Jesse Jackson is back in the limelight, again. Now, the American Conservative Union is charging he broke the law by using his rainbow of coalitions to funnel tax exempt funds to the Democaratic national committee and the Gore-Lieberman campaign.

This is just the latest in a series of scandals involving the Reverend Jackson.

My first reaction when I heard about the recent Jesse Jackson "love child" admission was a flashback.

Once again, we saw the "right Reverend" standing side by side with disgraced President Bill Clinton, offering his services as a religious counselor, helping the newly impeachable leader of the free world regain his moral bearings and swear off any more encounters with blue dresses.

At that time, we were not shown the pictures of the President shown posing with minister Jackson and his current playmate, Karin Stafford.

To be sure, even the Bible tells us we all have sinned and "come short of the glory of God." We are told to forgive, even as we have been forgiven.

But there are also the issues of the "Two R’s," repentance and responsibility.

In Reverend Jackson’s case, repentance appeared at best superficial, a 3-day introspection getaway in a solo suite at the local "Ramada" followed by immediate rehabilitation and instant restoration. At his press conference "coming out" party, Jackson did everything in his power to shift attention away from his little peccadillo and onto the greater racial sins of the Caucasian establishment.

As far as responsibility for his actions, Jackson has admitted to paying his paramour a substantial sum to keep her and their child well endowed.

But what about the responsibility to Jackson’s supporters, Operation Push contributors and the IRS? Conservative commentators and organizations demanded an immediate probe into the tax records of Jackson’s organization.

Last week, "the Reverend" held another press conference that raised more questions about the practices and financial dealings of Operation Push. Was it coincidence that Karin Stafford, who received more than 100 thousand dollars last year from groups tied to Jackson, was nowhere listed as one of the highest paid Rainbow/Push employees?

Fortunately, it appears the moral veneer of Jesse Jackson is wearing thin, even in the black community. An online edition of the Chicago Sun-Times, last Sunday, printed letters to the editor from Afro-American writers who were scathing in their criticism of Jackson.

One black writer actually called for an investigation of Operation Push.

Surely, there is a troubling history of legal extortion that follows Jackson like a shadow. He criticizes a corporation or a politician and sudden, massive contributions start flooding into his organization. No one would dare call it "hush money."

No one but me.

It is curious that Jesse Jackson would criticize the Anheuser-Busch brewery, only to see his two sons receive a beer distributorship of their own. Then, he took on Coca-Cola, only to see his half-brother, Noah Robinson, awarded his own Coke distributorship.

When Jackson took on Viacom, SBC and Ameritech, the corporations dismissed his racial railings by writing his organization checks worth millions of dollars.

Maybe if I said something nasty about Bill Gates, he’d send me a check for a billion or two.

Maybe not.

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