Shelby Steele, Wall Street Journal
- A few weeks ago, the Rev. Jesse Jackson made something of a fool of himself. There he was — a historical figure in his own right — threatening the castration of Barack Obama. It was sad to see.
If I have often criticized Mr. Jackson, I have also, reservedly, admired him. He is a late 20th century outcropping of a profoundly American archetype: the self-invented man who comes from nothing and, out of sheer force of personality, imposes himself on the American consciousness. If he never reached the greatness to which he aspired, he nevertheless did honor to the enduring American tradition of bold and unapologetic opportunism.
But now — not looking old so much as a bit lost within the new Obama aura — it is clear that Jesse Jackson has come to a kind of dénouement. Some force that once buoyed him up now seems spent.
