly stained from it. All you need for proof is how much Michelle spends on her little junkets.
BTW, if you want an example of Mrs. Obama's mink, look at the cost of her gowns. Suffice it to say that she's not exactly living solely on her husband's wages, when the fabric alone for some of her gowns costs $500/YARD. (eg. her 2009 inaugural gown)
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