Jesse We Hardly Knew Ye

September’s Esquire included a profile of Jessie Jackson by John H. Richardson.

“In the end, Jackson’s dilemma is like a curse in a fairy tale: Since he chose to base his power on fame, he’s perpetually compelled to chase fame. Yesterday he was in Florida, tomorrow he’ll be in Atlanta, today he’s talking to a TV camera in an industrial park in downtown Phoenix. “This filibuster protected a minority in the Senate,” he says, “not the minorities outside.”

But they didn’t invite Jackson here to speak about the filibuster decision. He’s appearing as “Michael Jackson’s spiritual advisor,” come to address such weighty matters as whether a guilty verdict will force the pop singer to sell Neverland or perhaps even the Beatles catalog. So he waits politely and tapes his segment and then pleads with the producer one more time. “Tell Chris [Matthews] I”m interested in talking about John Bolton and the filibuster issue.”

“I’ll tell him,” she says, a total blow-off.”