Rating: 
Summary: Timmerman tears down the wall
Review: As this book points out the results of Jesse Jackson's criminality are not in dispute, but they fail to compare with the harm he has brought to the very people he purports to represent. By continuing to stand by Jackson instead of those like Ward Connerly and Clarence Thomas they have unwittingly sabotoged their own opportunities for economic and cultural advancement.By revealing Jackson as an emperor shod of clothing, Timmerman follows a recent line of authors who have disclosed the shortcomings of the liberal elite from the inside; Tammy Bruce on feminism, Bjorn Lomborg on Environmentalism, Vargos Llosa on the politics of Latin American Marxism, Jon Entine on the causation of gentic factors on athletic performance, and Bernard Goldberg on media bias. The rise of the O'Reilly Factor as the #1 cable talk show dealing with social and political policy is testament to societal demands that both sides of the story receive parity in the media. Let's lobby for Timmerman to have his own show. As Goldberg has shown the left-leaning major networks have for too long shilled and covered for Jesse Jackson without calling him to task for his prevarications and misdeeds. Thanks to Timmerman and the others cited we can see a trend emerging and it is turning toward truth and balance. Timmerman has done what few have been willing to do in the past, and that is to brave the smears, amplified by the networks, of a corrupted civil rights establishment backed by corrupted coalitions of various left-leaning groups fueled by one-issue obstructionaism, there common tie being a collective worship at the altar of Marxist Socialist theory as a means for redistributing the wealth created by free market commerce. On the flip side one has to give Jackson credit for being good at what he does in the same way one would give credit to Willie Sutton for being a clever bank robber. Irrespective of his talent as a con artist however, Jackson deserves to do hard time and this book cites chapter and verse for the reasons. Read the book if you have any doubts about Jesse's culpability. Unfortunately, those who need it most will probably be least inclined to learn the wisdom of its revelations. Perhaps the coming expose's by others like the author will go far toward righting the wobbly state of the civil rights establishment.
Rating:
Summary: JESSE JACKSON FINALLY EXPOSED !
Review: There is not enough terrible things one can say to describe this [man], Jesse Jackson. After reading this book anyone with a an ounce of moral fiber will be filled with shock and outrage. American society has allowed this heathen to exist and thrive on our tax dollars, with the help of the biased media. Kenneth Timmerman is to be commended for his courage to write such a book. It appears after reading this book that Timmerman has done his homework and has the documented research to support his allegations. Jackson has been very quiet of late, since this book has been released. I have not read anywhere that Jackson is pursuing legal recourse against the author for slander or libel. Curious, is it not. It is refreshing that books such as this can still be published in our society; thank our forefathers for the 1st amendment. Now lets hope that the U.S. Justice Department or the IRS takes some sort of proactive measure. Especially now that most of there evidence has been outlined for them.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting facts, lousy writing
Review: The information in the book is interesting and brings light to the background workings of the civil rights industry. But the book is poorly written, skipping forward and backward through timelines, mentioning the same connection information over and over. The writer, in my opinion wanted to hammer Jesse so badly that the book went schizophrenic in its presentation. Worth reading, but you will have to force yourself to finish it.
Rating: 
Summary: Connect the Dots for Yourself
Review: Timmerman has produced an eminently fair and balanced portrait of Jesse Jackson's public career. That the public face of the subject of this biography comes off tarnished is due to his own character and not that of the author.
On the other hand, Timmerman is cautious and treads lightly around the subject of perhaps greatest interest to American patriots. You will find most of the dots, but you will have to connect them yourself. I am referring to the subject of communism. Timmerman notes the close relationship of Jackson and his PUSH empire to CPUSA officer Hunter Pitts "Jack" Odell. And, in the chapters dealing with Jackson's forays into African diplomacy -- especially the intertwined civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone, points up how some key players met in terrorist training camps in Libya. But Timmerman sticks to his journalistic detachment and hangs back from any speculation as to whether Jackson is a communist, a conscious agent of influence for the communists, or what communists call "a useful idiot." The portrait of Jackson in Shakedown shows a man too undisciplined to be useful as a party member and too smart to be anybody's idiot.
The book could have been edited a bit tighter, but the writing is clear and engaging. After reading it, you will be asking yourself why we are paying prosecutors if such an obvious fraud as Jesse Jackson is not sharing a prison cell with Lyndon LaRouche.
Rating:
Summary: Very Sad, A water is wet story but with details.
Review: This is a very sad book. Not because of what it reveals about Jessie Jackson, but because of the potential good it reveals he COULD have done but choose not to. Lets face it, the idea that Jessie is a race hustler is not a new one, the incredible detail that is given in showing it is. Timmerman doesn't let up providing fact after fact and clubs us ruthlessy with this information. Sometimes the club seems to blunt, but even so it does the job. I thought the book itself could have been edited better, it ended up at some points sounding like many newspaper stories strung together. Jackson deserves some credit for agreeing to be interviewed for this book, and some of his early work on the local level is shown to be quite proper and just. Unfortunately the glammor of attention and the lure of wealth turned into a cult of personality funded at taxpayer expense. A sad book about a sad man, but a necessary read.
Rating:
Summary: The Real Jesse Jackson
Review: For years I have wondered how this man could refer to himself as a "Reverend." But, I never dreamed of the scope of his influence in foreign affairs, nor his direct contact with the Communist party in the U.S. I have been mesmerized by this book, the way in which someone might be mesmerized by a poisonous viper. It's fascinating and scary, all at the same time. However, what I appreciate the most in this book is the history of the events that happened, most of which I remember. The chaper on "Arafat" was incredible. The truth about Jackson's involvement with Martin Luther King was enlightening. In my opinion, the lies and fabrications, the distortions of truth, and the opulence of his lifestyle seem Mafia-like, but the history and dates of certain events are important enough to underline or highlight, something I only do in books that I will use as reference material in the future. And, I have looked up many of the footnotes to check on Mr. Timmerman's frames of reference. I can only wonder why there has not been more media coverage on "Shakedown." Most blacks should want to read this book so they can make a knowledgeable choice as to whether to follow Jackson or not...
Rating:
Summary: Messy Jesse
Review: Finally, a book that places all the inuendo's that have followed Jesse's self absorbed quest for revelance with supporting documentation. The book not only places Jesse's actions to public scrutiny but is also a tale of political shenanigans in the Democratic party in particular and Washington in general. The book also describes Jesse's involvement in the politics of some of the more sordid rulers of continental Africa which caused the butchery of tens of thousands of lives.
Rating:
Summary: A fine portrait of the Man of the Century
Review: Kenneth R. Timmerman's memoir of the head of the Rainbow Coalition is admirably done. It is a warmly affectionate, up-close, well-informed, down-to-earth readable series of vignettes dating from 1969 to the Jubilee Year. Ambassador Timmerman has an advantage over other commentators who might be imprisoned in their political dichotomies or perpetually harking back to more "progressive" days: he understands Jesse Jackson, and he understands the black experience. We see Timmerman's first encounter with Reverend Jackson in a Polish Church in South Boston; we see the jubilation in Southie and elsewhere over Jackson's entry into the presidential primary in 1984; we see the dismay over the assassination attempt in 1991 (Timmerman was lecturing at a Boston community college at the time). But the great bulk of this unbulky tome deals with the ambassadorial years of Kenneth Timmerman at the Vatican, and the Clinton administration's sometimes uneasy diplomacy with the Reverend Jesse. There is valuable behind-the-scenes material about the United Nation's Cairo Conference, and Timmerman's delicately persistent urgings that the Administration take a less nihilistic position. We see His Holiness the Reverend Jesse Jackson in Central Park singing Polish Christmas carols; we see him in St Louis denouncing the death penalty, both for convicted criminals and for innocent children in the womb. We see a man of courage, of conviction, of self-deprecating humor, and a man whose smaller gestures (toward the elderly, disabled, and aggrieved) have been recorded by Ambassador Timmerman with an unburdensome thoroughness. We even have a reverential footnote to St Augustine's memorable dictum that to sing is to pray twice! This personal portrait (we can call it a biography) should be read in conjunction with "Jesse Jackson: America's David," Barbara Reynolds's admirable, but dauntingly mammoth, masterwork. We note that Reynolds's work has not been greeted with approval in every quarter; and on that matter, might we quote Marianne Moore: "In connection with personality, it is a curiosity of literature how often what one says of another seems descriptive of one's self."
Rating:
Summary: Wonder no more
Review: Did you ever wonder how it is that Jesse Jackson-a man who hasn't had a job since around 1960-can live in luxury,travel all over the world,wear tailor-made suits and generally get away with saying the most asinine things without so much as an ounce of criticism?This book is an intro to politics at its most abysmal and cynical.Anyone with any common sense knew long ago that JJ was a fraun,but now we have the slimy,repulsive details.You'll need a shower after reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: Damning book on Jesse Jackson
Review: I heard the author on the radio saying that the major papers (NY Time, Washington Post, and LA Times) have not reviewed the book. They are probably hoping that the book and the issues raised will just go away. Well, it will not go away. Now that the book is in the bestseller category of major newspapers. Assuming all of the author's interviews are accurate and the interviewees are not did not wildly exaggerate or skirt the truth then this book paints a ruthless and greedy picture of Jesse Jackson and clan. It explains why the King family have never endorsed Jackson during his presidential bid which I thought very peculiar at the time. It chronicles Jackson's self-aggrandizement and get-rich schemes (here in the US and in Africa) using the banner of racism, liberal white guilt, and on the plight of poor urban residents. Jackson, as the book points out, is the creation of the media. For years now, the media has concentrated on putting on the "blame white people first" crowd of so-called black leaders while drowning out the voices of responsible leading black (and white) citizens who have true interests in alleviating urban problems. Jackson may have opened doors of opportunity - albeit most to his cronies and to himself - but at what price. I heard an apologist for Jackson on Hannity & Colmes respond towards the allegations made in the book as "So what." Not unlike some of Bill Clinton's supporters, it's not what he does but it's how he votes and what he espouses that matters. I hope this new administration has the backbone to take this on. Read the book. Let the truth come out either through inquiries, crmininal/civil investigations, etc. At least you are armed with information from the book that you could render valid/invalid as more information comes out in the open.
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