# Rev. Jesse Jackson, you're wrong (again) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 18, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-youre-wrong-again/155920 "2003-02-18T17:31:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-youre-wrong-again/155920/1 "2003-02-18T17:31:03Z")
[That’s not right, Jesse.](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=533&e=1&cid=533&u=/ap/20030218/ap_on_re_us/club_deaths) > [@](#): > > On Tuesday, Jackson called for an independent investigation of the tragedy by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. He said the club owner should not be made a scapegoat and the city shares some blame for not enforcing codes, adding, “It is the job of inspectors and officials to do just that.” 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. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-youre-wrong-again/155920/2 "2003-02-18T17:38:50Z")
Ugh, do people still listen to him? If so, why? ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-youre-wrong-again/155920/3 "2003-02-18T17:43:22Z")
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”. ---
**Author:** ![Siemsi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b19c9b/32.png) [@Siemsi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siemsi)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-youre-wrong-again/155920/4 "2003-02-18T17:45:09Z")
Jesse please go away. Please? ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-youre-wrong-again/155920/5 "2003-02-18T17:49:19Z")
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. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Powers106](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@Powers106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers106)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-youre-wrong-again/155920/6 "2003-02-18T17:58:53Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-youre-wrong-again/155920/7 "2003-02-18T18:04:52Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-youre-wrong-again/155920/8 "2003-02-18T18:21:46Z")
Oh it gets [better](http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-brown18.html) kids. > [@](#): > > Derrick Mosley is an upstart community activist who thought he had something special to contribute in the aftermath of Monday’s deadly stampede at the E2 Chicago nightclub: a letter he says he sent two months ago to the club’s president warning about overcrowded conditions and the potential for “catastrophic” results. > > Mosley brought copies of his letter to Rainbow PUSH headquarters, where the Rev. Jesse Jackson was holding a combination prayer vigil and press briefing. Mosley said he’d been invited. It seemed like the kind of thing Jackson might showcase. > > But when he started passing out his letters, Mosley found himself about as welcome as the proverbial skunk at a garden party. Urged to cool it, he kept quiet during Jackson’s presentation. Afterward, when he consented to interviews, he was told by PUSH personnel to take it outside. \ > [@](#): > > Mosley found that a little odd, especially when it came out during the press briefing that Jackson had gone to bat for the club last summer at a time when city officials were seeking to crack down on the establishment. \ > [@](#): > > “The police wanted to close the establishment,” Obadele said. “There was a coalition of us who stood up for him. Rev. Jackson was one of the supporters.” How soon before the Reverend **explicitly** plays the race card (rather than just say it’s the city’s fault) in terms of blame for this? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Trob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Trob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trob)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-youre-wrong-again/155920/9 "2003-02-18T19:39:42Z")
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. FWIW Jesse Jackson Jr was in London. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-youre-wrong-again/155920/10 "2003-02-18T20:56:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Powers106 \* > \*\*He certainly got there quickly! What anti-war march was he attending? I saw footage on BBC that implied he was in London! \*\* That proves it! Who else could get from London to Chicago in less than 4 hours? Who could Jesse Jackson be? I wonder, could be be… SATAN?!?!?! ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-youre-wrong-again/155920/11 "2003-02-18T21:07:47Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-youre-wrong-again/155920/12 "2003-02-18T21:36:22Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-youre-wrong-again/155920/13 "2003-02-19T06:20:35Z")
Not that it matters that much, but Jesse is also a friend of the lawyer representing the owners. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-youre-wrong-again/155920/14 "2003-02-19T12:53:00Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-youre-wrong-again/155920/15 "2003-02-19T13:08:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lord Ashtar \* > \*\*That proves it! Who else could get from London to Chicago in less than 4 hours? Who could Jesse Jackson be? I wonder, could be be… > > SATAN?!?!?! \*\* 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? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-youre-wrong-again/155920/16 "2003-02-19T13:13:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rsa \* > 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. > [@](#): > > At a City Hall news conference Tuesday, Police Supt. Terry Hillard said Jackson intervened on Kyles’ behalf when security at E2 became an ongoing problem last year. > > Hillard said he received a phone call from Jackson and a letter. > > […] > > During the phone calls and letters, **Hillard said Jackson made no mention of licensing issues. Nor did he urge the city not to shut down the building.** [emphasis added, from [here](http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-pol19.html)] ---
**Author:** ![Dragon\_Ash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b3f665/32.png) [@Dragon\_Ash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragon_Ash)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-youre-wrong-again/155920/17 "2003-02-19T14:46:27Z")
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… ---
**Author:** ![Chanticleer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/65b543/32.png) [@Chanticleer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanticleer)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-youre-wrong-again/155920/18 "2003-02-19T17:47:32Z")
The last time Jesse Jackson said anything that made any sense was…well I can’t remember when it was, but it is rumored that he did… I think. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-youre-wrong-again/155920/19 "2003-02-20T05:08:26Z")
This is an excerpt from the article **Dragon Ash** mentioned (emphasis added). > **[Deadly Stampede Prompts Debate on Club's Defiance (Published 2003)](https://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/19/us/deadly-stampede-prompts-debate-on-club-s-defiance.html)** > > Chicago officials acknowledge doing nothing to ensure that restaurant-nightclub E2, where 21 people died in stampede on February 17, was obeying court order barring entry to its second floor but blame club's owners as reckless and negligent; city's... > [@](#): > > Several African-American ministers said today that they had been told the club had been singled out by city officials, and tried to help it survive by taking prominent events to the club and backing its bid for more police patrols. > > “There is a conspiracy against black business owners,” said the Rev. C. L. Sparks, who works with the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. **"For them to be open, somebody let them be open and somebody knew."** > > In the letter to city officials last April, Mr. Jackson noted the commitment of Mr. Kyles and his father to the civil rights struggle and called E2 and Epitome “an example of the best that our business community has to offer.” > > The Rev. Bamani Obadele, 30, who runs the Harvest Holistic Community Center…“There was a move to close ranks around this business,” he said. **"There were people who felt, including myself, that maybe the city was on a witch hunt to close black businesses."** 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. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-youre-wrong-again/155920/20 "2003-02-20T05:54:08Z")
So, apparently, it’s not because the club wasn’t up to code, it’s because the cops were racist? Fuck that shit. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rev-jesse-jackson-youre-wrong-again/155920.md?page=2)