Yes, codes need to be enforced, Rev. Jackson. HOWEVER, in the absence of strict enforcement, it does not absolve the blame of whomever is violating the codes. It’s the job of the police to enforce the law. By your logic, when someone commits an armed robbery, the police are partly to blame.
Sometimes, Rev. Jackson, it’s better not to say anything. Perhaps you should practice that. I know how tough it is for you to turn down an open microphone, but try.
I was SHOCKED at how quickly Jesse was “on the case”. The ‘chaos’ happened at what? 3:00 am? I got up for work at 7:00 and Jesse Jackson was there, live outside the club “looking for answers”.
Sorry, no cite but I heard on CNN this morning that Jesse Jackson was a friend of the owner. According to the story he had lobbied to keep the club open because it was black owned. I’m all for black owned businesses, but it seems counter productive to kill your black customers.
He certainly got there quickly! What anti-war march was he attending? I saw footage on BBC that implied he was in London!
Of course, I may not have been watching the TV closely enough. IF he was, do you think he has a “wonder woman” style invisible jet to get around! Or, dare I say it, “doubles” that canvas the country ready to pounce on evil corporations, defend cronies, and offer “clarifying” nuggets of wisdom at a moments notice?
It sounds like the club owners were ignoring the court orders to shut down, or at least, there was a miscommunication between the owners and the city about what was supposed to be shut down.
I think the most dangerous place in the world is getting between Jesse Jackson and a television camera.
I know I am going to get pounded on this but… Why is it that Jesse and his ilk like Sharpton will not put blame where blame is due? This man had a club. This club was not up to code. When the police tried to shut it down to force it to be brought up to code “…a coalition of us stood up for him.” Because it was not brought up to code people died. Why can’t we blame this man? Why is always somebody else’s fault? If more people stood up for the truth we would all be better off. I see this in the groups these guys claim to speak for. It is never their fault. It is the cop’s fault, it is the mayor’s fault, it is society’s fault, it is institutionalized racism, blah blah, blah. It has gotten to the point where these fools are hurting their own cause. We hear this garbage all the time and we become numb to it. Then when a real problem comes up it just slips right by. Or worse when some little thing, or an accident, the whole community riots. And who gets hurt then. Jesse’s folks. Except he doesn’t live in that part of town.
I just read this myself and I suppose I should be immune to shock regarding Jackson’s bullshit, but I guess I’m not.
Lemme get this straight: The owner of the nightclub failed to bring his building up to code. The owner of the club is Jackson’s friend’s son. 21 people died there. But it’s the CITY’S fault??
Also in the article: ‘‘This is open use and the city is 100 percent aware of it, and in fact management has asked consistently and repeatedly the city to assist with crowd control,’’ he (an attorney for the owners) said."
Excuse me? Since when is the city supposed to help you manage your crowds in your private business? This wasn’t city property - it’s a NIGHTCLUB. And if you’re having that much trouble with crowd control, perhaps you should take a closer look at a) your clientele and b) THE FACT THAT YOUR BUILDING CAN’T ACCOMMODATE SO MANY PEOPLE.
Honestly, that man is going to make my head explode.
I am not so troubled by Jesse Jackson. He is a hypocritical, lying, opportunistic, race-baiting, extorting waste, and is not worth getting my ire up over.
I am, however, deeply troubled by the fact he is still considered a roll model and speaker for the African American community. THAT is what makes me so sad when I see his mug, once again, on the news.
Monday afternoon my wife was ready to kill Jackson herself. The last ten minutes of one of her soaps was pre-empted for the “press conference” referred to in the article cited in beagledave’s post. It started out with Jackson praying for the dead and their families, repeated calling for God to help them and the rest of the city in this time of grief; then he talked about how Operation Push was making itself available for any assistance needed, making a point of giving out the phone number for people to call. At about this time a channel 7 reported came on and made a semi-apologetic statement that they had been told this would be a news briefing. Then they aired a few more minutes of Jackson making a few vague statements about demanding a full investigation (which the city had already discussed in their own news conference) before the station finally went back to their regular programming.
Hamlet has pretty much summed up my feelings toward Jackson. I just wish the news media would stop pandering to his obviously publicity-seeking tactics.
No, but he could be Superman…hey, maybe he can do that “fly real fast to make the Earth turn backwards and make time reverse thing”, and then save everyone in the club?
I agree with Trob and Hamlet. Jackson and his ilk make me want to puke. According to a NY Times article today, black ministers in Chicago say that the club was ‘singled out’ by city officials, and a Rainbow PUSH Coalition minister says that it was ‘a conspiracy against black business owners’.
Jesus H. Christ on disco ball, I swear that these guys must suffer from lack of oxygen to the brain caused by massive whiplash from their knees.
Yeah, in a massive conspiracy, the officials targeted the nightclub to be shut down. That’s way it was open for business… wait a minute…
This is an excerpt from the article Dragon Ash mentioned (emphasis added).
And at the end of the article, Rev. Obadele says he avoided the place because he thought it was unsafe!
So the race card has already been played at two different times. The first time was because the city was trying to close the place. The second time was because the city didn’t close the place. What a load of utterly hypocritical crap. And we taxpayers of Chicago will wind up paying for it. Fuck them.