Who is Paul Jackson?

Today's front-page story in the Sioux City Journal about long-time Republican political activist and former Republican Party County Chairman Paul Jackson was a real eye-opener for me! Not having grown up in Sioux City myself, I guess I can count myself fortunate for not having come into contact with the man. Then again, maybe it was just the lousy job the Journal did on the story that got to me. I realize the Journal is a conservative shill for the Republican Party, but didn't somebody over there realize how poorly Jackson was likely to come off in their article?

In the article, entitled "All Politics: the Blunt World of Paul Jackson" (SCJ 3/6/05), Jackson comes off not so much "blunt" as merely obnoxious. Confusing gratuitous insults for reasoned discussion, and gross generalizations for considered assessments, Jackson seems to represent all that's wrong with the sorry state of political discourse in America today. This is all the more ironic because Jackson professes to involve himself in politics because of the perceived "apathy" of the average American voter. But if political discourse of the Paul Jackson variety simply consists of disjointed insults and vague threats, then is it any wonder that the average voter is turned off by politicals? What, one wonders, does Jackson feel is so motivational about his [mis]labelling the political candidates he dislikes as "liars and despots?"

Jackson's wife is quoted as saying he's "doing it for the people." Jackson himself complains that "People just don't understand what I'm about ... I just speak my line." Well, what the people really need is someone who will elevate the quality of political discourse in the country through a careful identification of crucial issues and the proferring of arguments backed up by real evidence. As for Jackson's own petulant-sounding lament, well, it always amazes me how some individuals excuse their own rude behavior with protestations of misunderstood higher motives. Frankly, I think I do understand him: he's a whiny Old Fart who seeks validation through provoking angry reactions from others. In other words, it's all about him!

Could Jackson's mistakenly referring to former Democratic governor Harold Hughes as "Howard Hughes" further testify to a basic disinterest in the facts?

Could blaming his own election defeats on outside meddling and "the race card," and not himself, indicate an immature worldview?

Seriously, what do we call it when someone engages in constant name-calling, blames others for their own failures, and boasts that they (and they alone) have all the right answers? A mature adult, it ain't.

If Paul Jackson represents the best that local Republican politics has to offer, then it's no wonder that Democrats occupy most local political offices!

Peace!
Historian