In America it’s become fashionable to pile on. That’s what happens when a man falls and is no longer a threat to defend himself and people choose to jump on the pile just to add to the pain. Because they can. The fact that the man is now defenseless is the whole point. I think John Kass piled on.
Let’s be clear about this: I voted for Congressman Jesse L. Jackson, Jr.; I’m proud that I did. It was a conscious choice on my part despite the rumors swirling, despite his extended absence and despite his apparent disability. And I’m not looking to write his political obituary, either, but if the ever-increasingly media speculation is correct, he’ll be our former Congressman soon enough. And I’ll tell you that to me, truthfully, it’s a shame.
What I know for sure about my Congressman is that in addition to taking care of the needs of the communities in his district, he protected our politics. He sought out and supported good candidates at the local and state level. He regularly interacted with local mayors and he wasn’t shy about calling out those he thought were not serving their constituencies. When Bill and Bob Shaw and their 9th ward cronies came after South Holland in an attempt to unseat our mayor in 2005, it was Jackson who first came to our defense and stood by us throughout the campaign. When he supported someone it didn’t matter if the person was black or white, only that he or she was a good person. He gave dozens of truly talented people a leg up in the political process. He fought the fight for the third airport against adversaries who constantly shifted their focus to meet their own agendas (we don’t need the airport, but if we do, we don’t need it here, and if we do, we don’t need it to be big, and if it does, we need to run it, and on and on, ad nauseum) and for many of them the opposition was as simple as not wanting it because they didn’t like him, or his father. Jackson weathered those personal attacks with poise and dignity. He understood where they were coming from. Those folks in the footprint of the airport in Peotone may not believe this, but he felt their pain. He was a compassionate legislator.
Most of the people reading this have no idea how significant it is to protect our politics out in the south suburbs, and how dangerous the 2nd Congressional District has the potential to become. There’s blood in the water and the sharks are going to come to feed. And the hell of it is, as soon as the end comes for Jackson, none of the media will care anymore whether the next congressman is good, bad or indifferent. Like Jackson or not, when a spotlight was needed, he had a spotlight to shine. If indeed his public show is over, he will be a difficult act to follow well.
All politicians are flawed, because they’re all human. If Jackson has failed it was as a man, not as our congressman. He stood tall as our representative. Kass can call me a chumbolone if he wants. I’m not going to pile on. I know what it’s like to fail and not expect to be forgiven, so I look at Jackson with sympathy and compassion and whatever the outcome, I’d like to thank him for caring about us when nobody else did. If nothing else, I did that with my vote.
— Michael Nylen, South Holland
