The General Confusion of Rev. Sharpton
While eagerly awaiting Emily Esfahani Smith’s account of the Glenn Beck rally honoring the troops and calling for a restoration of honor, I read that Rev. Al Sharpton objects. Not that he doesn’t want to honor the troops, or doesn’t support honor in general. He simply objects to the juxtaposition of a rally dedicated to the idea of honor with the anniversary of Dr. King’s speech dreaming of a time when men would act honorably, which is about par for the reverend. Sharpton’s confusion is brought into sharp focus with the following statement:
The structural breakdown of a strong national government, which is what they're calling for, is something that does not serve the interests of the nation and it's something that Dr. King and others fought against.
A structural breakdown? That would be transformational, and as far as I can tell, Glenn Beck has not been the one calling for a fundamental transformation of America. That would be the other fellow, the one with the media-installed gold plate behind his head. A “strong national government” as currently envisioned by Sharpton and pursued by Obama is itself a structural breakdown. It is a breakdown of the Constitution. Dr. King called for the nation to adhere to the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, not to proceed as if those documents didn’t even exist.
For a very different view, we turn to Dr. King’s niece, Dr. Alveda King. Recalling an incident in June, when students from the Young American’s Foundation were forbidden to sing the Star Spangled Banner at the Lincoln Memorial by the Park Police, Alveda King writes:
Americans are hungry to reclaim the symbols of our liberty, hard won by an unlikely group of outnumbered, outgunned, underfunded patriots determined not to live in servitude to the British Empire. If we want to sing the national anthem at a memorial to the man who led this fledgling nation out of slavery, and made my people free, we should be able to send our voices soaring to the heavens. Glenn Beck’s “Rally to Restore Honor” this Saturday will give us that chance, and that’s why I feel it’s important for me to be there.
As for Sharpton’s criticism of Beck’s rally, and those critical of her for participating in the rally, King is happy that they have the freedom of speech to do so, adding, …“Uncle Martin’s legacy is big enough to go around.” Indeed it is.
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Jul '10
Re: The General Confusion of Rev. Sharpton
With a black President - whom Sharpton spurned as insufficiently authentic - in the WH, Sharpton feels the need to regain his currency.
Remember, this is the guy who chastised Tiger Woods because none of his mistresses were black.
That's pathetic. But going after Glenn Beck - heck, practically painting him as Jefferson Davis - that's good for another couple of news cycles, at least
Re: The General Confusion of Rev. Sharpton
I hadn't heard about that. Good grief.....
May '10
Re: The General Confusion of Rev. Sharpton
I was thinking about this earlier today...
As for concerns about Beck co-opting the time and place of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, these seem completely misplaced. Red or yellow, black or white, it’d be difficult to find worse representatives of King’s dream than the professional victims who get away with acting in his name simply because of the color of their skin. I’ll take a speech about what makes America great over a speech about how much we owe the Al Sharptons of the world any day, even if the audience is “overwhelmingly white.”