This is priceless:
Veteran black activist Al Sharpton contended Wednesday that the news media are dismissive of his presidential campaign because newsrooms are overwhelmingly white.
“I think when you look at the lack of diversity in the newsrooms, when you look at the lack of diversity from the editors and those in power, then you see them as automatically dismissive of anything that is not like them, which is white males,” said Sharpton.
“I think we’ve seen some very blatant racial insensitivity in the coverage of this race so far,” said Sharpton, in an interview with The Associated Press.
Sharpton complained that former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean has been virtually anointed the hot candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 – a case, he said, of a white-dominated media focusing on a middle-age white man.
Al, the reason people are paying very little attention to you is not because of your skin color, but because you are a flat-out moron. In fact, a case could be made that were it not for your race no one would be paying ANY attention to you- you would just be another white moron. The country is littered with them- for example, Dennis Kucinich.
Dave Weigel
If a white man had fabricated a rape to discredit the New York justice system the media would probably stiff him, too.
Ricky
Didn’t Alan Keyes do the same thing?
AnswertheQuestion
Why does anyone pay any attention whatsoever to Al Sharpton anyway?
Moe Lane
Because African-Americans overwhelmingly vote Democratic, and mainstream Democratic African-Anerican politicians tend toward the ‘delicate hothouse flowers’ type. Yet another example of why gerrymandering’s a da*n stupid idea.
Anyway, this particular racial/cultural group would be better off voting – heck, I’ll say ‘Green’ and appear to be all virtuous and disinterested. I’ll say this for Al: he may be a race-baiting, double-talking demogogue, but he’s spot on when he says that the Democrats take African-American votes for granted.
Of course, I sincerely doubt that expressing this opinion will change any minds. :)
Mac the Drunken Blogger
We don’t listen to Sharpton … we laugh.I think you were bang on with your closing comment, John.
Susan
I think Sharpton’s continuous campaign for president is his way of making a living.
greg
There’s no doubt Sharpton’s an idiot, but he’s an idiot who has to be creating a hell of a problem for the Dems.
The fact of the matter is, in 2000, both Al Gore and Hillary made visits to him, somewhat clandestine visits at that, because they realize his influence.
If Sharpton stays in the race long enough, he’s gonna demand a pretty good speaking slot at the Dem Convention, and the powers that be at the DNC have to be scared as hell at the prospect of all the undecided, independant voters watching this guy.
Greg
Speaking of Kucinich… on my drive home from work, I listened to a five minute soundbite from Kucinich on NPR. Yep, NPR, the publicly-funded, objective national news source.
Of course, everyone else is paying very little attention to Kucinich, but NPR is happy to provide the man with lots of airtime. I wonder why that is?
DANEgerus
Losing slander cases in civil court, spouting hate-speech that has led to violence and the murder of a Jewish Tailor, hasn’t given Al Sharpton the appropriate recognition in the mainstream Press. I really don’t know how the news media could ignore these important qualifications for a Presidential candidate but as Al points out… the media isn’t ‘black’ enough. This under-exposure raises the serious possibility that Al Sharpton may not receive the votes he is entitled to in the primary elections. I propose that there is only one reasonable solution.
Democratic voting in the primaries will need to be allocated representatively. This is consistent with affirmative action litigation that has established the precedent that statistical variance from this standard would be an indication of racism by the voters themselves. This allocation may require votes be deducted proportionately from the other candidates and reassigned to Sharpton and Braun to insure appropriate racial conformity in the voting results to a ‘fair and unbiased’ standard.
It’s really the only ‘fair’ solution to an ongoing legacy of discrimination. Or at least until it’s all cleaned up in 25 years or so…
SONIA
I’m not sure if some of you buffoons have been paying attention to the Democratic Presidential debates/forums, but Sharpton has had the biggest response from the audience in most, if not all of the debates. Next time, try to use more logic in your posts– your hatred for him does not change the fact that most of what he is saying is true.
Jon
Sharpton’s accusation is so blatantly illogical, I wanted to die when I read it. If the white, middle-aged media tends to dismiss that which isn’t like them, Al…then why in God’s name is Carol Mosely Braun, not only African American, but a WOMAN getting good press? Does this man not think before he speaks?
If you visit the websites and official media on each of the 9 candidates, notice there’s something different about Al. The others have detailed policy plans in most every area. Al has nothing. His speeches are full of catch slogans, and when you get to the end of reading them, it’s hard to put your finger on even a single concrete message.
J Tuminaro
Can anyone offer a little insight as to what the “REV” Al Sharpton means by
“Moderlization”
stu dent
als problem is that hes a friggin moron, and he wouldnt know foreign policy if it bit him in the ass. and with the “war on terror” and the iraqi situation, foreign policy is SLIGHTLY important in this election…i mean if you look at sharptons campaign site, he doesn’t mention Iraq once…hello, earth to Al…I don’t hate you because you’re black, i hate you because you’re a fucking retard.
Tom
Al Sharpton is a racist, this ultra sensitive man is quick to point out racial injustice against black, but does he realize the he was ultimatly responsible for the Harlem riots in 1995 that killed seven Jewish store owners, because they set up their business in a black neighborhood. What a fat fucking black racist!
frank
not a fan of the darkies!!
Dmitriy
“Reverend” Sharpton is one stupid fat jigaboo