I bought the special addition MAGA hat trio and saved $15 bucks. His stuff is selling really really big, I mean big. Mr. O sold well over $200 million in memorabilia but his failed replacement only sold $800k and most was the toilet paper with his portrait, and the stickers saying "I did that".

What a SLAP in the face for the family let alone Rev. Jackson our past 'leaders' were at his funeral. How shameful. But it fits what they are about . THEM THEM THEM. What a disgrace.

Here are the last few paragraphs of the eulogy, the first is the one considered to be political out of a 30 min speech. While those with an agenda may characterize it as such, I don't see calling for people to stay hopeful as Jesse Jackson did, in the face of their hard-fought rights being rolled back, a "politicization" of a celebration of life of a person who was a political activist.

"We are living in a time when it can be hard to hope. Each day we wake up to some new assault on our democratic institutions, another setback to the idea of the rule of law, an offense to common decency. Every day you wake up to things you just didn't think were possible. Each day, we're told by those in high office to fear each other and to turn on each other, and that some Americans count more than others, and that some don't even count at all. Everywhere we see greed and bigotry being celebrated and bullying and mockery masquerading as strength, we see science and expertise denigrated while ignorance and dishonesty and cruelty and corruption are reaping untold rewards. Every single day we see that, and it's hard to hope in those moments. So it may be tempting to get discouraged, to give into cynicism. It may be tempting for some to compromise with power, and grab what you can, or even for good people to maybe just put your head down and wait for the storm to pass.

But this man, Rev. Jesse Lewis Jackson, inspires us to take a harder path. His voice calls on each of us to be heralds of change, to be messengers of hope, to step forward and say, "Send me." Wherever we have a chance to make an impact, whether it's in our school or our workplaces or our neighborhoods or our cities, not for fame, not for glory, or because success is guaranteed, but because it gives our life purpose, because it aligns with what our faith tells us God demands, and because if we don't step up, no one else will.

How fortunate we were that Jesse Jackson answered that call. What a great debt we owe to him. May God bless Rev. Jackson, may he rest in eternal peace."

Since when is attending the funeral of someone you admired a slap in the face? In what world is that right? Jesse Jackson is a modern day founder of civil rights, and most of us are grateful that path was paved, beginning with him and his contemporaries. That change could've only happened at the national level, led by presidents and other influential, nationally recognized folks.

Of course, racist idiots ended many of their lives, JFK, Dr. King, Malcolm X, Medgar Edgar, James Earl Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Henry Schwerner... I guess Jackson is quite blessed to have survived the civil rights genocide. And current day idiots want to go backwards, continuing the killing of brown skinned people and those of us who would block their path to do so.

Yes, rob, Jesse Jackson was there the day MLK was shot.

rob, please explain how a communist talking out JFK was racist? And wasn't Malcolm X taken out by a member of Islam for reasons of his departure and from the nation of Islam and criticizing the group? Doesn't sound racist in my book.

The rest were race based, but I could list thousands of black on white killings, but I'll just start with the Zebra murders. 15 Caucasians were murdered because of their race by members of the nation of Islam who were black and racists. Oh, the same group Mr. X was a member of but quit.

I meant a civil right activist and leader was killed, nothing more.

rob, I wish I could like your post 1,000 times. There are still many racists amongst us. I hadn't thought about it but Jesse Jackson was fortunate not to have been assassinated. So much hatred against human beings that are simply different colored skin.

And Fortunately our president wasn't assassinated, and those attempts were because of the same irrational emotional repetitive rhetoric I see here on this thread.

Führer? Grow the h*ll up Lilly and show just an ounce of intelligence. The movie Idiocracy comes to mind every time I read some of these threads.

The current president was shot by a registered R epublican white male, Kevin, and your comments reflect the results of a number of studies that show association between IQ and political affiliation.

I'm not sure where the conversation is going but let's be factual about JFK. He dragged his feet and resisited efforts to push forward civil rights legislation. Remember that at the time, most of the Southern segregationists, including Senators and Congressmen, were members of the Democratic party. He worried that pushing it forward might erode his electoral base.

It took LBJ, who had political power and the Senate in his back pocket in ways JFK never came close to having, to get the legislation enacted. Johnson's attitude was that he didn't care what the consequences could be, it was the right thing to do. Morally higher ground than where JFK stood.

So the man who proposed the landmark Civil Rights Act in a nationally televised address, but was killed before it passed wasn't an activist and had nothing to do with civil rights going forward. Got it. Sure, sure. That sounds totally correct.

It took Johnson to get the civil rights legislation over the finish line. JFK did propose the legislation.

Read more than headlines, rob. He dragged his feet on it for years. His Senate record does not show consistent support for civil rights. He continued on the same path as president until the public outcry became too loud to ignore.

JFK was anything but a politician with high standards of integrity and concern for the moral high ground. He saw civil rights issues as being political challenges, not moral ones. When he could no longer continue putting it off, he stood tall and talked about it being a moral issue. it was another of many examples of his hypocrisy while making a 180 degree turn.

Here's something from a Christian Science Monitor (an impartial paper) written at the time:

++++++++++++++

On civil rights, they marched to different cadences.

Early in his administration, President Kennedy did not want to be seen as too eager to press for such moves as equal housing and voting protection for minorities, even though he saw such changes as inevitable. King was not invited to his inauguration or to an initial meeting of civil rights figures in the Oval Office.

King and other leaders did not think the new White House was doing all it could. Freedom Riders intent on ending segregation in interstate transportation spread through the South and began to force Kennedy’s hand. In May of 1961, Bobby Kennedy personally directed the deployment of federal marshals to protect King in a dangerous situation in Montgomery, Ala., where the civil rights leader had gone to preach to Freedom Rider supporters in Ralph Abernathy’s First Baptist Church.

White moderates had counseled African-Americans to remain patient for years; they were tired of waiting. In July 1962, King publicly urged the president to do more “in the area of moral persuasion by occasionally speaking out against segregation.”

PS - Bobby was Attorney General, responsible for enforcing laws, and that was why he was involved as described

I'm well acquainted with all the events, and actions, on all sides, that led up to the civil rights act. From people far more educated than you on this particular topic.

For you to dismiss what he did as nothingness only proves you'd say the sky was green because it was I who said it was blue.

"Don't let the sunshine spoil your rain..."

😄

OMG Carol! Thanks for a good laugh! I loved it.

" I'm well acquainted with all the events, and actions, on all sides, that led up to the civil rights act. "

Your comments suggest otherwise.

Love it Carol!

Kevin..the movie Idiocracy fits every member of the felon's cult.

I seldom agree with Elmer, but the relationship between JFK and MLK was not a friendship. There was a lot of tension and neither man trusted the other. JFK was first a foremost a politician. He did not want to upset the powerful Southern Democrats. JFK authorized Hoover wire tap MLK and opposed the March on Washington.

But it was a different time and we had an active free press that covered both Civil Rights and the Anti Vietnam War movement with vigor. JFK pushed back on the press. He didn't hesitate to use the FBI and CIA to monitor journalists or "bully" networks into canceling unfavorable reports. He pushed back on Civil Rights legislation as long and hard as he could until it was clear that the press and through the press coverage, the majority of the people backed the Civil Rights Movement. Only under pressure did he bring forth the bill.

How I wish we still had an active free press in America.

RIP Jesse Jackson

Thanks, Jennifer. I forgot to mention the administration wiretapping King's phones. They also had paid informants spying on him.

Funny how someone can consider themself "well acquainted" with what was going on without knowledge of widely known facts that later came to light in addition with the public displays of moral and political conflict that went on for some time that everyone knew about as they happened.

The facts paint a very different picture from how she'd like to think it was.

I remember that MLK's phones were wiretapped, and potentially scandalous stories were circulating. Imagine what future historians and journalists will write about THIS scandalous period of our history.

Similar activity with MLK and now with DJT. Both were suspects based on Fabricated lies to discredit them, MLK with communist ties, and DJT with Russian neo-fascist ties.

Surveillance of both, MLK communication surveillance ordered by Robert Kennedy, and DJT surveillance in a roundabout way by tapping his advisor's communications through a FISA warrant based on paid lies and signed off by DNC hacks. One was assassinated the other was almost assassinated, both accomplished great things. MLK has his own day, and in the future DJT will also have his own day to celebrate, and my be world wide with orange the national color.

There is nothing scandalous, just as there was nothing scandalous 60 years ago. I was taught the lies about MLK over the decades but smart enough to learn otherwise. You? I don't think so because you swallow the lies like Brawndo, because it has electrolytes... duh....

Well one thing MLK and DJT had in common was cheating on their wives. Though I never saw any allegation that MLK used underaged girls, r@ped and hit them...

Here I thought this was a post on Jesse Jackson that curved into a discussion on the history of the Civil Rights Movement.

Neither JFK or MLK were saints, neither were faithful to their wives, but if you know anything about that period of time you know that many women were powerless. They stayed home, raised the children while the husband went to work and gave them an allowance to spend on clothing and groceries. If they did have a job outside of the home it paid nothing. Women didn't have the right to have a credit card or get a mortgage in their name. If they fought their husband and they lost their marriage, they lost everything. Women stayed because they didn't have much choice. Without consequence men, especially men in power, were free to do what they wanted and the women had to hide their bruises and stand by their man.

I am glad to see that Jesse Jackson did lie in state, complete with flags at half-staff, at the Capital in Columbia, South Carolina. The man deserves our respect and thanks for the contributions he made to further racial equality in this country.

I am very surprised the powers-that-be haven't made this disappear yet...

Discussions of anything in a public person's personal life have no relevance to a discussion of their public works, influences, or accomplishments/failures. To me, it's a sign of a lack of ability to discuss issues and leave out irrelevancies by those feeling the need to mention such things.

@lily316 - discussions are removed by the moderators if they contain comments about the current administration and the rest of us would like to discuss and remember Jesse Jackson and the Civil Rights movement

@jennifer, I deleted my comment, and you might also advise kevin who's been baiting me, almost calling the felon/rapist a saint

Here I thought this was a post on Jesse Jackson that curved into a discussion on the history of the Civil Rights Movement.

Jesse Jackson=the Civil Rights movement

The Civil Rights movement needed to be fought from all angles, and with multiple solutions. If that meant Malcolm X (not necessarily someone with whom I agreed) tactics, or JFK trying to be more diplomatic (I find "dragging his feet" to be an embellishment), and Dr. King's words reminding the government that they'd written a check that came back with insufficient funds.... it took everyone doing things their way. I certain never said any of them were bedfellows. Throwing shade at me, and twisting it to fit your narrative is a lack of ability to discuss the issue with any decorum. Not my problem.

@lily316 - Point taken

@kevin9408 - discussions are removed by the moderators if they contain comments about the current administration and the rest of us would like to discuss and remember Jesse Jackson and the Civil Rights movement

" I find "dragging his feet" to be an embellishment "

Learn some more. In response for requests for action, he kept saying No until he realized it was too late to push back. His conduct in the Spring of '63 was politically motivated, not by any moral motivation to do the right thing. He was a man who had a history of not necessarily being motivated to "do the right thing" if doing something different was more to his benefit in some way. It's the example his father set and taught to all of his sons.

JFK's actions over the years to decline supporting civil rights actions during and before he became president are well documented.

You seem to reject learning new things about matters you didn't know before. As if thinking, "I didn't know that, so you're wrong".

I thought I had seen a mention of his championing civil rights during the time he was a Senator. Am I incorrect about that?

He had a mixed record. His Senate years were a pre-calculated runup to an expected ultimate presidential run (orchestrated by his father) and he tried hard to not alienate any constituencies whose votes could matter.

As mentioned before, a big block of the Democratic party was composed of Southern senators and representatives who all opposed Civil Rights legislation. And, as expected, when the Civil Rights legislation and many other blockbuster social benefit bills were passed (bullied into passage by LBJ as only he could do) that were the pieces of LBJ's Great Society, the Southern politicians ultimately left the party and moved over to the Republicans. Which is where they remain to this day.

LBJ's substantive accomplishments were tarnished by his mishandling of the war in SE Asia. In his first two years, less time in office than JFK had spent accomplishing mostly nothing, LBJ presided over and was personally involved in working Congress to get these bills passed (not a complete list):

Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965, Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, Economic Act of 64 creating Job Corps, VISTA, Head Start, Education Act of 65 providing federal funding for low income school districts, Higher Ed Act of 65 providing federal college scholarships and loans, Food Stamp Act of 1964, SSA Amendments in 65 creating Medicare and Medicaid, HUD Act in 65, Creation of NEA and NEH in 1965. And on and on.

His record of accomplishments makes JFK look like a do-nothing caretaker. Likely none would or could have passed during Kennedy's presidency.

@murraysmom Zone 6a OH - the media likes to romanticize JFK and you may have seen this information somewhere, but the truth is that he did not have a strong record as a senator for backing Civil Rights.

As a senator (1953–1960), John F. Kennedy had a mixed, cautious record on civil rights, often prioritizing party unity and avoiding alienation of Southern Democrats over aggressive legislative action. While he supported voting rights in principle, he was not a leading champion of the movement during this period. (JFK Library)

Kennedy often avoided making civil rights a central issue to avoid dividing the Democratic Party.

1957 Civil Rights Act: He was wary of losing Southern support and ultimately voted against key parts of this legislation, which was the first federal civil rights act since 1875.

It’s true that the media romanticize JKF and his family to the royal status. Even though he was not a leading civil rights champion in the 50s, his stance shifted afterward during his presidency when he proposed the bill that eventually became the Civil Rights Act of 1964 after his assassination. So most historians characterize his Senate record as moderately supportive but cautious due to his willingness to compromise with Southern Democrats.

“1957 Civil Rights Act: He was wary of losing Southern support and ultimately voted against key parts of this legislation, which was the first federal civil rights act since 1875.”

This is partly true but oversimplified and slightly misleading. On the record,

- He voted for the “jury trial amendment,” which civil rights supporters believed weakened enforcement of the law.

- He also cast a procedural vote against the Eisenhower bill at one stage, which critics viewed as an effort to placate Southern Democrats.

- Kennedy voted on multiple amendments and procedural motions related to the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

- He supported some provisions, such as the section giving the attorney general enforcement power (Title III).

So the situation is more nuanced than simply “voted against key parts.”

Kennedy understood that your party has to stay in control or you get nothing done. Southern Democrats had a habit of voting conservative and of course opposing any positive change for black people. They had to be worked on and paid off just like some of the edgier GOP today. It is the system we have. The majority party decides who is the head of all the committees and what bills come to the floor for votes. Bobby Kennedy was for a quicker more aggressive approach. LBJ was able to use the political advantage, leverage etc earned by the death of Kennedy and for reasons I have never really understood spent it lavishly on passing civil rights legislation to advantage in part people he did not believe to be his equal. He was so far as I can tell one the Paternalistic racists. He knew how to manipulate people on both sides of the isle.

But we are here to talk about Jesse Jackson who in spite of knowing he could be killed any day of the week continued to push for unity and equality the whole of his life. That is courage and conviction that should not be dismissed.

My grandparents would of skinned you all alive for suggesting JKF was something less than a Saint. His pictures hung on the walls in most homes, and the crying could be heard from the streets in our predominantly Catholic town.

Johnson's vice president Hubert H. Humphrey was a local political hero in Minnesota, and as mayor of Minneapolis he was well ahead of the fight as a civil rights leader starting back in 1945. As a senator he was the key author of the Wilderness protection act of 1964, and for us it helped preserve the boundary waters and also the St. Croix river gateway as one of the nation's first National Wild and Scenic Rivers. There aren't many skeletons in Humphrey's closets, and as a Liberal Icon he was also a hardcore anti-communist, and for me he topped the list of politicians for this era.

I had a cousin who was rejected by the Navy, so my uncle wrote a letter to Humphrey and it struck a nerve because he had tried to enlist three times in WWII but rejected for physical reasons, so Humphrey got him in. My cousin is more then a few bricks short of a load and from day one he was always in trouble spending a good amount of time in the stockade, but they wouldn't kick him out because Humbert got him in. A week after Humphrey died he was discharged.

" LBJ was able to use the political advantage, leverage etc earned by the death of Kennedy......."

I don't think so.

Have you read Robert Caro's books? The last one finished in the early says of his presidency but from them you'd learn that LBJ's political power in Washington far exceeded JFK's. He sat quietly as VP and followed the rules but when given the keys to the car, he took it places the prior owner never dreamed of. And did it with his own know-how and resources.

Bobby Kennedy and LBJ were always well-known adversaries, starting in the Kennedy administration. Bobby was my favorite politician at that time, and I had signed up to work in his presidential campaign in 1968 when he was tragically murdered. I still find it difficult to believe that the idiot head of the Department of Health is not only his son but his namesake.

@kevin9408 - I was blessed with a mother-in-law who was a kind and good, generous and gentle soul. She lived with my ex and I 6 months each year for many years after my FIL went into a nursing home and then passed away.

I never wanted to burst her bubble, so I left things pass, but to be honest, it was hard not to react when she talked about JFK riding down Centre Street in the Hill District of Pittsburgh and shaking peoples hands and how you knew when he looked at you that he truly understood the plight of the black people living on the hill.

Yeah right - the boy born with a silver spoon and unabashed privilege had any clue what it was like to be an impoverished black person in America.

These were just thoughts. My saying anything to discredit her beliefs would have just hurt her feelings and probably wouldn't have done a thing to change her mind.

To be fair that man had a lot of trauma to deal at a young age, after seeing his father murdered - I imagine it's the drugs he got into that have impaired his intellect.

He's clearly damaged and should not be anywhere near the reins of power.

lily, your Kennedy family worship survived the very credible evidence about their collusions with organized crime, when needed to gain political advantage? These were not frivolous disparaging allegations of rivals, they came from believable sources and were quite likely true.

The souring and later double-crossing of that relationship remains a tamped down but realistic explanation for what happened in Dallas in November, '63.

Who said I worshipped the Kennedy family? I liked Bobby and thought he was a decent, kind man, and I was willing to work on his campaign as I have for other Democrats since that time, the last being Obama's twice.

Bobby was his brother's dirty jobs bagman. A political hack. He tried to remake his image after his brother's death, he really had no choice if he wanted to continue in the public eye on his own two feet. He was another in that long line of practitioners of situational ethics and situational morality, always willing to bend to find personal advantage.

You obviously feel differently, no one assessment is the right one. I hope your view is an informed one and not just an emotional or party loyalty one.

My view was the info available at that time, and the fact that I was very young. Nothing you can say will change my opinion of him. And yes, I am very party loyal and proud of it. .

I think Bobby Kennedy's experiences made him "walk the walk", not "talk the walk". I can agree that he was the "bad cop" for his brother, but believe he "walked the walk". And, I also recommend Caro's multi-volume biography of LBJ; he was a complex man!