Jesse Jackson Says Tea Party Wants To Sink Ship To 'Destroy Captain'
DETROIT (CBS 62) Rev. Jesse Jackson stopped by the Michigan Matters set to talk with host Carol Cain about developments in the Trayvon Martin murder case and the emergency manager saga playing out in Detroit.
Jackson also offered a frank assessment of Gov. Rick Snyder's dealings with the Motor City financial crisis. "You can't separate the largest organ in your body from who you are," he said about the state's relationship with the city. "Detroit doesn't have a problem, Michigan has a problem. Why is Detroit in crisis? We bailed out the automotive industry but the city has not been able to be part of that."
Jackson fought against the proposed consent agreement between the state and Detroit, saying "I cannot fathom suspending our democracy in the name of emergency...There should be a bigger table for an emergency summit meeting."
And he took on the issue of the Detroit minister Malik Shabazz who told everyone at the recent emergency manager meeting residents would "burn the city down" before giving it over to an outside group for financial oversight.
"If the man said that on the council ... I would take it more seriously... I can understand expressing pain. That should not characterize the mood of Detroit... They want Detroit to come alive and I think we should focus on that."
Jackson, who won Michigan's 1988 Democratic presidential primary, offered his predictions on Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum's chances of taking the job away from President Barack Obama.
"They seem to have no plan for American reconstruction...50 million in poverty...Their plans are to insure less people," Jackson said. "They are attacking, it's been so mean-spirited."
And the longtime civil rights icon talked about how the media is treating Pres. Barack Obama.
"The media has a story to tell, but what they tend to have to cover is the toxic attacks on him," Jackson said. "The personal venomous attacks...It's all about attack, attack, I think America deserves better."
He characterized the Tea Party as the "Sumpter Tea Party" willing to "sink the ship just to destroy the captain", adding "it's an extreme right wing movement that does not take into account broader America, therefore they make voting less successful, they attack the rights of women, attack the rights of workers, they do not have a sense of foreign policy.
"I think they will choose the visionary (Barack Obama) in this campaign."
