Jessie Jackson's reaction.

[Bonobo]

Did anyone else see Jessie Jackson, holding that American flag, as he cried? The pain and joy on his face, the sense that here was a man who was with MLK when the dream was first spoken, well, it just keeps making me cry.

Can this really be true? I am just "gobsmacked" this morning.

ON edit: Let us all thank Jessie Jackson for his role in leading to this moment. None of us can even pretend to know what it is to be in his shoes, so let us not overly criticize him for his role, lack of role, or whatever in the Obama campaign. It is just too far beyond most of us to know what might have been going on on in his mind and heart.

[Avalux]

1. He wasn't just crying, he was sobbing. Completely torn up.

Jackson isn't a favorite of mine, but his reaction really got to me. I just wish he had been more supportive of Obama during all of this.

[Bonobo]

4. I know he was. Torn up is right.

As for his lack of support, all I can say is that is outright IMPOSSIBLE for any of us to put ourselves in his shoes.

[knixphan]

33. agreed.

IMPOSSIBLE.

[ellacott]

5. I believ the fact that he wasn't supportive has a lot to do with his tears

I also wish he had been more supportive.

[nxylas]

6. I wonder if he held back his support for fear of hurting Obama

Jesse must know how unpopular he is with the "I'm not a racist but" crowd (as opposed to the hardcore racists who were never going to vote for Obama anyway) and his endorsement might have done more harm than good among undecided white Americans.

[Avalux]

10. That's possible. I'll take your explanation since it's the kinder one.

Thank you. :hi:

[keith the dem]

14. Of Course

Look at the Rev. Wright fiasco. A few out of context seconds out of decades of sermons were used against him. Despite a lifetime of fighting injustice, The right wing, and much of white America, considers Jackson the poster boy for a crazy, uppity, greedy, horny black leader.

Last night, we all saw, that lifetime of work, and the pain of that lifetime of unjustified marginalization come to the surface.

The full implication of last night's victory was all there in that face. This middle aged suburban white guy cried with him.

[Coexist]

38. I know, he was bawling like I was.

[ananda]

2. No, Jackson was great.

The whole history of Civil Rights was
etched in tears on his face as he stood
in Grant Park.

It was a wondrous moment.

[grasswire]

3. Obama stood on Jesse's shoulders yesterday

Jesse Jackson earned nine million votes in his own quest for the presidency. He broke the ground. He was demonized, vilified, humiliated, and nearly destroyed. A share of yesterday's victory belongs to him.

[Bonobo]

7. Yes. Please let us all give Jessie great thanks. He really deserves it.

You are completely correct :)

[demokatgurrl]

26. And I am very proud to say that, back when I was still

young enough to believe I should always vote my heart, without thoughts of "electability", I voted for him in the presidential primary.

[catgirl]

8. Obama finished what he had started

The immensity of this moment in history is overwhelming.

[kwolf68]

9. I am not really a big Jesse fan

But last night man I felt it from him...the dude really was showing his emotion. Thanks Jesse for your hard work...you may have said/done a thing now and then I didn't agree with, but we can see your heart is in the right place.

[Uben]

11. I was fine until I saw Jackson

....I saw it in his eyes. I saw the deaths of the Kennedys and Dr. King. I saw the sadness being overwhelmed by the joy of seeing a black man elected president. When I contemplated his thoughts, I welled up. I wiped my eyes, and for the moment, I was there with him. It felt good!

[busymom]

12. Jackson is a tool...he badmouthed Obama and

it was caught on audio when he said he wanted to cut Obama's nuts off.

[stillcool]

15. Maybe there is more to..

the man than that comment? I love how people judge a person's worth by a sound byte.

[busymom]

16. there is more to him...and I have never respected him.

[stillcool]

17. ah...well then I understand your remarks..

I'm sure he doesn't respect you either.

[busymom]

21. Jesse Jackson is a jerk, and if

he were a white democrat, people would be calling for him to be disregarded for his blatant lack of respect for barack obama during the election. He accused Barack of talking down to black people and said he wanted to CUT his NUTS OFF! His public and private life is an embarassment...democrat or not.

[stillcool]

27. you didn't need to explain any further..

I'm sure the measure of your worth is far greater than Jesse Jackson.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

19. How interesting.

So far this morning you've slurred Jesse Jackson and defended John McCain.

Are you trying to unmask?

[busymom]

22. whatever....

I can support Obama AND think that McCain is not evil. Imagine that.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

23. Can you explain the double standard?

Why you respect John McCain and hate Jesse Jackson?

Is there some explanation for this double standard that doesn't involve the color of their skin?

I doubt it.

[busymom]

28. What double standard? There is none.

I don't remember John McCain preaching sex within a marriage and then having a child out of wedlock. Jackson funneled money from charitable donations to the mother of that child.... I have no respect for the fact that he stood there and 'counseled' Clinton during the whole Lewinsky thing...all the while knowing that his own girlfriend was pregnant. What an idiot. I don't like him and it has nothing to do with the color of his skin. Obama is black...and I like him.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

30. Ah, that didn't take long.

I didn't expect it'd take long before the "I'm not racist, I like Barack" canard showed up.

[lojasmo]

34. Ahem

John McCain espouses the values of marital fidelity, but had an affair after his first wife was crippled in a car accident.

Tool.

[RollWithIt]

32. You know, we are all entitled to our mistakes, let some of that hate go...

You'll feel better.

[JetCityLiberal]

39. But you are crying over how poor widdle McCain was 'smeared'

Pathetic.

[frogcycle]

13. yes, it was moving

I said a silent "here's to you, man" to him.

Damn, he has to have been replaying all those marches and battles, that awful day on the balcony in Memphis, his own political efforts, and yes, the fact that he is an old warhorse who had to stay out of the way for this dramatic culmination of all those efforts he was such a big part of.

He should be very, very proud.


I wonder if the open mike gaffe was not intentional, throwing himself under the bus to make sure he didn't hold BHO back. Whether intentional or not, it probably did more good than harm.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

18. Jesse Jackson is a good man.

He suffers from foot-in-mouth disease, but he's one of the good guys.

[PresidentObama]

20. It was a beautiful moment. I, like Jackson, was crying.

It was a great day for our country, and we watched history last night.

[MissHoneychurch]

24. When I saw the pcitures

it choked me up. I can't imagine what this man has gone through. And to see this man cry .... it was a powerful moment.

[jobycom]

25. I posted this in another thread, so I'll just repost it here.

Someone said they hoped Jackson wasn't crying out of regret for it not being him:

Jesse Jackson stood by Martin Luther King in his final moments. He was in the motel parking lot when King was shot. He spent his lifetime devoted to Civil Rights, facing not just the outright attacks from racist whites, but the slow slanders that have made even decent people view him as an ambulance chaser and an attention hog. He went to Lebanon and Iraq and negotiated, on his own, the releases of so many hostages I've lost count, saving countless American lives, and gotten nothing but crap for it. If he were white, he'd have won every Peace Prize and ever medal of honor this nation, and most of the world, could bestow on him.

Of course he disagreed with Obama on many things. Obama said a lot of things that Jackson had come to associate with attacks on him or on African Americans over the years. Times have changed, and Obama is a leader for these times, but some of his comments and actions grated against Jackson's experiences. When Obama lectured young black men on responsibility, for instance, Jackson heard echoes of the racist comments of the 70s and 80s, where leaders like Ronald Reagan blamed blacks for their own problems. When Obama praised religious involvement in government or even complemented Reagan, Jackson cringed, having fought against such things his whole life. So naturally he had some issues with Obama.

But his tears aren't regret or selfishness. No way. They are the tears of fulfillment--of his career, of his life, of the sacrifices of a generation of his friends and mentors, some of whom he saw bleeding, some of whom he witnessed dying for their cause. I doubt many of his could possibly understand his emotions at this moment. I watched the same thing with John Lewis last night, as he tried to explain what this meant. You could see he knew that he could never make people understand--they did or they didn't.

Amazing moment for this country. Whether Obama is a great president or, not likely, a complete failure, this moment is about more than him. This is a threshold we have crossed. This is not just the beginning of a new America, it is the ending of an old one. It is the final chapter in the book of slavery, of a white America whose racial supremacy has faded. We are now on the path to becoming the America the Statue of Liberty proclaims, the America that our Founders might have envisioned in their wildest dreams. We are becoming the America we have always told the world we are. And this election is the passageway into that America, whatever happens from this point on.

And brace yourself. This passage won't be easy. The old guard won't let go. But at least it is inevitable.

That's what I saw in Jesse Jackson's tears. I hope to the God I don't believe in that we can finally give that man his due.

[4_Legs_Good]

29. Yeah, that was beautiful

One of the most stirring moments last night.

Ahhhhhhh

:)

David

[FloridaGrl]

31. He had me bawling my eyes out

My husband wept at that moment as well. As an AA, I think the history of our struggle and how far this nation has come just overwhelmed all of us last night. I now live in a new reality. I have always loved this country but the people have proven that we cam truly come together as one, and that we can look beyond skin color. Thank you America.

[Perky]

35. Umm no.. Jackson is a... well others have said it already

I applauid John Lewis, and Joseph Lowerery and Andy Young. But not Jesse Jackson.

[jacksonian]

36. and i don't applaud you

read my sig line. we have to learn to accept people for being the flawed beings we are - that you are. JJ passes my character test, the one you just failed a question on, and he has fought hard all his life for the right things, and that gives him breaks in my book. The rest is nitpicking - the man was truely happy right then, not for himself, not for his advocacy future which this election probably ended forever. But what's obvious here is very simple - he selflessly recognized the good that happened last night, and was moved.

You saw this as a time for old scores. You, too, are a self-interested sack of dust. I know this because we all are.

[Generator]

37. Yes

Keep hope alive-I remember he spoke it before Obama was ever a on the scene.