Albatross

Al Sharpton is a world-class bullshitter. In a devastating 1996 review in these pages, Jim Sleeper noted that Sharpton's first autobiography, Go and Tell Pharaoh, included lies about his age (36 at the time, not 38), his residence (Englewood, New Jersey, not Brooklyn, New York), and even his motivation for writing the book (Sharpton attributed it to his 1991 stabbing; Sleeper showed that Sharpton hatched the idea months before that). When Newsday alleged in 1988 that Sharpton had been an FBI informant, the reverend insisted that he had tapped his own phone in an independent effort to gather information on local drug dealers. When The New Republic this week asked Sharpton's campaign how he could respect the NAACP's boycott of South Carolina while simultaneously renting hotel rooms in the state, his campaign explained that Sharpton wasn't actually paying for the rooms. In 1992, Sharpton told Sleeper, "In many ways society is totally a hustle from top to bottom." And that creed still governs the reverend's work today.

In 1992, Sharpton told Sleeper, "In many ways society is totally a hustle from top to bottom." And that creed still governs the reverend's work today.

This seems to be J. Jacksons attitude, as well.

Howard Dean, John Kerry, and Joseph Lieberman.... All involved see this affectionate banter as win-win. Sharpton wants legitimacy; the other candidates grant him legitimacy so he can't accuse them of racism. Were any one Democratic contender to slight Sharpton, he would instantly become the target of the reverend's ire, and the political mud-wrestling match that would ensue would lower his stature while his opponents looked on opportunistically.

Yup. These Abortion Party candidates sure have deep and solid principles, alright. 'Kinda funny to watch this "reverend" expose them for the idiots they are.

"The point it makes is that the Democratic presidential hopefuls are showing a lack of leadership when they allow Sharpton to enter their circle unchallenged on his record that includes his hugely irresponsible conduct in the Tawana Brawley case and his conviction for tax evasion. This is a key point --if a Presidential candidate can't muster enough political courage to denounce a fraudulent candidacy, how can he be expected to be a real leader facing international frauds from the White House?"--HUGHHEWITT.com 2/7/03

According to Al Sharpton, the behavior of Al Sharpton is synonymous with the cause of civil rights, and therefore any criticism of Al Sharpton is, by definition, an attack on racial justice. By running for president, Sharpton is effectively asking the Democratic Party to bless that proposition. He knows that, by treating him as a legitimate candidate, the party is ratifying his self-coronation as the leader of black America. And, if the Democratic Party and the media accept him as the leader of black America, the post-Martin Luther King Jr., post-Jesse Jackson civil rights movement will become, in effect, whatever Sharpton says it is.

Ya gotta hand it to him -- he knows how to play the I'm-so-sorry-I'm-white crowd.

You GO Al!

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