When greed trumps service.

"Leadership is a privilege to better the lives of others. It is not an opportunity to satisfy personal greed. "
~Mwai Kibaki~

Every person who runs for political office should keep that quote by Kibaki somewhere close by. This is especially true of politicians of color, who, in my opinion, have a heavier burden to bear. If you put yourself out there to help your community you had better put aside your own selfish needs and personal agendas.

I haven't blogged about Jesse Jackson, Jr. and his recent fall from grace, because I, like others, was led to believe that he was suffering from some form of a mental disease. However, now that he, along with his wife, has pled guilty to stealing campaign funds and lying on their taxes, I find myself having to my man on blast.

Jesse Jackson, Jr. didn't throw away a great political career and a chance to do some real good because he suffered from depression, he did it because he was greedy. I know that it's hard for some of you Negroes to admit it to yourselves, but that's the reality. And now he joins the black polititricksters hall of shame. It is a group who continually brings shame to their communities and families because of their selfish behavior and....greed.

I know that politics is plagued by avarice and a desire for personal gain, but you Negroes just cannot bite.

I just hope that the next group of talented young African Americans who are sitting on the sidelines and waiting to get into the game are taking notes. This is what happens when you put yourself before the people that you are supposed to be serving. And no matter how smart you think you are, in the end you will always get caught.

"In a state where stop-at-nothing political ambition has been well documented  and often rewarded — the seemingly frivolous cause of Jackson's undoing is seen by political observers and former colleagues as both nonsensical and sad.
"When you have a magic name like that, he was in position, waiting for the gun to go off, for mayor, the Senate ... he was playing with the big guys," said Paul Green, a longtime political scientist at Roosevelt University in Chicago who moderated Jackson's first congressional campaign debate. "To go down for this, you just feel sad."

It is sad, but not for Jesse Jackson, Jr.,it is sad for the people of Chicago and the folks who sent him to Washington  to help others and not himself.