Maybe the comments were hitting too close to his home since he has a young child born out of wedlock. I give Jesse credit for a creative "save" spin, but the reality is that Obama was speaking in a black church and challenging them to do more, not wait for the government to do something.

Charles, Boston, USA

I somehowe always knew that politics is all about castrating.

robert, vancouver, bc

"take more responsibility for your actions" is a matter of encouragement and although not everyone may be able to respond, Mr. Obamas' remark is sure to help some to start looking for a way out and up. I can imagine quite a number of wives and girlfriends giving a nudge to their men.

Jasper

James A. Sibbet, Edinburgh, Scotland

Rev Jesse Jackson and Rev Jeremiah Wright and both living in the 60's and are trying to convince people America hasn't made any progress. The majority of people have moved on.

Terry Owings, Auckland, New Zealand

Jesse Jackson may be the most ignorant and divisive person in the U.S. Obama, and the rest of the country could care less what he says. I don't even understand how he gets on news shows or how what he says ends up in the news. It's irrelevant.

Dan, Fairhope, U.S.

It would seem as if Mr.Jackson was having a Sour Grapes experience......He's getting good at it.

Alan, copenhagen, Denmark.

There's an old "chestnut" over here that the most dangerous place on the planet is between Jesse Jackson and a television camera. It's not that Jackson thinks Obama is "talking down" to blacks, but he's sick that he isn't the one doing the talking and getting all the press. Just wait until Berlin!

Joseph W Mathews, Manchester, Vermont, U.S.A.

And if a white person had said that well we know what would have happened. Jesse Jackson stop playing the victim its time to grow up.

Richard K, Nottingham,

Jackson's victimology belongs to the past. If he still thinks that the black community's problems are purely external, perhaps he should apply his own remedy to himself.

David Pritchard, Madrid, Spain

Senator Obama doesn't need Mr. Jackson's support. He's just a sad old man who tries so hard to stay in the limelight.
Your fifteen minutes of fame was up last century, Mr. Jackson!
Nobody cares about what you said anymore...

Charley Irwin, Los Angeles,

Jackson, et al, don't want change and do not want to talk about the need for personal responsibility on the part of black people. Their whining has gotten them where they are and their fortunes depend on nothing changing.
Obama is America's last hope, as far as I can see, for all Americans.

Clany, Cut Bank, MT, USA

Is "take responsibility for their own lives. " speaking down to people ?. If Africa done that we've safe trillians

John, Salford, England

Just like with American public education problems, the social and economic problems Mr. Jackson (and Mr. Sharpton) are not the problem. The are the symptoms signaling a problem exists.

But, America keeps dumping funds into chasing symptoms because it is politically easier.

John, Charlotte, NC

Yes definitely, a trouser trumpet is clearly heard straight after the pulling fist hand gesture. Jesse is certainly comfortable in his surroundings, others maybe less so.

Mark , Felixstowe, uk

Good on Obama for saying what people have known for years but politicians and "care professionals" are afraid to acknowledge. Perhaps some of Jackson's anger stems from his conciousness of his own marital failings. What were his lack of good choices?

Andy, Worthing,

They say 'If you want to talk to God, talk to the air' - If Jessie wanted to talk privately, he could have done so at home. It's too late to apologise - this is a damage limitation exercise.

Frank, London, UK

This is the best news that Obama could have! Many people in white America have seen him as being a bit too close to the civil rights movement, a bit too radical.. Now Jackson's come out with this.

Owen, London, UK

Did Jesse Jackson cap his remarks with a trump? The remarks, a grimace, hand gesture and then the low rumbling sound - a trump?

alex, london,

If the comments made by Jesse Jackson were private, why not say them in private. He has been involved with the media for some time now and if he did not want those statements to get out to the public he would have conducted himself accordingly.

Danielle, Memphis,

Rev. Jackson is not the sharpest pencil in the box, but he should have known not to make tendentious remarks while sitting in a Fox TV studio! His long history of unpopularity is largely a function of neither knowing what to say nor when to say it.

Rob Davis, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

I am so tired of people from that era's beliefs and attitude of either your with us or against us. The next generation does not see the world that way, we are more reasonable when it comes to social issues and politics. Their responses to these issues are always emotional and irrational.

Matthew Bulmer, Derry, U.S.

Jessie is jealous, pure and simple.

Obama will continue confronting the truth and thus really help people be all they can be.

darlene l miller, bloomington, IL, usa