He is a shake-down artist, a con man, supposedly a minister, and an MSNBC show host. Somehow all those things meld together nicely, especially when the name Al Sharpton comes to mind. Yes, the master of malaprops who can barely string a declarative sentence together on a good day has done it again.
And is it ever a doozy.
If you are one of the 15 people who watch “PoliticsNation” hosted by the Reverend Al on the MSDNC network, you heard it. But in case you missed it we have a reprise for you. Indeed, a command performance such as this deserves another go around.
S-h-a-r-p-t-o-n
At the end of his signature segment called “Gotcha,” Mr. Sharpton referred to the late great Aretha Franklin, who as many of you know, was famous for a 1967 R&B classic called “Respect.” During the tune, Franklin even spells the word twice. But that didn’t stop her “good friend” as he calls himself from misspelling the word:
“So, in the words of my late friend, Aretha Franklin, show some R-E-S-P-I-C-T. And the next time you get a black woman and a beagle confused, remember this: I gotcha.”
“R-E-S-P-I-C-T,” said the good Reverend, live on TV. We must assume it was live otherwise someone in the MSDNC control room would have done something about it. Or maybe not. Only in America could a man of Sharpton’s intellect have the opportunity to host a one-hour television program.
It might be tempting to make fun of the Rev. Al, but he’s done his fair share of damage in 63 short years on the planet.
From Howard Beach to Crown Heights to Trayvon Martin, Al Sharpton has carried the mantle of a legendary and iconic American racist. Surely these were not America’s finest moments, but Mr. Sharpton parlayed them into fame and fortune. Perhaps his greatest triumph of all was serving as an advisor to Tawana Brawley who falsely accused four men of raping her. From these moments of magnitude, Mr. Sharpton has ascended to… the airwaves of MSDNC. That’s where he has a chance to spout his leftist ideology week in and week out. It is a form of not just incompetence but an occasion to hear from what one sociologist has aptly named Sharpton – a racial arsonist.
Racial arsonist? Indeed, Mr. Sharpton has perfected the art. Whenever there is racial tension in America, he picks up his “hate whitey” placard in one hand, acetylene torch in the other and turns up the heat. If there aren’t enough people outraged and angry – just call Al. Need a quick and dirty riot? Al’s your man. Looking for someone to go in front of the cameras and declare a race war? Step aside youngsters and hand over that microphone to Sharpton.
A 2013 Zogby poll revealed that 24% of blacks surveyed said Al Sharpton speaks for them. But the times, they are a-changin’. It just may be that Sharpton’s old-school tactic of whipping up the masses may be waning with record black approval ratings of the Trump administration and black unemployment at a historic low. All this means that Al Sharpton may not get the respect from those who once held him in high regard.
Yes, Al, that’s r-e-s-p-e-c-t… with an “e” not an “i.”
