WEBCommentary Contributor

Author: Jim Kouri
Date:  June 27, 2006

Topic category:  Other/General

Rev. Jesse Jackson's Latest Shakedown Has Bill O'Reilly's Blessing

by Jim Kouri, CPP

Picketing at an ARCO/BP gasoline station in Los Angeles, the Reverend Jesse Jackson and Rainbow PUSH Coalition turned up the heat on British Petroleum, or BP.

Cars, trucks and buses honked their horns to express their support of Rainbow PUSH Coalition's campaign to drive down the price of gas and energy, according to the publicity people working for Jackson and his bigtime extortion scheme against the liberal-lefts latest victim of their contempt -- Big Oil.

Pickets were launched Thursday at BP/Arco stations in Atlanta, as well. Additional pickets in cities across the nation occurred on Saturday, June 24, as part of the Rainbow/PUSH national campaign against BP. This is probably the largest extortion racket since Jesse Jackson conducted a shakedown of Toyota for millions of dollars or when his sons received beer distribution franchises from one of the nation's largest breweries after threats of a huge boycott

The BP deal is so big that the other great American poverty pimp, Rev. Al Sharpton, has joined forces with Jackson because these men-of-the-cloth hit the mother lode of corporate villains -- a multibillion dollar corporation that's making (God, help us!) big profits.

"We will challenge BP until the price of gas and energy comes down," said Rev. Jackson, when he announced the campaign during the organizations 35th Annual Conference in Chicago earlier this month.

"While Big Oil reaps these enormous windfall profits, consumers, especially the poor, cannot afford the price of gas, which is expected to rise beyond $4.00-a-gallon by Labor Day. Working families, businesses and entire industries -- like the airlines -- are going bankrupt. We need a cap on the price of oil and gas," Jackson warned.

One of Jackson's pals is also getting support for his lawsuit filed against BP by DAG Petroleum, an African American owned gas station company.

Jackson told the media, "We support DAG president and CEO Joe Mamo's claim that BP discriminated against him when he bid on lucrative supplier/distributorship contracts in the Washington, DC and Baltimore areas." Of course, the media never looked into the Mamo and Jackson relationship nor did they mention how much cash Mamo funneled into Jackson's front group as "donations."

What's even more disturbing is the fact that Fox News Channel's "O'Reilly Factor" host, Bill O'Reilly, during an interview with Jackson's comrade Al Sharpton, said he supported what they were doing since oil companies are "price gouging" or taking advantage of the folks.

I've long been a fan of Bill O'Reilly and have appeared on his show a few times representing the National Association of Chiefs of Police, but on this issue, I think he's way off the mark.

As far as "price gouging," after all the hearings and investigations and newspaper stories, I've seen zero evidence of price gouging on the part of oil companies. I've seen zero evidence of collusion on the part of oil companies, as well. And after watching O'Reilly's show during which time he made comments about oil company price gouging, I've yet to see or hear any solid evidence that this is anything except a suspicion on the part of the left. The fact that a company is making huge profits doesn't mean they are doing anything illegal.

It's the job of corporations -- oil, pharmaceutical, etc. -- to make as much profit as possible for their stockholders. And being a stockholder doesn't mean you're filthy rich. If I owned $1,000 worth of BP stock, I'd be thrilled to see a 50% increase in my stock's worth. It's called capitalism.

While in the past, O'Reilly has done much to expose Jackson's shenanigans, I find it odd that this time O'Reilly hopes Jackson and Sharpton succeed in their shakedown. It appears to be a case of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." In this case, the enemy is big oil. O'Reilly believes for some reason that their executives are fleecing Americans. Jackson and Sharpton claim that the oil companies are fleecing the poor. So now Jackson has O'Reilly's blessings?

Why target BP? "BP has the largest share of the African-American market; yet its pattern of discrimination amounts to a virtual lock out of African-American businesses and consumers. They want our business but don't want to do business with us," said Rev. Amos Brown of Third Baptist Church.

I don't know from where Rev. Brown got that tidbit of information. I was never aware that gas stations profiled their customers to see how many whites, blacks and Hispanics are customers.

"Justice must be served, and consumers and workers must be protected," added Jackson, noting that a grand jury is considering criminal charges against BP. "Don't be gassed by, or buy gas at BP. Its bad for your health," said Rev. Jackson. Jackson should know about being gassed -- I've known him to be a gas-bag for many years.

Of course, Jackson neglects to tell his followers that the criminal charges against BP stem from OSHA allegations and not because of illegalities in the pricing of their products. And as we are reminded so many times by Rev. Jackson when one of his buddies is indicted and charged with a crime, they are innocent until proven guilty, even if they are capitalist pigs.

In a press release, Jackson announced the assistance of the Godfather of far-left groups MoveOn.Org. I can't wait to see the "Workers of the World Unite" posters.

"We are also concerned about the impact of Big Oil on our political system. We need a strategy and commitment to develop alternative, sustainable sources of energy," commented Rev. Jackson.

Based on MoveOn's past record, it's a safe bet that they will attack the Republicans who support capitalism and not the Democrats who support socialism and big government. Does Bill O'Reilly really support these people?

O'Reilly prides himself on "looking out for the folks." If Jackson were successful in hurting BP corporate interests, it's not the top management people who will suffer. It's the tens of thousands of BP workers who will suffer, not to mention the Mom & Pop gas station owners and employees.    

Jim Kouri
Chief of Police Magazine (Contributing Editor)


Biography - Jim Kouri

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police. He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for a number of organizations. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. He writes for many police and crime magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer, Campus Law Enforcement Journal, and others. He's appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com, Booksamillion.com, and can be ordered at local bookstores. Kouri holds a bachelor of science in criminal justice and master of arts in public administration and he's a board certified protection professional.


Copyright © 2006 by Jim Kouri
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