So Jesse Jackson Jr . and his Wife Sandi a former alderman and at times his campaign treasurer and manager are planning to plead guilty to federal charges being filed against them in relationship to misuse of campaign funds. There are additional charges of filing false tax returns that have to be answered as well for the time period that is being spotlighted with the current crop of federal charges that are being filed as we speak.
Mr. Jackson in a statement released this past Friday via the Chicago Tribune:
His wife Sandi pled guilty to one charge of understating income on an income tax return filed during the same time period and has also released a similar statement that purports to regret the mistakes made and looking to put the incident(S) behind her.
All of these sentiments sound reasonable until you actually read the charges being filed.
The Actual Charges
I am including a link here to the actual document of the charges filed against Jesse Jackson Jr.
For those of you who don’t want to sift through the ten pages, the charges being filed include: Conspiracy, False Statements, Mail Fraud, and Wire Fraud and include a motion for Forfeiture
The short version is that Mr. Jackson and his wife and some other person conspired to use campaign funds for personal purchases that included a $4,600 Fedora worn by Michael Jackson; $10K worth of Martin Luther King Jr. merchandise, fur coats and parkas bought in Beverly Hills and shipped to his Washington DC office. This includes a purchase made of a gold Rolex which cost $43,000 and children’s furniture worth $9,600???
Reading the list of items purchased may cause your head to explode if you have any knowledge of the issues currently taking the forefront in Chicago – the city in which Mr. Jackson was supposed to have served the public. You might wonder why someone who’s father worked side by side with Martin Luther King Jr. and marched with him, would need or feel the need to PURCHASE $10K worth of his memorabilia. You might really wonder why anyone who can add one plus one and get two would purchase a Michael Jackson hat for $3,600. The headache starts when you realize he did so with funds that came in from people donating to his campaign for public office.
I am sure there will be much vilification of Mr. Jackson whenever the main stream media gets around to this story. Probably once they take a break from reporting on Beyonce and whatever she is up to now. They should be able to find time to stick a segment in about this in between her and Rhianna. Why no one is all over this story defies all logic and common decency. The thought that what’s done is done just doesn’t quite cut it.
I am so sure the numbers of African Americans that gave their lives for the right to vote so that their lives and the lives of their children could be improved did not make such sacrifices so that this individual could go buy himself a reversible fur parka.
It is most egregious to realize that this is an individual who’s own father was a highly visible part of the Civil Rights movement and struggle and as mentioned earlier actually marched with Martin et. al.
I am not from Chicago but if i were I might be looking for a pitchfork and torch right about now. This whole scandal is such a slap in the face to the constituents that supported his candidacy. Can you imagine residents calling his office to get him to come out to speak at events to stop the violence or in conjunction with events related to jobs and reduction in poverty, and being told his schedule is real full while he is in his office ordering Bruce Lee merchandise with THEIR money?
Don’t the mentally ill have enough to contend with, without comparisons being made to the stupidity of his actions and his notorious break down that required a stay at a long term mental facility.
There already are stories being put out that indicate that he is under strict medical supervision so there’s that. If his mental health makes its way into the proceedings it will probably be the most unsurprising thing to happen in recent memory.
Everyone got upset with Lupe Fiasco when he expressed disdain for the voting process, politics and indicated that he didn’t particularly see a need to vote because it wouldn’t make a difference, one can certainly understand the sentiment without absolutely agreeing with him.
Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. – Exodus 34:7