From the Washington Post today:
NEW YORK — Even by his own frenetic standards, the Rev. Al Sharpton has had a busy 12 months….
And now, he is being wooed by the leading Democratic presidential candidates, all of whom seek his endorsement.
All You Need To Know About The Democrats…
Say What? (5)
Say What?
Next Entry: UPDATE
Yes, it’s worth remembering that fat Al’s resume includes:
1. The Tawana Brawley hoax,
2. Playing a key role in inciting the Crown Heights riot and murder,
3. Encouraging the arson and murders at Freddie’s in the Bronx,
4. Cheerleading for the lynching of the Duke lacrosse team, and
5. Somehow, finding a way to lionize those black kids in Jena for stomping an unconscious white boy.
Next time you encounter a Democratic candidate, ask them how they justify kissing the hem of this racist thug’s shirt.
What, exactly, is this charlatan a “reverend” of?
I despise Sharpton, but I want to make a few points about what ST has written:
1. Sharpton’s role in the hoax is worst than most people remember. He knew it was a hoax from the start. Even his chauffer admitted that.
2. Sharpton got involved in the Crown Heights riot after the murder. But his role, including making anti-semitic remarks, was despicable.
3. He claimed he never encouraged anyone to acts of arson and murder. He may be right about that, but he was a very bad judge of the situation in that case.
You’re right on target for the rest. I can’t imagine any candidate even sitting down to eat with this man, let alone seeking his nod.
The title of this post is important. The influence he carries with one of the two major parties in this country can’t be ignored:
“On a bad day, I’m talking to large portions of the black community,” he said.”
Yes, you are. And that’s the problem.
In 2000, Al Gore had to dismiss notions that he was seeking Sharpton’s support. Then, he arranged a meeting in his daughter’s apartment to kiss his ring. That may not tell you “all you need to know” about the Democrat Party, but it tells you all you need to know about their approach to race relations.
Hmmm….ok. I’ll play pious political poker with y’all.
I’ll see your Al Sharpton, and raise you:
PAT ROBERTSON: (courted by and granted endorsement to Rudy Giuliani (R))
>>>”But while he was calling into question the morality of others, Pat Robertson was actively engaged in a questionable, cutthroat gold-mining arrangement – for wealth – with Taylor, the infamous West African terrorist. And we suppose the good man of the cloth finds nothing inherently wrong dealing with a ruthless, corrupt dictator, who enriches himself while his people sink farther into squalor and destitution.
We now know that in April 1999, Charles Taylor and Pat Robertson signed a document labeled “Mineral Development Agreement between the Republic of Liberia and Freedom Gold Limited”. By signing his agreement, Taylor was, in fact, assigning gold mining concession rights to Pat Robertson from an established businessman, Ken Ross II, whose Bocon Jideh gold-mining operation dates back to the Tolbert administration.
According to the GQ article, Pat Robertson has committed at least US$15 million of investment to Freedom Gold. The terms of contract call for Freedom Gold to spend about US$500,000 annually in investment and rental fees in Liberia. “The agreement gives Freedom Gold the right to mine, sell, export and explore minerals, with an additional 3 percent royalty rate to be paid to the government of Liberia.”
Many observers believe the royalty payments would be pocket money for Charles Taylor, as Liberia has become “Taylor, Inc.” President Taylor considers state resources, including foreign investments and development assistance funds as his personal asset.”
http://www.theperspective.org/patrobertson_taylor.html
Bankrolling foreign terrorists for his own personal profit is pretty damning, but it wasn’t really covered very well in the media. That didn’t stop ol’ Pat from getting famous with quotes I couldn’t make up if I tried:
1. Assassinating Hugo Chavez:
>>>”Wait a minute, I didn’t say ‘assassination.’ I said our special forces should ‘take him out,’ and ‘take him out’ can be a number of things, including kidnapping.”
2. Wishing earthquakes on local school boards:
>>>”I’d like to say to the good citizens of Dover: If there is a disaster in your area, don’t turn to God, you just rejected him from your city. And don’t wonder why he hasn’t helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I’m not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that’s the case, don’t ask for his help because he might not be there.”
3. Wishing Gay-Killing Natural Disasters at Disneyworld
>>>”I would warn Orlando that you’re right in the way of some serious hurricanes, and I don’t think I’d be waving those flags in God’s face if I were you, This is not a message of hate — this is a message of redemption. But a condition like this will bring about the destruction of your nation. It’ll bring about terrorist bombs; it’ll bring earthquakes, tornadoes, and possibly a meteor.”
4. Wishing for the destruction of the State Department:
>>>”Maybe we need a very small nuke thrown off on Foggy Bottom to shake things up”
http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/funnyquotes/a/patrobertson.htm
Yup. That’s the guy the GOP national front runner ran to for an endorsement.
Here’s one for Irony: John McCain back in 2000 said:
>>>”Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right,”
But lo and behold…
>>>” Six years after labeling the Rev. Jerry Falwell one of the political “agents of intolerance,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) delivered the commencement address Saturday at Falwell’s Liberty University, and vigorously defended his support for the war in Iraq while saying that opponents have a moral duty to challenge the wisdom of a conflict that has exacted a huge toll on the nation.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/13/AR2006051300647.html
Yes, THE late Jerry Falwell–the segregationist. The guy who said these things:
>>>”If you’re not a born-again Christian, you’re a failure as a human being.”
” I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way — all of them who have tried to secularize America — I point the finger in their face and say, “You helped this happen.”
— Rev Jerry Falwell, blaming civil libertarians, feminists, homosexuals, and abortion rights supporters for the terrorist attacks of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, quoted from John F Harris, “God Gave US ‘What We Deserve,’ Falwell Says,” The Washington Post (September 14, 2001)”
THAT guy.
Now, these GOPers also make a pilgrimmage to Bob Jones University every 4 years. You know Bob Jones University, don’t you?
>>>”Bob Jones University is proud of its reputation as “the world’s most unusual university.” Located in Greenville, South Carolina, the school has a 225-acre campus, fenced with wrought iron and barbed wire. The school provides education from kindergarten through to graduate school.
The school was founded in 1927 by Bob Jones, Sr., a “fundamentalist evangelist.” In 1960, Bob Jones Sr. claimed that “God is the author of [racial] segregation,” and that if you are against it, “then you are against God Almighty.” The school has denounced Catholicism and Mormonism as “cults.”
The school has a huge stockpile of weapons and ammunition, including machine guns, M-16s, shotguns and handguns.
One of the school’s dormitories is named after David Bibb Graves, former governor of Alabama and Grand Dragon of the Alabama chapter of the Ku Klux Klan.
The school prides itself on being like parents to its students, with strict dress codes and chaperoned dates. Students are not permitted to hold hands. Students may only listen to classical music, and a few approved Christian artists.”
http://www.themanitoban.com/2002-2003/0115/features_1.shtml
And what about the Bob Jones III? You wanted some quotes?
I’ll give you some quotes:
>>>”We said, you know, way back years ago, when we first had a problem, which was — by the way, we started this principle, back in the mid-’50s, I was a college student at BJU at the time and it was with an Asian and Caucasian is — we didn’t even have black students for another 15 years. So it was not put there as a black thing, I think people need to understand that…
…Now, we realize that a inter-racial marriage is not going to bring in the world the anti-Christ by any means, but if we as Christians stand for Christ and not anti-Christ, and we see — we are against the one world church. We are against one economy, one political system.”
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0003/03/lkl.00.html
And just who is the “anti-Christ” according to Bob Jones III?
>>>”(Larry) KING: But if you call the pope the anti-Christ you will offend Catholics, I mean, that’s logical to think that, right? Just as if I said something derogatory about Jesus Christ, I would offend you.
JONES: Yes, but you know, the Westminster Confession of Faith, which is supposed to be believed by all Presbyterians that have embraced the Westminster Confession as their doctrinal basis, Article VI of the Westminster Confession calls the pope an anti-Christ. This — there is a long tradition for this. It goes — in fact, Wycliff that I talked about a while ago, in the 14th century, he called the pope an anti-Christ. So, Protestants do not — you know, the pope doesn’t go down well with Protestants, OK.”
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0003/03/lkl.00.html
Curiously, despite labeling Mormonism as a “cult”, Bob Jones University has endorsed Mitt Romney (R), though I think it will be subject to change with the rise of Southern Baptist Minister Mike Huckabee.
I haven’t even touched on James Dobson, Richard Land, Ted Haggard and Terri Schiavo commandos, as this post is long enough already.
–Cobra
For once, Cobra, you’ve got a point. Kooks litter the political landscape, from left to right, and the Republicans also pander to some kooks.
Since you’ve decided to present yourself, for one post, as a voice of political moderation, I’m going to ask you again…
When will you drop the gang moniker? When will you cease insisting that people are “really black” only if they engage in Mau-Mauing?
When will you cease playing the role of loony ingrate, claiming that the U.S. is uniquely afflicted with the universal human failing of racism? When will you admit that the U.S. is the best place in the world for a black person to live? When will you note that the U.S. played the leading role in the world community in renouncing slavery and racism?
Since you are an advocate of the nutjob Howard Zinn worldview (the U.S. is the most evil nation in the world, white people seethe with the desire to oppress and harm black people, white men are engaged in a conscious conspiracy to beat down minorities and women), aren’t you one of the kooks?