An extraordinary development in the increasingly heated U.S. presidential election came this week as news stations broadcast the tape of Rev. Jesse Jackson threatening to emasculate Democratic presumptive nominee Barack Obama for "talking down to the black man."

Jackson, whose son Jesse Jackson jnr is part of the Obama campaign team, apologised profusely when it became apparent that his ribald comments had been recorded in what the Rev. Jackson thought was a private conversation prior to an interview on Fox News.