Jackson is just jealous

Saunders -- By my count, we lost two Jesses this month.

Jesse Helms, who'd been elected to the U.S. Senate five times, was buried July 8.

Jesse Jackson, who's never been elected to anything, was buried days later by his mouth when he leaned over and whispered to a fellow guest on a Fox News program that he'd like to turn presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama into a soprano.

Ouch.

Face it, homes. When you get pimp-slapped by your own son for making such a vicious comment, the sun is setting on your national influence.

Jesse Jackson Jr., an Illinois congressman, came down hard on his pops after his comment about desiring to geld Obama. Seems Jesse Sr. didn't like Obama "talking down to black people." Whatever that means.

Jesse Jr. said he was "outraged by and disappointed in Reverend Jackson's reckless statements."

"Reverend Jackson is my dad, and I'll always love him," the congressman said, but he added, "I thoroughly reject and repudiate his ugly rhetoric. He should keep hope alive and any personal attacks and insults to himself."

Ouch, again.

As does his son, I love Jesse Sr. -- and not just because he gave me my first exclusive interview when I was a college newspaper editor and national reporters literally were baying outside the door to get to him.

On the whole, he has been a force for good in the world -- rescuing hostages from foreign dictators, focusing attention on issues the media would rather ignore, rhyming words that no one thought could be rhymed.

We'd be a lot better off if more black men had his confidence and self-regard: That'd curtail much self-destructive behavior and stop cats from walking around with their drawers showing.

Somewhere along the way, though, Jackson Sr.'s primary mission changed from keeping hope alive to keeping his name and influence alive. That's why I believe his current beef with Obama is not based on philosophy but on jealousy.

Back when he was the HDIC -- Head Dude in Charge, exclusively sought out by the media for comment on all things black -- Jackson espoused essentially the same so-called conservative message Obama did in his Father's Day speech.

I heard him, most memorably in a graduation speech at St. Augustine's College more than 30 years ago, righteously castigating some blacks for their moral and civic shortcomings and for the debased state of black music. The audience was "amen"-ing him all over the place, too.

So conservative was Jesse's message then that critics took to calling him Booker T. Washington in bell-bottoms.

Speaking of Booker T., he, along with other early 20th-century black leaders W.E.B. DuBois and Marcus Garvey, disagreed on the best way for blacks to advance. Booker T. felt we should become laborers and stay in our place. W.E.B. counseled book-learning. Marcus said let's just split and go back to Africa.

They also expressed personal animus toward one another.

For instance, when DuBois boasted of his varied bloodline -- claiming to be made up of black, Cherokee and French Huguenot, among many others -- Garvey reportedly exclaimed, "That's not a man; that's a monstrosity."

Despite their differences, though, Booker T. never went on Fox News and suggested cutting off W.E.B.'s testicles.