BY: DAIMAN TEER FOR THE SIMPLETON STAR
Jesse Jackson died on February 17 2026 at age 84. Within hours the machine turned him into a saint…and he wasn’t even Catholic.
Former presidents and civil rights figures lined up to call him a titan and a moral giant. The funeral on March 6 at the House of Hope Church in Chicago drew ten thousand people. They praised his Rainbow PUSH work and his two runs for president. They spoke as if the man had never put a foot wrong in his life.
That rush to canonize him tells you everything. Death wipes the slate clean for some people no matter what they did while alive.
Jackson built his power on one simple formula. He targeted big corporations with boycotts and threats of bad publicity. Operation PUSH and later the Rainbow PUSH Coalition became his personal machine. He would demand meetings with CEOs and push for contracts jobs and donations aimed at his allies. Critics called it a shakedown operation dressed up as justice. Companies paid up to avoid trouble. Jackson and his inner circle gained influence and money. The pattern repeated for decades. He turned racial grievance into a business model that kept him in the spotlight and kept the checks coming.
The man had real scandals too. He had a child with a staff member while married. He made the infamous Hymietown remark about New York Jews in 1984. He stayed close to Louis Farrakhan even after that. None of this stopped the praise. He leveraged his time with Martin Luther King Junior and turned every tragedy into a platform. When he died the tributes ignored all of it. They focused only on the image of the fiery preacher fighting for the little guy. That is how grifters get sainted. The moment the breathing stops the hard questions disappear.
Then Barack Obama stepped to the microphone. He opened with Bible talk from the book of Isaiah. “Here I am Lord send me.” He switched into full preacher mode and the crowd ate it up. For a few minutes it felt like church. Then the other switch got flipped — the real switch – the reason Obama was really there.
Obama started talking about the country we live in right now. He spoke of assaults on democratic institutions and setbacks to the rule of law. He said it is hard to hope when those in high office (Trump) tell people to fear each other and that some Americans count more than others. He never said the name but everyone knew who he meant. He turned a funeral into a campaign rally. He made the day about current political fights instead of the man in the casket.
This was classic Obama. He knows how to read the room and play the role. At a Black church in Chicago he became the Black preacher. Then he slid right into the divisive message that has defined him for years. The same man who built a fortune on books and deals after leaving office stood there acting like the moral voice of the moment. He praised Jackson for clearing the path for his own rise while using the podium to score points against the people now running the country. That is not remembrance. That is opportunism. He made the funeral about division when it should have stayed about one mans life.Both men mastered the same game.
Jackson used civil rights (for black people) as a brand to build power and wealth. Obama used hope and change the same way then cashed in once he left the White House. They talked left but lived like top tier capitalists. Jackson shook down boardrooms. Obama collected millions in speaking fees and media contracts. Now one is dead and suddenly perfect. The other used the funeral to remind everyone who buys into his shtick that he is still the smartest guy in the room.
The speed of the sainthood for Jackson shows how the game works. Live long enough to become a legend and the rough edges get sanded off. Obama made sure the spotlight stayed on the fight he wants to keep going. The rest of us watched a grifter get polished into a hero while the real performance came from the man at the podium. Funerals are supposed to honor the dead. This one became another stage for the living to push their agenda. That is what happened in Chicago on March 6. Nothing more nothing less.
Then Kamala took to the podium — no need to go any further.
Matthew 7:15
Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
Why I Chose This Verse
This verse fits because it warns about people who appear good and trustworthy on the outside while pursuing their own gain. Jackson and Obama presented themselves as moral leaders fighting for the people yet built personal empires and used platforms for division and profit. The verse calls out that kind of deception plainly.
LET US PRAY:
Lord expose every false front and every hidden motive. Protect people from those who wear sheep’s clothing while acting like wolves. Give us clear eyes to see truth and courage to call it out no matter who stands at the podium. Amen.
