What Else Did Jesse Jackson Say About Obama?

Since the video came out with Jesse Jackson's comment about wanting to "cut off Barack Obama's nuts", there have been new revelations about other words that Jackson reportedly used.

First, a black New York DJ, James Mtume, came out on WRKS, KISS FM in New York claiming that "high authority and the most respected sources" had revealed that Jackson had referred to Obama as a "no good half-breed n......".

From there, the story slowly spread that there were other comments attributed to Jackson beyond those initially reported by Fox News. Fueling the fire was the comment by Bill O'Reilly that there were other comments made by Jackson which he did not want to disclose since they were "irrelevant" to the issue and he (O'Reilly) had no wish to make Jackson look bad.

My reaction is that the details held back by O'Reilly, if as reported above, were not substantially different from those which Fox released. Then, once the additional remarks began to hit the news, O'Reilly, far from denying them, explained that someone (presumably from Fox News)had taken it upon him/herself to leak the other remarks.

At this point, variations are being spread about on what exactly Jackson said. In one version, Jackson is reported as saying that Obama "was talking down to n.......s". Again, if true, is that so much more embarrassing than what has been shown to the public on tape? A matter of opinion, perhaps.

Whatever the truth is, it would seem that the entirety of the "hot mike" is available through Fox News. Also available is the gentleman to whom Jackson was talking on the tape. Has anyone contacted him for his explanation? If so, why not?

Leaving aside the whole question of whether black people should be casually using a word that society has been trying so hard to make disappear from the English lexicon, the question now must be asked if the mainstream news media has any interest in digging out everything that Jackson said about Senator Obama.

Not that any of this is a slam against Obama. Rather, it represents another embarrassmant for Jesse Jackson, one more in a long line of actions and statements that can only discredit this man as a public figure. Had some white Republican or conservative figure made these kinds of comments about Obama, there would be a firestorm in the media and among Civil Rights groups. No stone would be left unturned to dig out every word that was uttered. Will this be the case with Jesse Jackson?

Don't hold your breath. Apparently, not even Bill O'Reilly was willing to take that extra step.