Tables Turned on Jesse Jackson's Shills

Never have I seen two supposedly confident broadcasters completely shut down so quickly. I have never witnessed a more dramatic example of truth totally blinding a couple of agenda-driven people who have manipulated their audiences into taking the wrong side of an ugly personal battle that has become astoundingly public. When Karin Stanford, the mother of Jesse Jackson's "love child," took broadcasters Tavis Smiley and Tom Joyner to the proverbial woodshed for their shameless attempt at being Jesse Jackson apologists, it was a moment rarely captured on television. And two days later, I'm still excited about it.

It all started quietly enough. Smiley, well known to the African-American community as a TV commentator, was guest-hosting the CNN show out of Atlanta. Joyner, even more well known in the black community as a successful activist-type radio broadcaster, was one of the four guests. Gloria Allred,

We were to talk about Jackson's former lover, Karin Stanford, publicly announcing on ABC-TV's "20-20" that he has proven to be a lousy father to their daughter. He has refused to put into writing any guarantees of child support, she said, and hasn't even seen the little girl he helped bring into the world for seven months.

The first five minutes of the show were dominated by Smiley and Joyner and was therefore a disgusting display of affection and admiration for Jackson. It was quite easy to hear the disdain in these men's voices for Ms. Stanford, at one point even agreeing that she was some kind of "political stalker" for publicly complaining about Jackson.

I thought my head was going to explode. When I finally had my turn to talk, I wasted no time in denouncing Jackson for everything that most Americans denounce him for: his disgraceful, deceitful behavior in breaking his marital vows, his pathetic actions in fathering a "love child" with Stanford, and now, his apparent reluctance to live up to his obligations to be a father to this little girl. I thought I managed to hold my own, but had no idea how explosive this show was about to become.

When we came back from a commercial break, Smiley announced that there was a special guest on the phone, none other than Karin Stanford, who had been watching and decided to call in and tell her side of the story. You could sense the panic in Smiley's voice, and no wonder: She immediately tore into these guys, delivering an eloquent and passionate lecture about Smiley and Joyner's hateful characterization of her as a "stalker" and denouncing the way they have completely ignored her side of this sordid story.

Smiley, looking faint by this point, managed a weak attempt to further smear Stanford by repeating Jackson's assertion that the child was being "exploited" by having the little girl's face on national television. Stanford calmly replied that she was very proud of her daughter, that she felt no need to hide her face from the public, and that if Jackson was ashamed of this little girl, that's his problem, not hers.

Smiley and Joyner were brought to their knees. The knockout blow came when they had the gall to question why she would grant an interview to ABC's Connie Chung, apparently implying that she should have spoken to an African-American journalist first. In a clear, firm voice she replied that she gave the interview to Chung because Chung called her, something she could not say about Tavis Smiley or Tom Joyner! By now, both these Jesse Jackson shills were flat on the mat, the sound of chirping birds ringing in their ears. Game, set, match Ms. Stanford. I could barely contain my glee.

The fiasco wasn't over after Smiley finally managed to say good-bye to Karin Stanford. In the next segment, I listened with complete incredulity as Joyner made a lame attempt to defend his past refusal to invite Stanford on his radio show by mumbling something about the story not really having that much interest in the black community. Come again, Mr. Joyner? Illegitimacy isn't a big issue for the black community? Fathers failing to take responsibilty for their children isn't too high on the black community's priority list?

Yeah, right, Tom. Nice try. You don't believe that for a moment. You and your colleague Tavis Smiley have been carrying water for your friend Jesse Jackson and you were stopped dead in your tracks by a worried mother who wants her child's father to act like a man. And you came away from this TV show sounding like a total hypocrite because you were directly confronted by your friend's "political stalker" and didn't quite know what to say.

Sure, Karin Stanford has plenty of culpability in this mess. She, too, should have known better. But at least she's acting like a parent and being a part of this little girl's daily life. Too bad Jackson doesn't have enough dignity or class to do the same.

As I said, these TV shows can be a challenge to us "talking heads." Here's betting it'll be a long, long time before Tom Joyner leaves the safety of his glass-enclosed radio booth to talk about the Jesse Jackson-Karin Stanford love child again. If he does, he'll be hoping Karin Stanford isn't watching TV that day ....