Jesse Jackson's self-criticism and the state of American politics

Speaking privatelyalbeit with a microphone attached to his lapelto a fellow guest in a Fox News studio, Jackson criticized the Democratic Partys presumptive nominee, Sen. Barack Obama, for his embrace of faith-based social service operations and for talking down to black people. Expressing his frustration with Obamas policies, Jackson whispered that he wanted to cut his nuts off.

Once Rupert Murdochs Fox News discovered tape of the off-air comment, it drove the story to the top of the news, touching off a feeding frenzy on other networks, with announcers feigning shock and employing tortured castration euphemisms out of their supposed inability to repeat Jacksons scandalous words.

This kind of infantilism is an insult to the intelligence of the American people. Politics, as the saying goes, isnt beanbag. Interestsboth social and personalare at stake, and those involved are prone to anger, and even on occasion rude comments.

The broadcast of the remark, which was not intended for public consumption, could have been dealt with quite easily by Jackson. He could have made the point that he was obviously speaking metaphorically, meant Obama no physical harm and, from a political standpoint, there really was nothing there to cut, in any case.