by Adam B
Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 12:18:33 PM PST
I could have written this diary about
Peter and Marian Wright Edelman, or
Lani Guinier, or
Harold Ickes, or any number of people the Clintons have used, praised and dumped by the side of the road in their efforts to accumulate or maintain power.
I never imagined I'd be writing it about Jesse Jackson.
::
::
Late January 1998. The Clintons' darkest hour of need. The tawdry accusations are out there. Some Clinton aides,
per the NYT, "have already been putting out rumors that Ms. Lewinsky has an overactive imagination and may have fantasized her relationship with the President."
And to whom did the Clintons turn for support? A man previously far on the outside of their universe, invited in for Super Bowl weekend, and from that point forward a regular in their inner circle:
In hushed tones in the inner sanctum of the White House, President Clinton's new spiritual adviser said he offered counsel that is steeped as much in practical politics as in the Bible: "Keep your eyes open and your mouth shut. And don't panic."
For a President at the center of a scandal, that may be sound advice. But it comes from an unlikely source, the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson. This is a man who once condemned Bill Clinton as "Machiavellian" and as having "a character flaw." Mr. Clinton, in turn, fumed that Mr. Jackson was "double-crossing" and "back-stabbing."
So it is all the more remarkable that since word first surfaced about Mr. Clinton's relationship with a former White House intern, the Clinton family -- the President, Hillary Rodham Clinton and their daughter, Chelsea -- have frequently turned to Mr. Jackson, a Baptist minister, for private sessions of prayer, said Mr. Jackson and people close to the President. ...
Several people who are close to the President said Mr. Jackson's emotional support should not be underestimated. "Jesse Jackson has been as good a friend as we've had in this," said Paul Begala, a senior aide to Mr. Clinton. "Oh, he's been good."
Indeed. Throughout their personal and political crisis, when Jackson was needed by the Clintons, he was there for them. During the impeachment proceedings, Rev. Jackson rallied thousands on the steps of the Capitol:
"The American people do not view Bill Clinton as a bad man," the Rev. Jesse Jackson told the crowd. "They see him as they see themselves -- as flawed, as less than perfect."
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You know what happened on Saturday.
(Video)
From necessary member of the inner circle to just some black guy who won South Carolina twice and lost the nomination (not that SC was even contested in 1984 and 1988), in ten short years.
If you think your interest group is immune from being betrayed by them, think again. There is no reason to believe her outreach towards and respect expressed for Markos and we of the netroots will last any longer than is politically expedient for the Clintons. Just ask the gay activists who pleaded with them not to sign the Defense of Marriage Act into law.
moreIn his conversation with Mr. Obama on Saturday, Mr.
Jackson said, “He told me what Bill had said. And
I said to Barack, as a tactical matter, resist any temptation to come down to that level.
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