I am mindful of God’s admonition that he will visit the ‘iniquity of the fathers upon the sons.’ But I pray that HE will decree that Jesse Jackson Jr. has done enough good deeds as a public servant to be exempted from this cursed fate.
(“Despite His Father…,” The iPINIONS Journal, November 13, 2008)
Alas, God did not answer my prayer:
Jackson, son of the famed civil rights leader and former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson, was sentenced Wednesday to 30 months in prison for misusing $750,000 in campaign funds, in what the prosecuting attorney called ‘one of the most significant abuses of the campaign-finance system’ ever. Jackson pleaded guilty in February to improperly spending campaign funds on a $43,000 Rolex, a mink cashmere cape, Michael Jackson’s $4,600 fedora, and thousands of dollars worth of ‘Bruce Lee memorabilia,’ among other items.
Jackson’s wife, Sandra, was also sentenced Wednesday to one year in prison for filing false joint tax returns over a six-year period.
(This Week, August 14, 2013)
Of course, the “reverend” father could be forgiven for seeking some measure of absolution, for his son, given the example of conspicuous consumption – paid for by dubious means – that he set for Jesse’s Jr. to follow.
I’ve had to raise many questions myself about, did I confuse success with sickness. Jesse has been driven to succeed to be effective.
(WGN Chicago, August 14, 2013)
Except that Jesse Sr. is now confusing “sickness” with the good old-fashioned greed that had his son living the lifestyle of the rich and famous on nothing more than his congressional salary. For the only sickness Jesse Jr. manifested was the delusion that he could do the crime so ostentatiously and not do the time.
And for the record, bear in mind that politics is their game, but money is their aim. Father and son actually summed up this fact (with no hint of irony) in the title of their seminal 1999 book, It’s all about the MONEY!, on the Jackson family’s political enterprises.
Meanwhile, the pithy parting words Jesse Jr. offered after sentencing on Wednesday speak volumes about his abiding conceit and sense of entitlement:
I still believe in the power of forgiveness; I believe in the power of redemption… And I still believe in resurrection.
(NBC News, August 15, 2013)
But talk about delusional: On the one hand, Jesse Jr. seems to be casting himself as both Jesus and Barabbas. On the other hand, he seems to believe that the moral/categorical imperative now is not for him to repent and make restitution for his sins, but for his voters to forgive him so that he could resurrect his political career, which for him would constitute (political) redemption.
Good riddance, Jesse!
Related commentaries:
Despite his father…