You can be forgiven for thinking that the 2008 political season ended on 4 November with the historic election of Barack Obama as the first black president of the United States. Alas, this is not so.
For in addition to a number of hotly contested congressional races that remain unresolved, great drama and suspense is still simmering over the question of who will fill Obama’s seat in the US Senate.
Illinois state law provides that Gov. Rod Blogojevich will appoint a successor. And the only criteria for the appointment is that he must appoint someone who is a resident of the state, is at least 30 years old and has been a United States citizen for at least nine years.
But, even though many worthy Illinoisans meet these qualifications, I am convinced that Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr (D-IL) is uniquely qualified to succeed Obama.
That said, I am mindful of God’s admonition that he will visit the “iniquity of the fathers upon the sons.” But I pray that HE will decree that Jackson Jr has done enough good deeds as a public servant to be exempted from this cursed fate.
And nothing demonstrates this fact quite like the way he dared to support Barack Obama’s candidacy early on when most opportunistic black politicians, including his father, were pledging support for Hillary Clinton. But what truly sealed Jesse Jr’s bona fides in this respect was the way he publicly condemned his father for threatening to “cut off Obama’s nuts” for refusing to play his race-baiting politics.
Specifically, here’s what Jesse Jr said:
I’m deeply outraged and disappointed in Reverend Jackson’s reckless statements about Senator Barack Obama….He should know how hard I’ve worked for the last year and a half as a national co-chair of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. So I thoroughly reject and repudiate his ugly rhetoric. He should keep hope alive, and any personal attacks and insults to himself.
[Jesse Sr is to Barack’s campaign what Bill was to Hillary’s: a saboteur, The iPINIONS Journal, July 11, 2008]
Therefore, I hereby call upon Gov. Blogojevich to appoint Jackson Jr to fill President-elect Obama’s seat in the US Senate.
After all, Jackson is easily the most celebrated and accomplished candidate (having secured over $600 million in federal appropriations for infrastructure projects, schools and healthcare facilities in his Chicago constituency during his 13 years as a congressman).
Not to mention that he’s also the only one being considered who can save the Senate from the ironic spectacle of having all-white members serving with a black president.
And, ultimately, it behooves the governor to beware that the most respected member of his Serbian-American community, moja tasta Bisenija Todorovich, has declared that appointing Jackson is the only right thing to do….
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Jesse Sr is to Barack’s campaign what Bill was to Hillary’s
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