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Subscribe to RSSJackson, who has been hospitalized on and off since June for treatment of bipolar disorder, gave up his seat in Congress after 17 years. NBC's Kelly O'Donnell reports.
Updated 2:59 p.m. ET — Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., resigned from Congress on Wednesday following a prolonged treatment for mental health issues.
An aide to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told NBC News that the speaker's office received a letter from the Illinois congressman this afternoon.
"During this journey, I have made my share of mistakes," Jackson wrote in his letter. "I am aware of the ongoing federal investigation into my activities, and I am doing my best to address the situation responsibly, cooperate with the investigators, and accept responsibility for my mistakes, for they are my mistakes and mine alone. None of us is immune from our share of shortcomings or human frailties and I pray that I will be remembered for what I did right."
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s resignation comes just two weeks after he won a ninth term as a representative of Illinois without campaigning and after being out of the public eye for months due to a personal struggle with mental illness. NBC's Kelly O'Donnell reports.
The son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader, Jackson, Jr. had sought treatment for bipolar depression at the Mayo Clinic for much of the past summer and fall. His last vote in Congress was on June 10, and his mysterious disappearance from official duties prompted speculation about the reason for the Democrat's prolonged absence.
Jackson was first elected to Congress in 1995 in a Chicago-area district's special election, and had won re-election to eight full terms since then. He won re-election just 15 days ago by a 40-point margin in the heavily Democratic district. Jackson also survived a Democratic primary challenge this summer from former Rep. Debbie Halvorson. President Barack Obama and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) each endorsed Jackson in the primary.
Amid his battles against mental illness, Jackson has also been embroiled in ethics allegations, which prompted the congressman to reportedly hire an attorney in recent weeks.
In particular, Jackson's efforts to convince then-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to appoint him as Barack Obama's successor in the Senate have drawn scrutiny. Blagojevich, a Democrat, was subsequently convicted of having sought favors and donations in exchange for the appointment.
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Now if we can get rid of that maggot father of his..........
And "uncle bug eye Al"
Blacks seem to vote for corrupt blacks no matter what when they are Democrats. Remember the William Jefferson who had 90,000 dollars in CASH in his FREEZER from corrupt bribes? he won reelection. Marion Barry did. Jesse Jackson heads a corrupt empire and for a preacher turned out to be quite a philanderer with a bastard child from a mistress. He hushed it up with payoffs. now his son? Blacks please note, when you keep re-electing incompetent pathetic corrupt people just because they are black you send a bad message to the corrupt crooks. Charlie Rangel? come on people.
Why do you single out only the black people who do these things? Do you seriously think it's unique to them?
Considering the so called "power of influence" daddy uses, we can almost be guaranteed that "jr." won't suffer much with the legal system. God forbid that their followers would boycott under the guise of "tolerance." Or, worst yet take to the streets rioting. Bet he doesn't lose any benefits either. Adios cu#etto.
very few tears here, get the hell out and let a functional American in. Dont care what or who you are, we dont need any more dip weeds in the government.
Let ALL( no matter what income level) the Obama Tax Cuts expire, that way EVERYONE has "skin in the game".
Finally!!!
Where's Al? Where's Jesse Sr.?
Using bipolarism as an excuse for being dishonest is sickening.
Did you really expect him to take responsibility for his actions?
just another loser nigra like his old man!!
Another Democrat from Illinois is loony-tunes and corrupt? Wow. Shocked.
I was run off the road by a drunk, flipped my car and it exploded into flames and me and my two children were horribly burned. They did not make it but I pulled through but I missed a few days of work so I was fired.
Wow, the public sector sure has it better. In fact, I would say THEY are the 1 FREAKING %!
Sign the petition to tell boehner and the republi-tards to Stop playing politics and pass the middle class tax cuts!!
Sign the petition here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/taxes/tax-cuts
the special election that will be needed to elect his replacement will cost the taxpayer over 1 million dollars.
and enjoy prison
The Dems need to appoint a Latino to take his place. It's time to get real. Jackson is pure disappointment. Lets get someone with integrity.
Why a Latino? Are you racist? Why not a Korean, Mongolian, or someone from Singapore, so long as they are an American citizen. They might do just as good a job or better. Seems like you are just trying to push the Latino agenda instead of the American agenda, which should be the goal of all politicians. What is the Latino agenda, trying to take back Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California? you would need to try to take it back if you had not got you ass kick by us. We kicked your ass and took your sh-t, BIOTCH! Or are you trying to turn the U.S. into another third world crap stain like Mexico? Yo Holmes, let go to the barrio!
And speaking of integrity, what is your definition of integrity? Making sure you stay loyal to your boss the drug lord? Making sure his drug shipments make it to Chicago without law enforcement nosing around?
I can't believe that my brother got framed by the feds. This is nothing but the feds going after him because he is black. Another great man brought down by the "good ole boys"
Ha Ha Ha!!! GOOD!!,
One more politician down, a few more hundred to go!!! All of those losers have one thing in common, telling you what you want to hear just so they can stay in office, but not doing a damn thing while they are in there. The worst thing is that they accuse each other of ethic violations while they do it themselves. It doesn't matter whether they are DemoCrap or ReplubliTard. The Repubs preach family values but constantly get caught cheating on their spouses, doing homosexual crap or land up being a pedophile. Then you have the Libtards whom bemoan and vilify the rich or well to do, all the while double dipping in the public coffers or scheming some other way to make a quick buck off the people that put them in office. None of them are worth any more than the sh-t stains in a bums underwear.
And the fact that it is that racist, self serving, worthless waste of skin Jesse Jackson Sr's son makes it all the better.
Just my two cents. OK, I'm done ranting for now. Good night everybody and Happy Thanksgiving day!
good riddance to bad rubbish. too bad we can't put his father away too.
I have hated his father for decades.
Jessie Junior wants taxpayer funded "disability" because he was forced to resign because of bi-polar, ADD, tourrettes syndrome, or whatever social disease he is suppose to contracted. But take heart liberals you still have his dad and the Rev. Sharpton to keep the race card in play.
Yep as I said earlier, This was a fix by the feds to get a brother out of the way. Just another example of the good ole boy system still at work. Racism at its finest. Repression, repression repression as always.
This is just anohter example of the "good ole boys" keeping us down. The feds framed Jr. and got him out of the way. The system is still hard at work.
This is just another example of the good ole boys keeping us down. Junior was framed obviously or he would not have been reelected by the people with such a high majority. The people spoke and the feds are trying to get him out of office. As I said another fine example of the good ole boys keeping us down.
It is not surprising that JJ Jr is finally paying for his part in the Blago scandal but it is shocking to see how many idiot voters elected him into office. And I'm not buying that mental illness scam one little bit. Sorry Jr, but if mental illness were an excuse not to serve jailtime, the prisons would be empty. You ARE going to jail and I am sure that the prison nurse will give dole out your meds on time every day. No excuses for criminal activity, even for scum like you.
Actually TRUTH after further revue..........I realize Jessie Jr may not be "faking it".
After all isn't liberalism a form of "social disease"??????
I vote give him the "disability", and pay his dad to take care of for his remaining years.
Or he could do a Marion Berry............hhhmmmmmmmm!
At least he was man enough to admit he screwed up. Now if we could just get the rest of the Democrat party to do the same thing....
Bitter bitter and angry white man
I'm white too :)
In English, the term is "Democratic", sir.
Just another crook who should never been elected to gov't, but blacks show their contempt for white Americans by voting over and over again for criminal blacks! Jackson and his father should be in jail for essentially shaking down American businesses with threats of black boycotts and demonstrations! We have no hope of racial harmony as long as jerks like the jacksons , obama, and sharpton are followed by the illiterate, black voting block!
And legal don't forget MSNBC..the biggest racist of all.
WRONG sig! The proper name is Democrat Party! With the Progressive usurpation of the Liberals within that Party, Democracy and the Democrat party are diametrically opposite each other! Socialism is the Antithesis of Democracy, which itself is a degradation of our intended Republic!
He only admitted that he did wrong after he was investigated and caught. So much for AT least he admitted it and says that he is sorry. He is only sorry that he got caught.
He has such good role model in the good "Rev" Jesse Jackson. Guy has illegitimate kids all over America.
When will the black community take full responsibility for 7/10 children will not have a father ? Why do i owe the mother or father (sperm donor only) a government check?
Go do what you want....but maybe when the checks stop you'll think twice about having sex and expecting me to pay for it from my federal tax money. (same for white people/illegals btw...have kids, i'm not paying for them)
Good post buffalo....I have decided I will no longer give to charity without checking into who will receive MY money.....saw an article in my newspaper this morning about a family with a sick child and two healthy ones. Husband is working 2 full time jobs. This family needs help. The family that will not work can live on what Uncle Obama gives them every month as far as I am concerned.
One hopes that this individual gets the help he needs. This is just a very sad story.
It's more like a "greed" story....nothing sad about it.
I hope I never see that he OR HIS FATHER are still exploiting their own race! But its always popular to do anything on Earth to show contempt for whites! This nation is destined to divide, either by choice or by violence!
Is this story surprising? The only Jackson that I would vote for is Michael Jackson, but he's dead.