Conspiracy Theory

It’s true — Jesse Jackson loves the microphone, and damn well knows when one is turned on. Or even pointed vaguely in his direction. So what’s up with getting “caught” wanting to cut off Obama’s danglies?

After a couple days of doing what I call “thinking” and what my bride calls “drinking and talking out loud to yourself way too loudly,” I came up with a theory.

I call Jackson’s outburst the Reverse Souljah.

Obama needed a way to distance himself from Jackson without actually doing so — which might hurt him with some of his core voters. So why not have Jackson do the job for him? Jackson didn’t denounce Obama, exactly. But he did say that Obama is “talking down to black people,” about things like fatherhood and dependency.

And what could make a potentially-nervous white voter feel more comfortable with Obama than getting that kind of seal-of-disapproval from a race-hustler like Jackson?

It’s a little kabuki, a little Clinton, and a lot smart.