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Al Sharpton Tag

Posted by Jay Caruso on May 30, 2015 22 Comments
Whether one believes in God or not, whenever natural disasters strike and deaths are involved, people often ask, "Why?".  They ask:  "Why did this happen?"; "Why did this have to happen now?"; and sadly, "Why did ________ have to die?" The worst response is when somebody tries to politicize such tragedies, especially in the context of assigning bad weather to an "angry God." Evangelical Christians such as Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell have been known to enjoy the taste of their own feet as they have, at times, pointed the finger of blame at various behaviors by people as the reason for some kind of natural disaster. Pat Robertson, in 2012 was raked over the coals for suggesting deadly tornadoes that ripped through the Midwest could have been avoided if people had merely been more willing to pray about it. News outlets that covered it included The Huffington Post, The Daily News, The LA Times, CNN as well as left wing outlets such as Crooks & Liars, Media Matters, Raw Story and others.

Three days ago, Al Sharpton suggested the following with respect to the floods that have claimed the lives of over 20 people in Texas:

https://twitter.com/TheRevAl/status/603640706104721409 Notwithstanding Sharpton's concern over whether or not the citizens of Texas were spending too much time messing with their thermostats, Sharpton's "question" is really a political statement aimed at a state that is pretty red politically. Governor Greg Abbott handily defeated Wendy Davis and ended her 15 minutes of fame. The state has two Republican Senators in Ted Cruz and John Cornyn. Former Governor Rick Perry is likely going to run for president, along with Cruz.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on May 03, 2015 30 Comments
When Al Sharpton called for the nationalization of America's police forces earlier this month, many were quick to dismiss him as reactionary or even radical.  However, it may be worth revisiting this point in light of the news that the DOJ is going to be spending $20 million in body cams for police.  As Ed Morrissey notes:
This is another step in the de facto nationalization of police forces under the aegis of the DoJ. Milwaukee’s Sheriff David Clarke warned about that earlier in the week, and this is another soft step in that direction. The $20 million pilot program will almost certainly have to expand significantly in order to have an impact, and the DoJ will end up imposing it as a standard through the enforcement of their Civil Rights Division. That erodes the kind of local control that keeps police forces responsive to their own communities, much the same way that the avalanche of mandates from the Department of Education has done to school boards around the country. This is a decision that should be left to states and local communities.
When any entity takes money or resources from the federal government, it automatically becomes subject to regulations, restrictions, mandates, and oversight by the feds.  We see this in education both at the K-12 and the university level, in health care, even in senior centers where residents have been told they cannot pray before meals because their senior center receives federal funding. It is worrying, then, when the federal government decides to step in and provide body cams for local and state police.  The issue is not whether the cameras are a good idea; people on both sides of the aisle tend to agree that the cams will help resolve questions about police activities quickly, before incidents become inflamed.  The problem is the role of the federal government in local and state policing.  Do we really want a nationalized police force?

Posted by Jay Caruso on April 30, 2015 21 Comments
When Al Sharpton is in front of an MSNBC camera, it's an adventure watching him try to read from the teleprompter ("Resist we much!"). However, when he's in front of other cameras, grandstanding, he does very well. Earlier, Sharpton had a run in with Fox News reporter Leland Vittert. Vittert was doing this odd thing called "journalism" and was attempting to question Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake when Sharpton decided to play palace guard: Sharpton of course, knew it was Fox News and as such, he knew millions were watching... unlike his show on MSNBC. But hey, at least Sharpton is punching up, right?

Posted by Mike LaChance on March 17, 2015 16 Comments
I would imagine the toughest thing about doing business with Al Sharpton is asking him for a lost receipt, but the National Legal and Policy Center is asking NASCAR to end its relationship with him over Ferguson. Alana Goodman of the Washington Free Beacon has the story:
Watchdog Calls on NASCAR to End Funding to Al Sharpton A government watchdog group is calling on NASCAR to cut ties with Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network in response to the cable news host’s comments about police in the wake of the shooting of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and the questionable financial activities at his nonprofit groups. The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) asked NASCAR to “end its financial support of Al Sharpton and his organization” in a letter to CEO Brian France on Monday. NASCAR has previously been a sponsor of NAN’s annual conference, a key fundraising event for Sharpton’s group, according to the NLPC. “The cold-blooded murder of two New York City police officers, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, followed weeks of Sharpton’s vilification of law enforcement personnel. Now two police officers have been gunned down in Ferguson, Missouri,” wrote NLPC president Peter Flaherty in the letter. “Mr. France, police lives matter. You can demonstrate your support for law enforcement by ending your support for Sharpton without delay.”
Sharpton has been a regular presence in Ferguson. He even held a press conference after the grand jury decision in November.

Posted by Mike LaChance on March 12, 2015 22 Comments
Al Sharpton's tax problems are well known. It's a good thing he isn't a member of the Tea Party, otherwise he might be in real trouble with the IRS. Luckily for the good reverend, he's a liberal progressive and therefore subject to a different set of rules. What you may not have heard, is that some of Al Sharpton's financial records have unfortunately been destroyed by not one but two completely unsuspicious fires. Jillian Kay Melchior of National Review has written a very interesting report on the subject. Hat tip to the great Jazz Shaw of Hot Air:
Suspicious Fires Twice Destroyed Key Sharpton Records As Al Sharpton ran for mayor of New York City in 1997 and for president in 2003, fires at his offices reportedly destroyed critical financial records, and he subsequently failed to comply with tax and campaign filing requirements. The first fire began in the early hours of April 10, 1997, in a hair-and-nail salon one floor below Sharpton’s campaign headquarters at 70 West 125th Street. From the start, investigators deemed the fire “suspicious” because of “a heavy volume of fire on arrival” and because many of the doors remained unlocked after hours, according to the New York Fire Department’s fire-and-incident report... Top city officials, including then-mayor Rudy Giuliani, said initial suspicions centered on the hair-and-nail salon, not on Sharpton’s campaign, Newsday reported. The fire department sent the case as an arson/explosion investigation to the New York Police Department. By the time of publication of this report, the NYPD had not provided the records requested by National Review Online on December 16, 2014, but it confirmed that the investigation had been closed without an arrest. FDNY’s report references a “flammable liquid,” and firefighters’ photos of the scene show traces of an incendiary puddle. Another photo captures what appears to be a singed rag that someone is holding next to a fuse box, perhaps because that is where it was found.
Read it all. I look forward to Reverend Sharpton's well articulated response to this controversy.

Posted by Amy Miller on February 24, 2015 17 Comments
James O'Keefe's latest undercover operation unveils what many of us have suspected about Al Sharpton---he's not really in this for equality's sake. In a new video released by Project Veritas, the daughter of Eric Gardner sounds off on Al Sharpton's monetization of the race-based movement-building that occurred in the wake of her father's police-related death. She also openly complains about National Action Network, Sharpton's advocacy group, and their tendency to hijack homegrown demonstrations and social movements. Watch:
From the New York Post: “You think Al Sharpton is kind of like a crook in a sense?” the investigator is heard asking Garner’s oldest daughter. “He’s about this,” Snipes replies, rubbing her fingers together. “He’s about money with you?” the undercover asks. “Yeah,” Snipes responds.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 02, 2014 43 Comments
Al Sharpton is now an advisor to and go-to guy on race relations for Obama, including on Ferguson. And you didn't think it could get any worse than Obama having Jeremiah Wright as a spiritual advisor for much of his adult life, until the political heat got too hot. Which is worse? You can only pick one poison. Poll open until midnight (Pacific Time) December 2, 2014. Update 10:00 a.m.: I don't usually update Reader Poll posts, but it's worth noting that Godwin's Law has been invoked fairly early in the Twitter debate:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 07, 2014 10 Comments
Hans von Spakovsky, writing at the Heritage Foundation's newly launched Daily Signal, writes about the biggest hardly told story coming out of the Mississippi primary last Tuesday, The Biggest Non-Story in Tuesday’s Elections? Mississippi Voter ID Implemented With No Problems:
It wasn’t the biggest story following Tuesday’s elections in various states, but it was the biggest and most-ignored non-story. Mississippi’s new voter ID law got its first run in the June 3 primary, and the sky did not fall. Despite the tiresome and disproven claims by opponents that such laws cause wholesale voter disenfranchisement and are intended to suppress votes, Mississippi “sailed through” its first test of the new ID requirements, according to The Clarion Ledger, the newspaper of Jackson, Miss. Aside from being able to use any form of government-issued photo ID, like every other state with ID requirements, Mississippi provides a free ID for anyone who does not already have a government-issued photo ID.  Contrary to the claims of those who say large numbers of Americans don’t have an ID, Mississippi estimated that only 0.8 percent of Mississippians lacked an ID.  In fact, even that may have been an overestimate since the state had to issue only about 1,000 voter ID cards. All those who forgot their ID on Tuesday also could vote by an affidavit as long as they returned and showed an ID within five days.

Posted by Mandy Nagy on May 07, 2014 14 Comments

The Washington Free Beacon reminds us that the teleprompter sometimes gets the better of MSNBC host Al Sharpton. From "Resist We Much," to the "Environmental Projection Agency," to the mispronunciation of various names and places - some of The Rev Al's best word and phrase bungles...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 27, 2014 14 Comments

Remember Obama and Deval Patrick's "just words" similarity? That's nothing compared to this hysterical video mash up from The Blaze: ...

Posted by Anne Segal on April 20, 2012 31 Comments

Coverage emerged yesterday of a recent conference held by Al Sharpton's National Action Network (NAN) in Washington, DC. Among the breakout sessions, one entitled "The Church: Becoming Spiritually Fed and Feeding the Hungry" appears to have been especially ineptly titled given the actual content conveyed: The...

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