I agree in large part, but not to the exclusion of any and all snafus. I just don't see Jackson agreeing to be the sacrificial lamb for anyone, especially not the half-white upstart who occupies a position in history that Jesse Jackson himself covets and believes in his core rightfully belongs to him. A man of Jackson's ego and sense of entitlement is not going to go along with some intricate charade to humiliate himself in order to elevate the boy king.
The much simpler, and therefore likely, explanation is that Jackson was being Jackson and said what he said out of genuine animosity and the Obama campaign saw the chance to capitalize on them. Jackson's comments didn't have to be planned and plotted and staged; merely recognized for the opportunity they presented.
I hear you. It could have been either/or, or a combination of both. Maybe there was a loose plan for Jackson to provide an opportunity for Obama distance himself and Jesse did an awkward job.
Jackson may have concocted the sound bite because he knew it would put him back in the spotlight, but then it backfired on him in a way he didn't anticipate because he appears so incredibly creepy on the tape. The weird leaning forward, whispering, like a weirdo in a bus station trying to beg for change, really accentuated the vileness of the desire to mutilate Obama's genitalia.