In light of this, it's probably worth recalling that this isn't the first time Jesse Jackson has been involved in a hot mic scandal during a heated presidential campaign. Except the other time it happened, in 1992, Jackson was on the receiving end of the diatribe--from Bill Clinton. Here's a description of the incident as it was recently recalled in the New York Observer:
A few days after that year’s New Hampshire primary, which Clinton lost to Paul Tsongas, a local television reporter asked Clinton to comment on a (baseless, as it turned out) report that Jackson had decided to endorse Tom Harkin, whose campaign was barely clinging to life at that point. Clinton was furious.
“It’s an outrage,” he fumed, apparently believing the camera was off, “a dirty, double-crossing, back-stabbing thing to do. … For him to do this, for me to hear this on a television program, is an act of absolute dishonor.”
But since all of this happened before Fox News and YouTube, it's largely been forgotten.
P.S. And if Drudge is right and Jackson said 'CUT HIS N**S OUT', well, then he's just pretty much plagiarizing Bob Torricelli.
--Jason Zengerle