Al Sharpton for DNC chairman.

[genius]

I'm tired of anti-choice, pro-war, etc nominees for DNC Chairman. I want someone I can trust.

[4morewars]

1. I second that !

Fuck reaching out to the middle, them people are never going to join us anyway !

[Padme Amidala]

35. I'll third that recommendation

Sharpton is a great speaker and leader.

[Name removed]

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[genius]

4. Such hatred. Interesting.

[ISUGRADIA]

18. Hatred? I call them facts about the man's record and character

and you have no answers for any of them. Interesting.

[ISUGRADIA]

2. Yeah, right

let's get some one like Al who's incited violence against Asian shopkeepers, won't pay judgements from court cases he's lost, used his campaign funds as a scam to stay in 5 star hotels, and who showed in the 2% range in the primaries. Yeah, that's the ticket.

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[dansolo]

29. Al Sharpton is a fraud

It is not a Republican talking point that Al Sharpton accepted money and support from Republicans during the campaign. It is also true that Al insisted on staying in expensive hotels while he was campaigning. I'd rather see Joe Lieberman as DLC chair than Al Sharpton.

[ISUGRADIA]

36. Overblown rhetoric and you break board rules

a great start! I suppose you attack the person when you cannot respond to facts. What lies, pray tell?

Al Sharpton is a joke. Jesse Jackson has done a hell of a lot more for civil rights than crooked Al has. Plus Jackson could actually get votes from Democrats in the primaries, something your friend Mr. Sharpton could not. Where was African American support for Sharpton?

[IndianaGreen]

39. And who got money from the Kerry campaign to attack Dean for his

not having enough minorities in his cabinet when he was Governor. Never mind that Kerry backer New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen had the same problem for being from a state that, like Dean's, had very few minorities.

Sharpton Was Paid to Aid Kerry Campaign

Thu Dec 9, 8:56 AM ET

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - All of John Kerry's one-time rivals in the Democratic presidential primary eventually lined up to support him as the nominee, but only one got paid for it — Al Sharpton.

The Democratic National Committee paid Sharpton $86,715 in travel and consulting fees to compensate for his campaigning for Kerry and other Democratic candidates, according to reports to the Federal Election Commission.

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:Sw_1MPxwBRcJ:story.news.yahoo.com/news%3Ftmpl%3Dstory2%26u%3D/ap/20041209/ap_on_el_pr/sharpton_democrats+sharpton%2Bmoney%2Bkerry+campaign&hl=en

[AntiCoup2K4]

3. Yeah, why not trust Al Sharpton

Repuke fascist Roger Stone does. :eyes:

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

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[burythehatchet]

6. Equating Duke and Sharpton???

:eyes:

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Maria Celeste]

7. And you think Sharpton would be one?

Sharpton IMO is not someone most people would trust. Then again, unlike most of the national politicians he is much more up front about playing fast and loose with facts and being in it just for the money and fame.

Seriously, if we are to regain the momentum we once had, we need to put credible and believeable people up front as the leaders and candidates of our movement.

[marcologico]

9. Sharpton would make a great talking head

Maybe not DNC chair, but his debate performances and his speech at the convention earned him a slot somewhere, no doubt about it.

p.s. two questions, 1) what does n/t mean, and 2) what does NGU mean, anyone know?

[Endangered Specie]

11. n/t = no text, also eom (end of message) is used

to indicate there is no text in the message body

[marcologico]

41. hey thanks!

if you figure out NGU let me know!

[Snivi Yllom]

10. ok idea except Al Sharpton is a worse power seeker than Kerry was

And he has only been 1/100th as successful.

[nostamj]

12. you CANNOT trust Sharpton.

take it from a NYer who's been watching the 'rev' since long before he made the national map.

yes, he can be VERY amusing but...

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0449/barrett.php

[robbedvoter]

14. My reaction exactly. he bragged of giving NYC a GOP mayor - and

for once was right too. he was in bed with the GOP throughout his campaign.

The importance of Sharpton, however, is as symbol. He has surfaced in
every major NY race for decades, and it is certain he will attempt to
influence the 2005 mayoral, having already claimed in his memoir, Al on
America, that he made Mike Bloomberg mayor in 2001.
http://villagevoice.com/issues/0449/barrett.php

I admire his eloquence too. But, trustworthy.....

[lojasmo]

13. No thanks. N/T

[blackangrydem]

15. If a candidate was the most dynamic speaker at the party's covnention and

earned some delegates in a run for president, campaigned hard for the eventual nominee, and was one of the party's most visible figures, he would be an automatic candidate for VP, Party Chair or a cabinet post, right?

No, this man, Sharpton, who is a member of the Democratic Party's most loyal constituency, is not considered for any of these posts.

Why?

[ArkDem]

17. I thought Barak Obama was the most dynamic speaker

at the convention.

[Ian David]

19. Because Al Sharpton is a crooked, race-baiting, anti-semitic crook

REVEREND SHARPTON'S ANTI-SEMITIC & RACIST BROADCASTS
Complete Transcript of the "Hate Tape"
Inflamatory Words that Caused Fire at Freddy's

For years, anti-Semitic and racist hate-mongering has been broadcast shamelessly by all the major black radio stations. In the months before the Harlem Massacre, the Reverend Al Sharpton and others broadcast a series of rallies attacking non-black Harlem store owners in the vilest of terms. The arson which killed 8 people at Freddy's clothing store on December 9, truly proved that those broadcasts were inflammatory, and those words, incendiary.

The Jewish Action Alliance has been taping these stations for years and therefore was able quickly to provide tape copies of these broadcasts to the police and press. The Jewish Post has had this tape professionally transcribed. Unlike the New York Times, the New York Post, and the Daily News, all of which printed just a few excerpts, all the relevant material on the JAA tape -- which may put Al Sharpton out of business -- is printed below!

http://www.jewishpost.com/jewishpost/jpn201g.html


---
The Democrats and the African-American community can do better.

Much better.

If you're looking for progressive, liberal African-Americans:

For example, there's Barack Obama.

Or Bill Cosby.

Or Coretta Scott King.

Jocelyn Elders.

Carol Moseley Braun.

Julian Bond.

Pretty much anyone except Sharpton or Jackson.

[blackangrydem]

26. If that is the case I wonder why he was treated with kid gloves

by the other Primary candidates, especially during the debates?

[The Gigmeister]

34. They were all afraid of being branded as "Racist".

You see the same thing here...Unfortunately.

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

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[Geek_Girl]

21. I would like a pro-choice, anti-war nominee

for DNC Chairman that I can trust too. But unfortunately I don't trust Al Sharpton. He was funded be the republican political operative Roger Stone during the primaries and find that very odd and suspicious.

[okieinpain]

22. I would second this, but I have a fear that sharpton would just do

something stupid, like have an affair with his assisant, or buy somebody a car with dnc money. just something really petty, and dumb, then get mad at the world when he gets busted.

[NYCGirl]

23. It'll take more time for the stink of the Tawana Brawley trial to

wear off.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tawana_Brawley

[truebrit71]

24. Yeah, what a brilliant idea....

NOT!!!!

:eyes:

[w4rma]

27. I don't really trust Sharpton. (nt)

[Ian David]

28. Sharpton wasn't the Dems brightest moment

When Sharpton took the stage, what were the dems supposed to do?

If they scorned him, there would be shouts of racism, bigotry and intolerance.

Instead, they let him play the role of the token negro on the platform. Of course, there was Ms. Mosley-Braun, but being a woman over-shadowed skin color.

And say what you might about Sharpton, but he is a fantastic speaker with a sharp wit. He's darned compelling and extremely entertaining. In other words, he made a great trained monkey.

And he was just crazy enough to not be a threat.

[geek tragedy]

30. Sharpton is a liar and a hateful demagogue.

He's scum, and has no business in the Dem leadership.

[James T. Kirk]

37. Word.

[brentspeak]

31. I almost snarfed my coffee on that one

Al "Tawana Brawley" Sharpton? This guy is a complete low-life scam artist. Even the Village Voice writes exposes on him. And it was understood that John Kerry was forced to ingratiate himself to Sharpton -- otherwise, Sharpton would have done everything he could to turn the black vote away from Kerry.

[BlueManDude]

32. I saw Sharpton at the Oak Bar in NYC on XMas Eve

He sat there staring into his cell phone all night.

The man is a fraud and a charlatan and his association hurts the Democratic Party.

[IStriker]

33. Is this a joke?

[IndianaGreen]

38. You want us to trust the man behind the Tawana Brawley slander?

Even a socialist publication like WSWS has a lot to say about Reverend Al:

New York lawsuit winds down
Sharpton, lawyers guilty of defamation in Brawley case
By David Walsh
25 July 1998

The defamation trial of attorneys Alton Maddox, C. Vernon Mason and the Rev. Al Sharpton neared its conclusion Thursday in Poughkeepsie, New York--some 60 miles north of New York City--with the expected no-show of Tawana Brawley during the damages phase of the proceedings. The three defendants were found guilty July 13 on 10 out of 22 counts.

The $395 million suit was brought by former Dutchess County assistant prosecutor Steven Pagones, named by Brawley, who is black, as one of a group of white men who abducted and raped her over the course of four days in November 1987. Brawley, a 15 year old at the time of the incident, did not testify before a grand jury in 1988 and her story, apparently concocted to explain her absence to her mother and stepfather, was established as a fabrication. (One witness saw her surreptitiously climbing into the garbage bag in which she claimed her assailants had placed her.)

Maddox, Mason and Sharpton became Brawley's "advisers" and publicly identified Pagones as one of Brawley's attackers. Maddox and Mason are ardent black nationalists who have never let the truth stand in the way of their political aims. Maddox was suspended from the bar until 1999 for refusing to cooperate with an inquiry into his conduct during the Brawley case. Sharpton, a former FBI drug informant, who has distanced himself somewhat from Maddox and Mason in the recent period, used the Brawley case to advance his career and has risen to a position of prominence within the Democratic Party in New York City and state.

<snip>

There is a connection between the lying, defamatory character of the Brawley campaign and the role of racialism. Those, like Maddox, Mason and Sharpton, who preach racial animosity and strive for privileges for their particular color or nationality must lie in their presentation of social life. Society is not a collection of warring ethnic tribes; it is fundamentally divided along class lines, between the elite handful who control economic life and the vast majority of working people. Racialists make things up because their conceptions do not correspond to reality.

Brawley elicited sympathy not only from among nationalists at the time of her alleged attack, but no doubt as well from among black people and others outraged over the nature of the crime. If there is something to be learned here, it is the real danger of reacting to such a situation without weighing the facts and making a reasoned analysis. Such an analysis implies having a perspective on society and an understanding of its essential driving forces. Figures like Mason, Maddox and Sharpton, and their counterparts of every color and background, are dangerous individuals. They play on confusion, ignorance and prejudice to advance their own reactionary political aims. The lesson is: beware of demagogues!

http://www.wsws.org/news/1998/july1998/braw-j25.shtml

[Barney Rocks]

40. AMEN!!!

Sharpton is one of the few politicians who is not afraid to tell it like it is.

He cannot be silenced and he always stands up for truth. Plus he is probably the BEST orator that our party has.

I would love to see him as the spokesman for the party. Certainly we would not have to worry about this slow march to the right anymore.

What can I do to support him getting the position?

[geek tragedy]

42. Prove that he wasn't lying about Tawana Brawley?

Of course, that's impossible, because he was lying.

[Barney Rocks]

43. oh please--that is ancient history--

I thought that Democrats believed in REDEMPTION.

I don't think Sharpton lied about the Brawley situation--I think he was taken in like everyone else. And his instincts were right--he believe T.B. was a victim--so he tried to help her. What is evil about that? Yes--it turns out that Twana lied to everyone including Sharpton--but how can anyone blame him for trying to get justice for a woman who he thought was victimized? To me, that was heroic.

And yes--he has made mistakes--who among us has not? Most politician have some baggage---we have to let the past be in the past.

[Ian David]

44. Sharpton is an entertainer, not a politician

The Dems used him as their trained monkey to pander to the more simple-minded among the African Americans.

I don't know anyone with a lick of sense who takes the man seriously.

If you simply want an African American who "tells it like it is," then elect Chris Rock. He's smarter, funnier, and has (to my knowledge) never been involved in a scandal.

I'd rather elect Chris Rock as President than Al Sharpton as dogcatcher.

[IndianaGreen]

45. Sharpton has never shown any remorse, or given hints of repentance,

about his shameful role in the defamation of former prosecutor Steve Pagones, whom Sharpton identified as one of Tawana Brawley's rapists.

To be redeemed, one must first repent.

Sharpton is entertaining as all snake oil salesmen are!

[ISUGRADIA]

46. Perfect words! Sharpton has not shown any signs of regret for previous

actions. He's just moved his scamming from the NY City level to the national stage.