Parents want the best of everything for their children. Even after getting the best of everything, children sometimes fall short of goals set by parents regardless of their teachings and advice.
When Sandi and Jesse Jr., came onto the national political stage they were novices compared to politicians from the “school of hard knocks.” They were well educated, but had no mentoring from seasoned politicians like William L. Dawson, Ralph Metcalfe, or Claude Holman to guide them through political pitfalls. Driven by today’s political culture of power, greed, and “I didn’t do it,” they would succumb to misappropriating Campaign Funds.
Jesse Jackson Jr. pleaded guilty in Federal Court to criminal charges that he engaged in a scheme to spend $750.000 dollars in Campaign Funds on personal items. Sandi Jackson pleaded guilty to filing false Joint Federal Income Tax returns that knowingly understated the income the couple received. Both are facing prison terms.
The Jacksons‘ knew the rules, but made bad choices because of greed and assumed powers they didn’t have. Because of their mistakes, the Jacksons’ may have to experience some jail time. Robin Kelly, former Illinois State Representative, has been sworn in to take over the seat held for seventeen years by scandal-tarnished Jesse Jackson Jr.
Harry Browne said, “Everyone will experience the consequences of his own acts. If his acts are right, he’ll get good consequences; if they’re not he’ll suffer for it.” Even if the Jacksons’ have to suffer for their mistakes; maybe they can become advocates for Campaign Reform or go on the talk show circuit (like Karl Rove). They can talk about penalties for misusing Campaign Funds or maybe write a book titled, “Campaign Guidelines for Dummies.”
