Some other thoughts on Jesse Jackson...

I guess it's true that Jesse Jackson's comments will help Barack with some segment of white people, and not hurt him at all among black people. But the more I think about this, the more puzzling I find this to be. What did Jesse Jackson actually do to white people? I guess if you're Jewish you could have a legit beef with him over the whole "hymietown" remark, but I'm just not clear on why Jesse gets more hate than any other liberal. Better yet, why is Jesse hated more than some fool who calls America "a nation of whiners" for feeling uneasy about gas prices.

One other tangetial point--Can we retire the phrase "black leader?" There really aren't any anymore, and this is a good thing. Jesse hasn't commanded a national constituincy of black Americans in probably two decades or so. At this point he's basically a media pundit. And that's fine, I don't begrudge him that. But he isn't a "black leader" of any national significance. That's really not a knock on him, either. I don't think any of us would like a return to the conditions which made "black leaders" essential.