Explosive: Sharpton mining black America for Bush secret agent

[grasswire]

This was posted on GD because it's so important, but the thread was locked.

http://www.villagevoice.com/ads/popunders/intercept_media.php

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.

Sharpton denounced the Voice's inquiries as "phony liberal paternalism," insisting that he'd "talk to anyone I want" and likening his use of Stone to Bill Clinton's reliance on pollster Dick Morris, saying he was "sick of these racist double standards." He did not dispute that Stone had helped generate matching contributions and staff the campaign. Asked about the Stone loans, he conceded that he "asked him to help NAN," but attributed the financial aid to his and Stone's joint "fight against the Rockefeller drug laws," adding: "If he did let me use his credit card to cover NAN expenses, fine." The finances of NAN and the Sharpton campaign have so merged in recent months that they have shared everything from contractors to consultants to travel expenses, though Sharpton insists that these questionable maneuvers have been done in compliance with Federal Election Commission regulations.

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.

LONG ARTICLE AT LINK WITH DETAILS

[barbaraann]

1. More like slaughter the donkey than "slap the donkey," it seems.

n/t

[nini]

2. the link goes to an ad

?

[Freddie Stubbs]

4. Here is the correct link

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0405/barrett.php

[nini]

15. thanks

:-)

[liberalnurse]

3. Sharpton isn't the only dirty donkey in the pack.

The Primaries have been nothing less than an embarrassment; a rendition or tribute to the days of Huey Long......

[mojowork_n]

8. But what do you really think?

In what way an embarassment? Who are the other sell-outs?

[girl gone mad]

5. So that was..

what was up with the constant attacks on Dean?

[TSElliott]

6. Am I the only one embarrassed by this?

I think it's pretty sad that the GOP is funding the only black candidate that is currently running. Why are Democrats not doing more to help Sharpton?

Sometimes I get so frustrated cause I feel like the Democratic Party is all about helping the minority, unless it's helping that minority get into public office.

[Freddie Stubbs]

36. Maybe if we has some qualified minorities running

Someone like Douglas Wilder, Anthony Williams, or Harold Ford, Jr.

[lastknowngood]

7. Let's slap that donkey

even the Jews had traitors in Germany. I do hope the black community treats him with the respect he deserves.

[mojowork_n]

13. I don't give a rat's tail about who was paying for Al's Message...

I still have complete faith in The Messenger. Al's been hands down one of the sharpest and most active critics of the Shrub administration. And he's right... Clinton shamelessly used Dick Morris, who's political ethics were pipelined straight from Satan's butt.

Maybe it's not that sinister, though. More like all those rich Republicans who've been sending boatloads of checks to Howard Dean, hoping to bring up someone who their candidate might be more likely to beat.

Just goes to show how unprincipled, manipulative and stupid Republicans many are.

And maybe how much Sharpton and Dean have in common. I wouldn't mind seeing the two of them working it out their own way, and bringing us up to speed on it later.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

9. Much ado about nothing

Sharpton has yet to register a meaningful number of votes to sway anyone anywhere nationally. If he is up to this, it is disgusting. If he is simply using a strategist, then this article is rather inflammatory.


The article reads more like an operative smear piece to shut him up.

[sendero]

37. If...

... he's getting few votes (and it seems that the black community is less than impressed with him, go figure) then what's to "shut up"?

I don't find this hard to believe at all. He spends most of the debate time sniping at one Dem or another, when it is going to do his campaign absolutely no good whatsoever.

He's become my Lieberman, I'll be happy when he goes home.

[KamaAina]

10. Well looky here. One of Sharpton's role models is James Brown.

Yes THAT James Brown, the "hardest-working man in show business" -- and a longtime Repuke!! He even married one of Brown's backup singers.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0203/p03s01-uspo.html (click on the picture of Rev. Al underneath "Decision 2004")

Family: Wife, Kathy Lee Jordan, backup singer for "Godfather of Soul" James Brown;... Role models: "I'd say James Brown was my father, Jesse Jackson was my teacher....

Owwwwww! I don't feel good....

[CabalBuster]

11. Interesting, so his republican orders were to attack Dean!

So interesting that he hasn't ONCE attacked Kerry but has focused his energy on attacking Dean at every single debate. Gephardt, Edwards, Lieberman, Sharpton and Kerry all attacked Dean so it was a concerted effort at hurting Dean's chances. Now that the DLC candidates are on top; mission accomplished. His staying on the race also makes sense, it helps dilute the vote (among African Americans).

[lancdem]

14. Sharpton's attacks on Dean actually had little impact

Besides, the candidates attacked Dean because he was the front-runner. That's politics, not a "conspiracy." Maybe you haven't noticed, but now they're going after Kerry. It made no sense for the others to attack Kerry when his candidacy was considered on life support.

[dsc]

17. Kerry has been front runner for two debates

where are the attacks on Kerry?

[pacifictiger]

16. actually this sounds more like a

divide the black vote by planting suspicion thing - you know, more of a nixonian type strategy from the repubs.
I watched him on cspan the other night and thought he was pretty good on the issues. He addressed black issues, but more in terms emphasising issues that affect poor black,white & brown. He also chided the black community for acusing blacks of acting white if they get an education and lead productive lives, while at the same time glorifying black street gang type behavior. He did criticise the others which as usual brought a laugh from the crowd - "if you ask Kerry, he'll say it was the Titanic; if you ask Edwards he'll say, (x000#?) people died, if you ask me I'll give you their names, addresses and phone numbers." I didn't hear him criticize Dean once - and he was the one speaking up for dean in at least one of the last debates.

[sendero]

38. It's hard to understand..

... why there is a need to "divide the vote" when Sharpton only manages to get low single digit percentages.

Another explanation is in order.

[JasonDeter]

12. What a pic and whats up with the bush* ad pop-up?

huh, pic won't load, nevertheless not a very flattering pic of Sharpton.

[Bombtrack]

18. Once again Sharpton cries racism when confronted with critism

"racist double standards?"

Try explaining that one. It seems it doesn't matter how loathsome Sharpton's record is to people here as long as he's a hard-leftist and gives some funny lines

[mojowork_n]

29. Yes, racist double standards

It's not a contradiction in terms. White folks *are* racist (period, period, exclamation point.) That's by virtue of having the luxury of not having to think at all about issues of race outside their own comfortably blindered frame of reference. Race simply doesn't matter, for the most part, because it doesn't affect them. So most of the time they're clueless...

It would take too long to explain, I suspect, but why not try doing a search for Tim Wise (I think he's got a website) and checking out his essays on the topic.

As for his record, what, specifically bothers you about the good Reverend Sharpton? Or do you just want to leave your criticsm at the ad hominem level?

[Freddie Stubbs]

44. My old roomate (a white guy) had to think about race every day

He was the only white guy who lived in out neighborhood. He was quite aware of race every day when he walked down the street.

[Tinoire]

19. 2 Things

1. It's a damn shame the Democratic Party isn't interested in even making Blacks feel that they can be represented in a Presidential run to finance this themselves.

2. I've said from the start that Sharpton was supported in his run by people who were interested in splitting up the anti-war vote. How sad that the Dems weren't interested in culling the anti-war vote and making it a formidable one.

Sharpton himself is still A-ok in my book; what is not A-ok is the Dem Party apparatus.

[Bombtrack]

21. that is some twisted freaking logic

The party was supposed to finance Sharpton to make blacks feel represented in a presidential race?

But the people who DID support Sharpton were also subversives?

Wow

[Tinoire]

24. Really bad reading skills you have there.

Not the first time you don't understand certain things so I'm not surprised.

[Ficus]

20. Shapton a closet right winger!

HA~!

[Forkboy]

22. I'd need more than this

to damn Al.A lot more.

[Democat]

23. Investigative reporting? I thought that was dead long ago!

Good for the Voice.

Now, someone on our side needs to get some money to Judge Moore in Alabama. :)

[elfin]

25. So that's what the Repugs are spending

their huge cash stash on - along with techno trinkets and oppo research.

Waste of time and money - but revealing once again of their true nature - to do anything to disrupt the Dems takeback (and payback.)

[JasonBerry]

26. HUGE story

If true, Al Sharpton can go straight to _____________.

[YNGW]

27. Did anyone believe Sharpton when he...

... made that speech at one of the debates where he said something like (paraphrased) "We (African-Americans) ask the Democratic Party to the prom, and we buy them a corsage, and take them to the dance, but at the dance they leave with someone else. All we're saying is that if we take you to the prom you better come home with us or we won't ask you to the prom anymore."

I didn't.

[messiah]

31. It's true

it does not matter that Shapton said it!.

[rhite5]

39. YNGW, I think you did not understand what he meant.....

The Democratic Party has taken the Black vote for granted. It is a huge constituency that Dems have counted on to deliver elections. Once the elections are won, the Party forgets about them until the next election.

Where is the recognition? The real advancement of issues especially affecting Blacks? Like "driving while Black" "Three strikes" Police harrassment of Blacks? Failure to protect the safety of Black residents in high-crime areas of cities? The injustices in the courts that have imprisoned such huge disproportionate numbers of young Black men? Red-lining? Voter intimidation at the polls in 2000? (Reno, who was still the Attorney General, refused to investigate). It was the Democratic Party that sent Jesse Jackson home from Florida when he began to lead a peaceful protest during the long vote (pretend) count that went on for weeks. Did the Democratic Party make an issue of the "felons list" full of faulty mostly black names that prevented thousands of Blacks from voting?

Sure, they have appointed an occasional black ambassador, like Carol Moseley Braun to New Zealand, but that's showcase stuff as much as anything. It does not get at the heart of the racism in our society at all.

But the Democrats always count on the Black vote to elect Presidents, and the Blacks do vote in big numbers. They vote for Dems only because voting for a Democrat is always better than the alternative.

Sharpton is saying, "Don't keep counting on that voting block forever."

[rocktivity]

28. Sharpton's mission, should he decide to accept it

was to support Kerry by undermining Dean. The Bush Regime wants Kerry to win because he's their easiest target.

Now I know where he's been getting his money, and who opened the doors to the mainstream media for him. By being anointed by the media as THE voice of Black America, his other mission was to make white viewers view the Democratic Party as being either too scary or too buffoonish to take seriously.

Now that Kerry looks to be the frontrunner, Al has apparently outlived his usefulness. Even a man of his ego must realize that Stone respected him so little that he didn't even attempt to conceal their relationship. Indeed, I wouldn't be surprised if Stone was the one who went to the Voice with this story in the first place.


rocknation

[John_H]

30. If true, this is disgusting and will set the chances of a black president

by years. God, I hope this is not true.

[messiah]

32. Black President be real

we will never have a fucking black president!.

[Freddie Stubbs]

46. If a state like Virginia can elect a black Governor,

electing a black President is certainly possible.

[ecstatic]

33. Why will one man's action sset the chances of a black president back

for years?

Couldn't Colin Powell run in 2008 and win?

[DemBones DemBones]

34. Probably. Blacks and women are always on

double secret probation.

(I include women because Shirley Chisholm said she'd been held back more as a woman than as an African-American. As a woman, I'm not convinced things are really better for women now than they were in 1972 when Shirley ran for president. As a white person, I'm not convinced things are really better for African-Americans and other people of color, either. I think there are superficial improvements.)

[Generic Other]

35. Very disappointed to read this

I had come to believe that Sharpton was sincere, but if he or any of the other candidates willingly sabotages the only chance we Americans have to rid ourselves of Bush because they are playing politics, they will have earned my condemnation.

My eye is on Bush.

[rhite5]

40. This VillageVoice article is a smear piece

and we are falling into the trap.

Al Sharpton's voice in the debates has been a major plus for the TRUTH about a number of issues that the other candidates do not find it convenient or safe to approach (except Kucinich). Sharpton has a style that is unique and entertaining and captures attention and he is a master with words and phrases.

I do not think he has damaged any candidates specifically. He is like a conscience for the Democratic Party, so Dennis doesn't have to do it alone. Together, they have helped pull the debates to the Left. Let it happen.

A number of people like me have donated to his campaign because we appreciate the fact that he is there. His role is not window-dressing. It is much more than that.

He is not "splitting" anybody's votes. The Primary is the time to vote for the person who represents your point of view on issues that matter to you. If you want the Party to address those issues, they are not going to know about it unless the candidate who represents them gets into the convention. You will see more votes for Sharpton from the Southern states.

The same thing goes for Kucinich votes. I don't want the Democratic Party to decide that Democratic voters don't care about withdrawing from NAFTA or Universal Health Care or getting out of Iraq quickly and getting the UN in. The Party is going to come to that conclusion if very few people vote for Kucinich. No other candidate is saying those specific things.

[NashVegas]

41. Smear Pieces

Generally involve false reporting.

[Freddie Stubbs]

43. The Village Voice is a liberal publicantion

And so far, no one has found anything factually wrong with it.

[Laughing Mirror]

42. Sharpton mining Bush agent for Black America, you mean

You've got your "explosive" opinion piece title backwards. (In any event it's not even the title of the Village Voice piece, although this nicety may not be a rule in GD, the way it is in LBN, however.)

As of December, there was some $5,000 and change in the Sharpton kitty, according to this Village Voice article, for those who don't want to bother to wade through it. And that princely sum, only after Stone's staff and family had kicked in a few bucks.

Stone really better get cracking and get out there and hustle up some more money for the war chest or Sharpton may be forced to fire him and find somebody better to do the job.

What gets me about all this is the hypocrisy. People always coming on these boards saying they love Sharpton and they admire and respect him so much, but they really don't think he counts. He is constantly being told to give his support to this one or that one. That he himself should not stay in the race.

My point is, if Sharpton doesn't count, if he should get out of the race, what difference should it matter to who he hires to raise money for him?

And just who are the top contributors to Sharpton's war chest? Places such as Radio One, PepsiCo, Sheet Metal Workers Union, Amy Ruth's Restaurant.

http://www.opensecrets.org/presidential/contrib.asp?id=N00001109&cycle=2004

[AbbeyRoad]

45. Et Tu Brute

I think Sharpton is a Judas and needs to drop out. I really had no strong feelings about his candidacy prior to this news, but this is the lowest of the the low. These Republicans that are running his campaign are not being paid and are in fact financing him. This is repulsive given how Sharpton portrays himself as being morally superior. I don't know if anyone has seen this interview with the author of the Village Voice piece or if the link has been provided already but here it is.:

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/02/04/1656216

Sharpton has really given Lieberman a run for the money in the betrayal department.