OMG, Sharpton always gives the best answers..

why is that? Too bad he doesn't stand a chance, he sure makes the most sense.

Sharpton just attacked Dean!

!@#$ Give it a rest Al!

Do you support my right to call Dean one?

Save us from sanctimonious so-called liberal white people who attack black folks who have the nerve to not behave like good little you-know-whats.

Isn't it interesting that some of the same crowd who screamed and yelled and accused Al Sharpton of being a demagoguing, race card-playing racebaiter because they thought (wrongly) that he had called Howard Dean a racist, think nothing of turning around and calling Al Sharpton a racist?

Apparently, only white people are allowed to accuse anyone of being a racist. But let a black person even THINK of questioning a white person's commitment to civil rights and they're subject to attack.

The fact that these kinds of attacks occur in a so-called Democratic forum makes me sick.

Race-baiter = uppity negro

We're accused of racism all the time, huh? You and I both know that's not true even though you and I both know most of us were raised to despise white folks.....Of course, even here in this thread we have to be painted by SOMEONE as victims. I care to stand on my two feet and stand with Harold Ford (and others like him) and the hell with the Al Sharptons that have had wayyy too much influence.

Hopefully you were being sarcastic. If not, speak for yourself.

nor did the parents of most of the African Americans I know.

If that's how YOU were raised, so be it, but don't make a blanket assumption about or try to speak for our entire race.

Deans confederate flag statement was not racist. It was the truth. Confederat flag loving folk in the south actually have more to gain supporting the Democratic Party than they do the republican party. Al Sharpton made it a racist issue not Dean. Al in my opinion is a racist.

nor did he call Dean a racist.

This is what he actually said:

COOPER: Reverend Sharpton, I just want to point out, in the last couple days, earlier last week, you have called some of Governor Dean's positions anti-black. It sounds very close to calling him racist.

SHARPTON: No, I don't think the governor is a racist. I think some of his positions would have hurt us. But I think that doesn't answer, Governor, this young man's question.

First of all, Martin Luther King said, "Come to the table of brotherhood." You can't bring a Confederate flag to the table of brotherhood. And you can't misquote Martin Luther King like that. I come out of the King movement, I didn't just read him. He talked about us leaving racism there. And I think that Maynard Jackson said that the Confederate flag is America's swastika. If a Southern person running, if John Edwards, a Bob Graham had said that, they'd have been run out this race.

I don't think you're a bigot, but I think that is insensitive, and I think you ought to apologize to people for that.

When Bill Clinton was found to be a member of a white-only country club, he apologized. You are not a bigot, but you appear to be too arrogant to say "I'm wrong" and go on.

It is amazing that so many of you accuse Sharpton of calling Dean a racist - something he NEVER did and, in fact he has repeatedly said that he doesn't believe that Dean is a racist - yet think nothing of turning right around and calling Sharpton himself a racist.

If calling someone a racist unfairly - which you accuse Sharpton of doing - makes one a racist, what does that say about those who wrongfully accuse Sharpton of being a racist?

wink wink.

Your true colors are showing.

You wrote - "Save us from sanctimonious so-called liberal white people who attack black folks who have the nerve to not behave like good little you-know-whats."

Ok, how about hearing it from me? (I'm a black guy...not a "liberal white")....Sharpton IS A RACIST! And would you mind filling in the blank on your "you know whats"??? I don't know....help? That's what I thought.

It would make you, me, anybody who said that - a racist. I'm glad you didn't finish it.

The press is definitely giving him a free pass on the Tawana Brawley issue as well as the numerous anti-Semitic comments he has made.

The Tawana Brawley thing has been settled. They thought it didn't happen to her, and she says it did. End of Story.

Google - 4,030 hits for "Al Sharpton" and "Tawana Brawley"

Lexis-Nexis - 176 hits for "Al Sharpton" and "Tawana Brawley" in last 90 days.

a president who will get the job done in Iraq and impose America's will on the insurgents, show resolve to prevail in the war on terror and crack down on anti-American sentiment.

I don't know how this turned into a flame. I was merely giving Al some kudos.

Some folks agree with you.

he's so uppity, too.

He should be grateful they let him in the big house. How dare he act like he thinks he belongs there!

Now he's a real credit. And a loyal American.

When America was threatened by communist sympathizers that opposed the Liberation of My Lai, Colin fetched his mop and stepped right up to clean up the mess.

And who can forget his humble but quietly dignified presentations in the UN in the days before Operation Iraqi Freedom began?

If so, I probably shouldn't respond, but if you thought the monetary policy answer was good, vote for him. I don't think he adds much more than comic relief. Did you know there are other democratic candidates not alowed to debate? They are minor figures without a chance of winning or they are crazy fucks like LaRouche. I just wish they would stick to the issues, not the jokes so we could actually learn something more.

If not implying I'm a racist, appologies. But he's not doing well. now Carol Mosely Braun--that was a debater! On message, persuasive, and smart!

He has raised questions and forced the other candidates to address issues that would otherwise have been left unaddressed or tossed away with sloganeering and superficiality. Even though he makes some people uncomfortable - speaking truth to power often elicits that reaction - he has also been smart, on point and a real team player. Despite people's fears that he would be a disruptive factor, Sharpton has played by the rules, stood up for the others when warranted and earned the respect of many.

Here are a couple of examples:

David Broder, referring to the candidates' reactions to the LaRouche hecklers at the first CBC debate:

"The only candidate who knew how to deal with this unprogrammed event . . . was, believe it or not, Al Sharpton. That doesn't erase the many liabilities he brings into the contest, but it does show he has a quality people crave in a president -- the ability to take charge of a situation. Democrats must wonder how to graft that leadership gene onto the others.

"The first time the shouting broke out, Sen. Bob Graham of Florida was speaking. He froze. So did almost all his rivals. Sharpton was the first person to find his voice. He told the hecklers, "Now, you all don't get to the Black Caucus debate and start acting up now."
The second outburst -- shouts of "Where is LaRouche?" -- came when Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut was answering a question. He just stood there looking pained. Former Vermont governor Howard Dean was quick-witted enough to comment, "I suspect he's in jail," where LaRouche had been on mail fraud charges. But again it was left to Sharpton to admonish the noisemakers.

"Addressing the moderator, Fox News's Brit Hume, Sharpton said, "Brit, can we appeal to people? I mean, this is a historic night, the first time the Congressional Black Caucus had a debate. Would you all respect our right to be heard like we respected everybody else?" A wave of applause signaled that most in the audience were glad somebody was taking charge . . . Sharpton clearly had shamed some of the troublemakers . . . More important, he demonstrated to the whole political world what is lacking in the rest of the Democratic field -- the spontaneity that marks a winner.

I had two flashbacks. One was to the presidential debate in 1976, when Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter stood like statues at their lecterns, afraid to move, to converse or even to smile, for the long minutes it took to repair the audio feed from the TV studio. That inability to deal with the unexpected shadowed both their presidencies . . . The take-command reflex is a mighty useful trait when you are hoping to run against the commander in chief. That Sharpton is the only Democrat to display it does not augur well for the party's chances."

http://www.thesunlink.com/redesign/2003-09-12/opinion/256037.shtml

And, as I noted in an earlier post:

John Edwards has been actively fighting to keep Janice Rogers Brown, an unqualified right wing idealogue, off of the federal bench. A couple of months ago, a conservative talk show host blindsided Al Sharpton and asked whether he thought this nominee, an African American woman, should be given an up or down vote on the Senate floor. Apparently unaware of that Senator Edwards and others were filibustering her nomination, Sharpton said she should at least be given a vote and criticized Edwards for blocking her, even though he, too, opposed her nomination. But, to his credit, as soon as Sharpton learned all the facts, he retracted his comments and praised Edwards for doing the right thing.

Shortly thereafter, a Republican group launched an attack ad against Edwards in South Carolina, accusing him of mistreating this poor African American woman and preventing her from going on the bench. The ad was obviously aimed at African American voters with the intention of convincing them that John Edwards was bad on civil rights (so much for the argument that the Republicans don't fear Edwards).

The ad included Sharpton's original quote calling for her nomination to go to a vote and ended with, "The daughter of a share-cropper who worked her way through law school as a widowed mother has been nominated to the second highest court in the land. But she's being blocked by Sen. John Edwards . . . Al Sharpton gets it; Senator Edwards doesn't. Shame on you Senator Edwards."

Sharpton immediately blasted the Republican front group and demanded that they pull the ad.

"I am outraged and disgusted to see . . . a White House front group use my name, my face and my statements in a misleading manner to smear Sen. John Edwards. I am strongly opposed to the nomination of Janice Rogers Brown. Senator Edwards properly voted against Janice Rogers Brown after a careful and deliberative review of her right wing judicial findings - not her politics - and at the urging of myself and other civil rights leaders."

Whether you agree with his views or not, Al Sharpton has earned and deserves respect. The candidates seem to know that. Too bad some members of DU don't.

stuff in the debates.

What has Sharpton done in debates that bothers you?

I was stunned listening to him talking about the disadvantaged, while knowing that he has been lavishly spending his contributers' money.

and too smart for Faux and most media whores...he refuses to play their rigged games

He was the laughing stock of the evening, it was so obvious that he was covering for his ignorance in most of the questions of substance and offering sound bites on most of the rest. He is completely unimpressive.

There is nothing deferential in his manner, he makes no attempt to tailor his presence to the comfort zone of nervous whites, he is not cowed by the thinly veiled prepotentiousness of the brie n chardonnay crowd, and attempts to patronize or condescend are courteously deflected with the laserlike techniques that come with the territory of decades of being patronized and talked down to.

After his earliest appearances, it was quite common to see posts on this forum expressing surprise that he is intelligent.

That apprehension and vague anger quickly take the place of that surprise is the norm for a certain sector, and quite to be expected.

Disclaimer: I do not support any of the candidates

This whole thread caused me to sit down and get out a lot of things I need to say. Not that everyone will agree, but:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1047544

And that is very important. Clinton was a "centrist," and pulled everyone to the right. It is time we had some true leftists in the running. Even though Sharpton will never make it, he serves a great purpose.