Pressure Mounts on Jesse Jackson Jr. to Reveal His Ailment

Illinois Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., son of the Reverend Jesse Jackson, is in the hot seat.  He’s being panned for not divulging what ails him.  Jesse Jackson, Jr. has taken medical leave due to “exhaustion.”  It’s been over a month since he’s taken leave for his ailment.  But what exactly ails him?  He won’t say and neither will his camp.  They think it’s a privacy issue.

But senior U.S. Senator d**k Durbin is getting annoyed and impatient with Jackson’s leave of absence and evasiveness about his state of health.  Senator Durbin is demanding that Jackson be more forthcoming.

Last month, Jackson took medical leave because he claimed he was exhausted.  His staff is also hush- hush regarding Jackson’s health.  Durbin wants updates on Jackson’s medical condition.  Durbin thinks that as a public official, Jackson has a duty to disclose to the public his health situation.

It’s not only Durbin that takes exception to Jackson’s evasiveness, others are feeling increasingly frustrated over Jackson’s lack of honesty.    Still, Durbin claims that he will respect Jackson’s need for privacy only if there is some medical necessity for him not to say “more at this moment” and that he will “defer” to that.  How nice of him.

Durbin is not being so unreasonable, however.  As a senator and representative from Illinois, Jackson has a duty to the people to divulge information to them as to whether he’s capable of properly serving them.  Jackson’s office is also being criticized over its secretiveness regarding Jackson’s ailment.  The only information forthcoming from his camp is that he is suffering from “physical and emotional” problems and that he will need “a lot of medical treatment to overcome these issues.”

All of this secretiveness and evasiveness doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence in Jackson’s constituency.  Reverend Jesse Jackson, his father, made a statement to the Sun-Times newspaper saying that his son is simply “overwhelmed.”