So proclaims WaPo in its page one today
Activist Al Sharpton takes on new role as administration ally
and it’s only fitting for the privatization president to legitimize someone exposed a few years ago as
Sleeping With the GOP
by the incomparable investigative reporter Wayne Barett.
But, back to today’s piece of fluff in Rahm’s paper. We are reminded of the embarrassment he was for the campaign in 2008
Early on, Sharpton chose ally, staying off the campaign trail in 2008, for instance, when Obama sent word that he would be a distraction.
and who can forget? Sharpton himself was giving interviews left and right proclaiming from the rooftops his “secret” endorsement of Obama
The article mentions all the visibility opportunities, including the fashion makeover
That more-polished image — a strategy known around his headquarters here as “from-the-streets-to-the-suites”
and different uses for the man who would say anything if it serves him
More recently, Sharpton has been among the president’s chief defenders against criticism from television host Tavis Smiley that “black folk are catching hell” and that the president should do more to specifically help blacks.
Speaking of the risky part of the tie with Sharpton, only Brawley comes up
“In the minds of some people, [Sharpton] is always going to be a black man wearing a medallion defending Tawana Brawley,” said Andra Gillespie, an Emory University professor who studies politics and race. She was referring to the 1987 case, later dismissed, in which a teenage Brawley accused six white men of raping her.
Oh, but that’s ancient history.
For us, New Yorkers, it’s the man who brought us a GOP Mayor you know, the guy charging the homeless rent today
In his 2002 book, Al on America, Sharpton wrote that he felt the city’s Democratic Party “had to be taught a lesson” in 2001โinsisting that Mark Green, who defeated the Sharpton-backed Fernando Ferrer in a bitter runoff, had disrespected him and minorities. Adding that the party “still has to be taught one nationally,” he warned: “A lot of 2004 will be about what happened in New York in 2001. It’s about dignity.” In 2001, Sharpton engaged in a behind-the-scenes dialogue with campaign aides to Republican Mike Bloomberg while publicly disparaging Green.
In 2006. Bush’s operative Roger Stone (Miami Dade mob architect) considered using Sharpton to torpedo Hillary’s run
Stone, whose Miami mob even jostled a visiting Sharpton during the recount, said recently in The American Spectator that if Sharpton were to run “as an independent” in the 2006 Hillary Clinton race, she would be “sunk,” implicitly suggesting that this operation may be a precursor to another Stone-Sharpton mission.
So, in light of these associations, who should be shocked that nowadays he is pushing privatization of public education for Obama with New Gingrich?
“He’s been an extraordinary partner. The fact that we’re working together has been great, but the level of his engagement, it’s been phenomenal,” said Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who attended Sharpton’s conference Thursday and toured schools in five cities last year with Sharpton and former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.).
Plus the White House is desperate enough by the loss of interest among black voters to use Sharpton
Obama’s poll numbers are sky-high with black voters. But the need for an ally such as Sharpton is clear for Democratic Party leaders worried about the steep drop-off in interest in November’s midterm elections among African Americans, said John Kenneth White, a political professor at Catholic University. According to a recent NBC/WSJ poll, deep interest has dropped 33 points among blacks, compared with 19 points among whites.
“Between our connection with black churches and our radio show, we reach a lot of black America every day,” he said. “We’re turning that into a strategy.”
After all, he has enough chutzpa to compare himself to Nelson Mandela
Like Nelson Mandela said, you have to have core principles and everything else is a tactic.”
WaPo reports this straight, no editorializing. My jaw being on the floor, I’ll have to do the same.
4 comments
April 17, 2010 at 1:57 pm
cj
Wonderful. Just what the WH needs, another self-promoting, two-bit hustler. I still don’t know how he managed to rehabilitate his name after the Tawana Brawley scandal, but if G. Gordon Liddy & Oliver North could, I guess every other lying snake-in-the-grass can too.
Poor Tavis, they’ve been trying to shut him up for 2 years now. But he’s not alone. During that MLK PBS special you could tell that people like Harry Belafonte, Clarence Jones, and Cornell West were just biting their tongues when they were asked to talk about Barack Obama.
April 17, 2010 at 8:58 pm
hennie1
Poor Tavis is right. He’s a man that actually cares about the African American community. And he shows it every day. We need people like him standing up for Americans, all Americans. Not someone like Al Sharpton. Too many people have Al’s number. Do you think anyone cares about what he has to say? Yeah, I don’t either.
I don’t see Al having much luck getting out the vote. People don’t care right now. The ones that do, will make sure they go vote the bastards out of office.
WaPo made it front page news, to me, it’s just something else that makes the administration look bad.
April 17, 2010 at 11:26 pm
kc
Dear Lord!! What next, Roland Martin?? Everytime I see Roland Martin on CNN, I nearly retch. Yeah, Tavis is a class act and I wish there were some way we could let him know we appreciate him. If anyone finds a website for him-post it.
April 18, 2010 at 7:41 am
Uh-Oh! B0bots learn sainted Dean is in the education scheme too! « Not Your Sweetie
[…] Indeed he is, and he’s not the only one. This ties directly in my entry from yesterday. […]