NY Post: "Jealous" Rev. Al Blasts Barack

[brooklynite]

March 12, 2007 -- The Rev. Al Sharpton has launched a "big-time" effort to tear down Illinois Sen. Barack Obama as a candidate for president, The Post has learned.

"He's saying that Obama never did anything for the community, never worked with anybody from the community, that nobody knows the people around him, that he's a candidate driven by white leadership," said a prominent black Democratic activist who knows Sharpton.

...snip...

The high-profile, self-promoting Sharpton ran for president in 2004, but had a dismal showing in the Democratic primaries.

...snip...

"It's driving Al crazy that Obama is as impressive and popular as he is, and he's not happy about it," said another black Democratic activist. "Sharpton is just terrified of being overshadowed by someone of Obama's class and character."

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03122007/news/columnists/jealous_rev__al_blasts_barack_columnists_fredric_u__dicker.htm

[rox63]

1. Please remember...

The NY Post is owned by Rupert Murdoch. Stupid things come out of his media outlets (like Fox) all the time.

[jail_them]

2. I've Been Wondering That, Too

He's just a talk-show host to me. The only reason I'd vote for him would be to keep Hillary out. But, frankly, I can't vote for anyone who appeals to AIPAC.

Doesn't leave many choices.


I'd vote for AL in a minute.

[prolesunited]

7. A talk-show host?!?!?

Perhaps you should do some research on his background before making such ridiculous comments. You may not like him as the VP candidate, but he certainly has earned more respect than that.

[jail_them]

13. Speak For Yourself

He hasn't earned ANYTHING from me yet. He only represents a blunt object to be thrown at Hillary the panderer to me.

When I see people like Waxman aggressively pick sides and start fighting wrongs, I'm impressed.

When I see smarmy dodgers like Obama who don't pick sides and don't pick fights, I don't trust them. He's no fighter, he's a smooth-talker. A talk-show host. He's in this to get paid, not to make enemies.

I bet Montel Williams would get more done as a president.

[never cry wolf]

16. He is definitely NOT in it to get paid

He was the first african american president of the Harvard Law Review, graduated cum laude. He was by far the hottest recruit in the country and could have taken a supreme court clerkship or a 7 figure salary with any number of high power law firms or corporations.

CHICAGO --Attorney Judson Miner called Harvard to offer a job to a graduating student named Barack Obama and didn't expect to be showered with gratitude. Still, he wasn't expecting the reception he got.

"You can leave your name and take a number," the woman who answered the phone at the Harvard Law Review said breezily. "You're No. 647."

That was 1991 and even then Obama -- the Illinois senator now seeking the Democratic presidential nomination -- was a hot commodity.

As the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, Obama had his pick of top law firms. He chose Miner's Chicago civil rights firm, where he represented community organizers, discrimination victims and black voters trying to force a redrawing of city ward boundaries.

Like many lawyers, Obama never took part in a trial. He spent most of his nine-year career working as part of a team, drawing up contracts, briefs and other legal papers.

The firm of Miner Barnhill & Galland, many of whose members have Harvard and Yale law degrees, has a reputation that fits nicely into the resume of a future presidential candidate.

"It's a real do-good firm," says Fay Clayton, lead counsel for the National Organization for Women in a landmark lawsuit aimed at stopping abortion clinic violence. "Barack and that firm were a perfect fit. He wasn't going to make as much money there as he would at a LaSalle Street firm or in New York, but money was never Barack's first priority anyway."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/02/20/obama_got_start_in_civil_rights_practice/

Prior to Harvard he was a community organizer and in 1992 held a voter registration drive in the projects the signed up 100,000 new voters.

Please also remember the Rev. Al was in bed with Roger Stone during his '04 run:

Sleeping With the GOP
A Bush Covert Operative Takes Over Al Sharpton's Campaign

by Wayne Barrett with special reporting by Adam Hutton and Christine Lagorio

February 5th, 2004 8:20 AM

Roger Stone, the longtime Republican dirty-tricks operative who led the mob that shut down the Miami-Dade County recount and helped make George W. Bush president in 2000, is financing, staffing, and orchestrating the presidential campaign of Reverend Al Sharpton.

edit to add link to 2nd article: http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0405,barrett,50745,1.html

[hedgehog]

17. Obama came out against going to war with Iraq before he ever

entered national politics. He did it when he was a senator in the Illinois legislature. Every other politician thought that failing to support the war resolution was a sure career killer. No one cared then what he said or did. He could have kept his mouth shut and no one would have noticed. Obama spoke out because he felt it was in the vital interest of the United Sates to stay out of Iraq. This hardly sounds like the behavior of a smarmy dodger to me!

[Norquist Nemesis]

3. "said another black Democratic activist" = smells like BS

They should check again on that "Democratic" activist. If it really is as they are claiming, they would 1) put the name of the person in print and 2) label that person as a "Democrat operative".

Must be Michael Steele.

[CottonBear]

6. The reporter is using the "some people" strategy. n/t

[MADem]

10. They always do. It's smearing in print, which makes it more "important" NT

[meegbear]

12. That's a flag on the play ...

if you can't state your sources, you're not very credible.

[rinsd]

19. It could be Bruce Dixon.

He writes for the Black Commentator and feels anyone to the right of Marx who is black is essentially a race traitor and says exactly that.

[Radical Activist]

4. Being a civil rights attorney wasn't enough for Al?

What Al means to say instead of "community" is that Obama doesn't know Sharpton's people, hasn't worked with Sharpton, and has never done anything for Al Sharpton personally before.

[Norquist Nemesis]

5. *ahem* pssst!!!

Check the source.

[Solo_in_MD]

8. Other sources have been saying much the same thing for some time

which would lead some to think there is some sort of active process at work.

I'll take Obama any day over Al...

[MADem]

14. You're buying a catfight from a GOP source, IMO. They have a way

of sending out talking points and having everyone parrot them, so they seem to be a universal theme.

They're trying to make Al. vs. Barack a Black Cat Fight, in essence, the same way they tried to shop around the Mrs. Obama vs. Hillary and Mrs. Edwards vs. Hillary shit as a Female Catfight.

They're trying to divide and conquer. And they aren't even being subtle.

Look away. Ignore it.

Wait for the debates if you aren't in a given camp for a particular candidate. Keep your mind and ears open, and always consider the source when you see a Democrat, any Democrat, getting crapped on.

[lisa58]

9. It's the New York Post....

...take it with a grain of salt - or maybe a truck of salt.

[xchrom]

11. the new york post-shit must be

hurting for customers.

[BeyondGeography]

15. It is the NY Post, but Obama towers over Sharpton

which at least partially explains his alliance with HRC (it also may be a logical calculation on his part that she will win and he'll clean up if he stays loyal to her).

Also, Fred Dicker is a universally respected political reporter in Albany and NYC.

This is politics, after all, folks. Sometimes we can't all get along.

[TreasonousBastard]

18. There's a lot of "black activists" in NYC who...

hate Sharpton with a passion.

Rev. Al doesn't get down to the shelters and food pantries, or the rent strikers. He doesn't do squat for working mothers looking for decent daycare or any of the working people pissed at the gang and drug activity down in the 'hood, or trying to get their kids through school.

He has, however, while staying out of the trenches, been one step ahead of the sheriff with his scams and schemes and and a first-class PR operation. People in the tenches do the work, and Al takes what credit, and money, he can.

So, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if these comments weren't taken out of context when the Post reporter took interviews on "Poverty Pimps I Have Known."

[Hard_Work]

22. Have to take your word as far as NY, but

when Black construction workers shut down a stretch of highway here in St. Louis to protest lack of minority involvement, Rev. Al was front and center. Even spent time in jail because of it. I respect him.

[TreasonousBastard]

27. Sounds good on the surface, but...

it was a common shakedown tactic in NYC. NYC is so used to shakedowns from a dozen city agencies, nefarious union locals, gangsters, and anyone else who can find a way to stick a finger in the pie that it was only a matter of time till some minorities figured it out.

The way it worked was one morning a bunch of "protestors" would show up at a site and make noise, shutting the place down. Money changed hands, none of the protestors got jobs or were heard from again, and the site went back to work. Just another cost of doing business in NYC.

With Sharp Al, the trick isn't to listen to what he says, but to see if there's any results. Did the contractors, or unions, start any affirmative action or job training programs after the big protest? Any local legislation or community activity to get the jobs result from the protests? Bottom line-- any new black faces on the crews after he left?

Probably not, but I bet bags of cash were missing.

Sorry to sound so cynical, but the Legend of Reverend Al has been around here so long that I can't take anything he does seriously. Even though some thought he actually got religion and went straight with that Presidential run, most of us saw it as just another con.

This is, after all, the guy who started a "youth group" that "guaranteed security" at Michael Jackson concerts in return for some cash and 500 tickets to be distributed to the underprivileged youth. Word on the street was the tickets were scalped by said underprivileged youth and the Rev got his cut.

[brentspeak]

20. Not like I'm a Sharpton defender, but this article is just more fishwrap from the NYPost

"a prominent black Democratic activist who knows Sharpton"...uh, right.

[brooklynite]

21. FWIW...

Frederic U. Dicker is pretty highly regarded for his reporting on NYS politics, and has been perfectly happy to embarass Republicans as well as Democrats.

[rocktivity]

23. HIT PIECE ALERT!!!

1. Obama was a local activist LONG before he ran for office. If he hasn't done much on a national level, that's probably because was too busy running for national office. Maybe Sharpton doesn't value Obama's efforts because they were not made in front of a camera.

2. The post is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who is backing Hillary because she'll be the easiest Dem to beat.


rocknation

[brooklynite]

24. Followup from CBS: Sharpton Rips Obama, Keeps Endorsement On Hold

(CBS) NEW YORK With the race for the Democratic presidential nomination already in high gear, the Reverend Al Sharpton jumped into the fray today with some tough criticism for Senator Barack Obama. The outspoken reverend offered the harsh comments to Obama just as he looked to build support for his candidacy in the black community.

"Why shouldn't the black community ask questions? Are we now being told, 'You all just shut up?'" Sharpton told CBS 2's Marcia Kramer Monday. "Senator Obama and I agree that the war is wrong, but then I want to know why he went to Connecticut and helped Lieberman, the biggest supporter of the war."

Sharpton also questioned why Obama supports "tort reform, which hurts police brutality victims."


http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_071165711.html

[Ian David]

25. Driving Al crazy is a very short trip. n/t

[rebel with a cause]

26. Here is my take on it all.

I am an Obama supporter and I like him, believe in him, and trust him. I don't always agree with him, mainly the Lieberman thing. I know he felt a loyalty to him, but I wish he hadn't done it and I told him so. But I don't know everything about what goes on in Washington, and I am not the one to judge everything he does. I do agree with him most of the time and on the important things.

I liked Al Sharpton during part of the primary in 2004 because he said things that no body else would say, and I like him as far as his personality goes, and I appreciate that he has made a stand for those who needed someone to stand with them. but he has also made some decisions that I don't agree with. And do I trust the Rev. Al? Not as far as I can throw him. But I don't need to trust him because he has not put himself out as my champion. I am white and as so will not pass judgment on him. I don't agree with what he said about Obama and feel if he said it, it may be out of jealousy, but this is something for them to work out.

[never cry wolf]

28. The Lieberman thing

Freshman senators are assigned mentors, not of their choice. Barak was assigned to Lieberman. He had no choice and was thrust into a relationship to learn the day to day senate experience from holy joe. After a year of an elder statesman teaching him the ropes, could he really come out against him in the primaries?

Also, remember the Al slept with RW operative Roger Stone during his run in '04.

[rebel with a cause]

29. I remember a lot more than this about Al.

My time living in NYC and revisiting it has exposed me to some of the people I would know nothing about if I had stayed in Illinois all my life. Sharpton and Giuliani are two that I can think of off hand.