Rev. Al Sharpton Officially Tapped as MSNBC Host.

[elleng]

Source: nyt/ap

in the 6 p.m. Eastern time slot.

His new program, to be called "PoliticsNation," will premiere next Monday.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/08/23/arts/AP-US-TV-MSNBC-Sharpton.html?hp

[jaxx]

1. The Rev. Al is one I try not to miss.

I think this is great.

[gateley]

2. Huh - I thought that was already a done deal. Guess I missed

the official meeting. :7 Happy to hear it!

[ThisThreadIsSatire]

3. I enjoy it when he talks to Michael Steele... nt

[grantcart]

19. Maybe the Rev has a spot for a gifted contributor that

could help him with a reoccurring humorous bit.


Just trying to help the desperate.

[SusanaMontana41]

4. Can't stand to listen to the guy.

What he says is predictable, and I can finish his sentences before he does. He's not a journalist, either, which bothers me. I'm tired of talking heads.

Not to say I don't agree with much of what he says. Just can't stand listening to him.

[kurtzapril4]

9. I agree, Susana

What a joke. Tawana Brawley, anyone? The guy has as much credibility as Glenn Beck, at this point.

[banned from Kos]

15. Plus - why is he a fucking "reverend"? I don't call the right wing nuts

like Pat Robertson a reverend. I am a Sam Harris and Mark Twain fan. A "reverend" is someone not to be trusted.

[SpartanDem]

48. A "reverend" is someone not to be trusted.

right:eyes:

[banned from Kos]

51. great on civil rights no question!

But don't want his input on science, budgets, and most other topics that MSNBC covers daily.

[LanternWaste]

64. Because editorialists are much more educated in those particular topics?

"But don't want his input on science, budgets, and most other topics that MSNBC covers daily..."

Because editorialists are much more educated in those particular topics?

From where I sit, they all appear to be lacking degrees in the relevant fields, yet all have access to the same tools and information.

[banned from Kos]

68. Rachel Maddow - Rhodes scholar.

Sharpton? Blah.....

[BadtotheboneBob]

57. Because at the age of 10, a Pentecostal Bishop made him one...

... Sharpton was later as an adult re-baptized in the Baptist faith (total immersion required, dontcha know) and again 'declared' a minister or 'Reverend' or whatever. He hasn't any formal seminary training or college divinity degree that I'm aware of. His title is by fiat. I consider his use of it a convenience that supposedly gives him a manner of legitimacy he would otherwise lack outside his 'activism' which IMO has been of the "racial arsonist" type as said by the Harvard Sociologist and Professor Orlando Patterson. .

[24601]

58. Go ahead and ask about his seminary training - I dare you. n/t

[Erose999]

69. I call myself "reverend" sometimes. I'm ordained through Universal Life church as a minister of

secular humanism. lol

[SusanaMontana41]

18. Oh, the memories ... n/t

[Auntie Bush]

36. Yeah, Al Sharpton is a good way to get Rethugs to watch MSNBC

and learn something. :sarcasm: But maybe that's the object!

[tpsbmam]

47. Lived in NYC all all my life up to age 30, including the time Sharpton was

making lots of noise about lots of things. Some were legit, some were Tawana Brawley-type total bullshit. It was about 50-50. It got to the point that it became blah, blah, blah noise I tuned out. It sort of makes it difficult to take him as seriously as people who don't have that perspective do.

[Auntie Bush]

10. I can't stand his voice...it's irritating...although I like what he has to say. nt

[SusanaMontana41]

17. Right there with ya. n/t

[RKP5637]

35. Yep, I kinda fall into that category, I keep it turned down, but listen to

what he has to say.

[Kahuna]

22. OF COOOOOURRRSE! Nothing predictable about his predecessor, I'm sure..

:eyes:

[SusanaMontana41]

25. Cenk was no demagogue.

Love the rolling eyes, btw. Is that all ya got?

[SusanaMontana41]

5. dupe

[eShirl]

6. Good. We enjoy Al almost as much as we enjoyed Cenk. n/t

[RKP5637]

7. He does a pretty good job IMO. He doesn't seem to take any BS from what

I've seen.

[elleng]

12. Yes, no B.S.

[2Design]

8. not my cup of tea - not a great representative of left imo n/t

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

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

[SusanaMontana41]

14. How 'bout just a kiss?

:*

[Kahuna]

26. Phew!

:crazy:

[SusanaMontana41]

29. lol! You've got the rolling eyes down pat! n/t

[thelordofhell]

32. Don't you have a badly spelled sign to make somewhere?

Enjoy your pizza

[elleng]

37. ...

:thumbsdown:

[Larkspur]

13. Rev. Al joins Lawrence O'Donnell on my MSNBC NO Watch List

The 2 can now kiss Obama's behind together.

[SusanaMontana41]

23. Yup. Dumped O'Donnell when he thought the Libyan

adventure was dandy.

[godai]

28. Same here. n/t

[dtexdem]

16. Oh, at first I read it as "officially tRapped as MSNBC host."

What could I have been thinking? ;-)

[SusanaMontana41]

62. ...

:evilgrin:

[Kahuna]

20. Go Reverend!

:applause:

[Seedersandleechers]

21. IMO he spews the same talking points over and over

and I rarely hear him come up with a different, intelligent, perspective on anything. I like him as a guest but not a host.

[msanthrope]

24. A Bought and Paid-For GOP Whore. Documented by the FEC.

A Bush Covert Operative Takes Over Al Sharpton's Campaign
By Wayne Barrett with special reporting by Adam Hutton and Christine Lagorio Tuesday, Jan 27 2004

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. Though Stone and Sharpton have tried to reduce their alliance to a curiosity, suggesting that all they do is talk occasionally, a Voice investigation has documented an extraordinary array of connections. Stone played a pivotal role in putting together Sharpton's pending application for federal matching funds, getting dollars in critical states from family members and political allies at odds with everything Sharpton represents. He's also helped stack the campaign with a half-dozen incongruous top aides who've worked for him in prior campaigns. He's even boasted about engineering six-figure loans to Sharpton's National Action Network (NAN) and allowing Sharpton to use his credit card to cover thousands in NAN costs—neither of which he could legally do for the campaign. In a wide-ranging Voice interview Sunday, Stone confirmed his matching-fund and staffing roles, but refused to comment on the NAN subsidies.

SNIP
Stone's Miami-based Fairbanks Limited also set up an e-mail service called Sharpton-at-the-beach, which has issued dozens of releases highlighting campaign achievements before news of them was posted on the campaign website. His impact on strategy even included giving Sharpton the ax handle he wielded at the July NAACP convention, which Sharpton used as a symbol of former Georgia Democratic governor Lester Maddox, who became famous in the '60s by chasing blacks from his restaurant with one. Sharpton stirred the crowd, yelling from the podium: "Anytime we can give a party 92 percent of our vote and have to still beg some people to come talk to us, there is still an ax-handle mentality among some in the Democratic Party." Sharpton said he doesn't remember whether Stone gave him the ax handle. Stone declined to comment, but has boasted to friends that he came up with the theatrics.

Recruited in 2000 by his friend James Baker, the former secretary of state, to spearhead the GOP street forces in Miami, Stone is apparently confident that he can use the Democrat-bashing preacher to damage the party's eventual nominee, just as Sharpton himself bragged he did in the New York mayoral campaign of 2001. In his 2002 book, Al on America, Sharpton wrote that he felt the city's Democratic Party "had to be taught a lesson" in 2001—insisting that Mark Green, who defeated the Sharpton-backed Fernando Ferrer in a bitter runoff, had disrespected him and minorities. Adding that the party "still has to be taught one nationally," he warned: "A lot of 2004 will be about what happened in New York in 2001. It's about dignity." In 2001, Sharpton engaged in a behind-the-scenes dialogue with campaign aides to Republican Mike Bloomberg while publicly disparaging Green.

SNIP
Sharpton recently rebuffed an appeal by DNC chair Terry McAuliffe to join a post-primary March 25 event to support the nominee, sending a letter saying he would attend but would also "continue to campaign vigorously until the last day of the convention." He has also repeatedly vowed that he would speak on prime-time TV during the July convention, saying party leaders would decide "whether that's inside the hall or out in the parking lot," threatening demonstrations unless granted exposure guaranteed to turn off many voters. Stone terminated a 45-minute Voice interview shortly after he was asked about any involvement he might have had with the letter to McAuliffe, saying he was "not characterizing my conversations with Sharpton," though he freely did in a recent Times interview.
http://www.villagevoice.com/2004-01-27/news/sleeping-with-the-gop/

[jzodda]

27. I think he stinks

Terrible host, constant pausing and the teleprompter stuff is cringe worthy.

Hes fine as a commentator though-just not a host.

[SusanaMontana41]

30. "Cringe worthy" sums it up. n/t

[Judi Lynn]

34. He's new at hosting, obviously. Cringe worthy? Really? Why not be above dwelling on it?

How well would you do in a new role, anyway? Chances are he will learn quickly. Not everyone in tv was trained in radio/tv journalism, and that's a GOOD quality.

Who needs superficial, empty slickness?

He has always been a guest before.

It doesn't matter if you hate him, there are many people who WANT to hear what he has to say, and are bright enough to realize he's been doing something else all these years instead of rehearsing, learning "teleprompter stuff," and all the crap that really doesn't matter, in a time of horrendous, deadly political conflict.

[SusanaMontana41]

44. Who's talking hate here? Just can't stand listening to him.

A journalist would be better, along the lines of Olbermann.

[jzodda]

49. Who said anything about hate?

I said he stinks.

[Judi Lynn]

31. Light years better than the loathesome "Morning Joe' crapfest.

I'm still recovering from their descent into filthy wingnut hell by hiring Michael Savage. Jesus J. Christ.

As for racists who break speed records trying to get their rancor toward Al Sharpton on record every time his name is mentioned on the internetS, please spare us. We know where that comes from. Give it a rest.

It's good to see him stepping into a new role. Very interesting. There's is most clearly a place for Rev. Al Sharpton in the world. I watch him.

[RKP5637]

33. You sure got that right, "Morning Joe" crapfest. I find that such an

annoying program.

[No Elephants]

70. Morning Joe is still on MSNBC, though. Sharpton replaced Cenk.

[blueclown]

38. Should have hired Jonathan Capehart or Melissa Harris-Perry.

Not a big fan of Al Sharpton.

[Firebrand Gary]

39. This makes me very happy!

Congratulations Rev Al.

[Leontius]

40. Great another reason to stay on the computer in the afternoon

and early evening.

[Cool Logic]

41. Come on now, you guys need to cut the Rev some slack...

Regrettably, that Chia Pet on his head has grown into his brain; thereby causing serious harm to his intellectual capabilities.

[virgogal]

42. Another reason to turn off the TV.

[digitaln3rd]

43. And MSNBC further slides into irrelevance.

Al Sharpton? Really?

[neoconn]

45. Congarst to the Rev!!

[tularetom]

46. Well, he ain't Cenk but they could have done worse

I guess.

:shrug:

[lindysalsagal]

50. I lived in Wappingers when he invented the Tawana Brawley fake attack.

I don't think he makes the network look good. There are better people to represent his point of view, like Keith Olberman.

[banned from Kos]

52. or Melissa (whatever her last name is) - She was eloquent and

knowledgeable!

[Judi Lynn]

53. Melissa (no relation whatsoever to Rick) Perry. n/t

[oldhippydude]

56. Melissa

Harris Perry.. (used to be Lacewell).. is sharp, articulate, educated, and has that same ability to teach, that Rachael Maddow has.. plus she can compete with Fokkks as eye candy.. (sorry but i never miss her if i can help it)

[Loge23]

67. Never forgot that either

The Tawana Brawley hoax was never acknowledged by Sharpton, who apparently used the incident as his platform for fame.
He promotes himself as a civil rights leader, even as he apologetically violated the rights of those whom he accused in the Brawley fiasco.
Sharpton is the left equivalent of Joe the Plumber.

[Dollface]

54. I'd rather have Cenk on the air. I'm not a big fan of AS but I don't dislike him either.

I find myself getting caught in the show fairly often although I don't have it set to record like I did for Cenk.

The man has a fascinating history and has put himself on the line many times fighting for civil rights. Just hearing his name used to induce a negative response from me but I decided to read up on him and determine how much of that response was from media conditioning. As it turns out, most of it was a conditioned response. He has done some cringe worthy stuff but that that is much less a part of him then his dedication to insisting on justice and equal rights for people of color, and more recently, gay Americans.

I hope he will bring a new demographic to MSNBC who will stay around for Lawrence and Rachel.

[Hulk]

55. Can't stand watching/listening to him in interviews.

I'm sorry...but that guy has ZERO skill at this job. This is sad. In a day and age when we need strong, capable voices for the progressive movement...we end up with someone like this. Cenk was about 1000 times more qualified. The "old guard" is no excuse for inept skill.

[BlueIris]

59. Heh. I still love Al Sharpton.

I realize some have criticized his run in '04 as having been sponsored by anti-Democratic forces, but I...still love him. Eloquent and incisive (not to mention funny) guy.

[Dappleganger]

60. Preferred him as a guest rather than a host.

But I won't watch anyone who refuses to question the president when he is violating democratic principles.

[unionworks]

61. he did my heart good

Watching him go after teabaggers and various wingnuts puts a smile on my face. Oh to just once see Barry do it....

[SoCalDemGrrl]

63. Please say it ain't so. He's gonna do damage to our chances in 2012

he's waayyy to controversial and militant.

Of course knowing NBC/Comcast that's probably what they had in mind - -

[mopinko]

65. we can always use more snark in our news.

i've had my moments with him, but i mostly like him. he doesn't take a lot of bs.

[AngryAmish]

66. Rev Al is the best we have to offer.

[No Elephants]

71. I prefer Cenk.. His dismissal was deplorable.