About 1999, Jesse Jackson fathered a baby out of wedlock.

So, I didn't know this - maybe I had my head up my ass at the time. (The news came out around the time I graduated college so I was probably freaking out about something else at that time.)

Anyhoo, given Jesse Jackson's seeming distaste for Obama, maybe he's just oversensitive. Maybe JJ is projecting his own guilt and shame from the past onto Obama's comments. Sure, it was while ago, but JJ's daughter is probably about 9 years old now and likely becoming ever more aware of the world around her, so it's not like he or the rest of his family has the luxury to forget and move on. He lives with his choice everyday.

Obviously, it is ironic that he would be upset about Obama telling fathers to be more accountable to their children. Sounds to me like Mr. Jackson has some inner turmoil going on.

To interpret him positively would be to say he is a conflicted but ultimately honorable man who may be haunted by the demons of his tumultuous beginnings, having also been born out of wedlock and into poverty himself.

A negative slant would be that he is a big, hypocritical slut (sorry, I think this word should be de-feminized) who can't keep it in his pants and found the best way to curry favor with the public was to come clean - both when the news of his affair/child broke and now. First rule of PR is to acknowledge wrongdoing and then indicate what steps are being taken to remedy the situation. (And btw, America never gets tired of this routine.)

Of course the "truth" is somewhere in the middle.