Civility for Thee, But Not for Me, Part 2
Earlier today we had some fun with the guy who said today that we needed “an atmosphere of civility and respect” — after having said in October 2010 of the governor of Florida: “Put him against the wall and shoot him.”
A line I thought about using but didn’t: “What? They couldn’t get Al Sharpton?”
You know what’s coming, right?
That’s right. In tomorrow’s Washington Post:
In MLK’s honor, let’s strive for dialogue that’s passionate but not poisonous
By Al Sharpton
Tuesday, January 11, 2011; 2:30 PM
The senseless violence in Arizona this past weekend left all of us stunned, but this devastating act hit home for me more than most. I have been a victim of violence that could have cost my life, and I have been involved in controversies that led to violence in which my words were distorted and misused.
. . . .
I hope that as we celebrate the birthday of Dr. King this weekend, we can think as he did about how we can be passionate toward what we believe in without also being poisonous. It’s time for all of us to strive toward a place where intelligent conversation supersedes nonsensical violence.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
I know, I know. You think I’m making this up.
I’m not. I swear I’m not. Click the link if you don’t believe me.
Al Sharpton. The guy who incited riots with anti-Semitic rhetoric, and lost a defamation suit for accusing an Assistant D.A. of being a rapist.
On Twitter, our occasional guest blogger Karl observes:
The NYT & WaPo are now doing performance art. Which will get to run the column on healing by Fred Phelps?
That’ll be the L.A. Times, Karl.
ah, no, you and karl are wrong. phelps is a clear and unsympathetic nut. thus in liberal terms, a right winger.
Aaron Worthing (73a7ea) — 1/11/2011 @ 9:38 pmi will add that al sharpton felt that prejudiced people like limbaugh should be driven from the airways.
damnit patterico, stop laughing.
Aaron Worthing (73a7ea) — 1/11/2011 @ 9:39 pmhttp://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/watercooler/2010/dec/7/sharpton-meet-fcc-effort-censor-limbaugh/
Aaron Worthing (73a7ea) — 1/11/2011 @ 9:40 pmOh my, with the Drawing Board’s editorialist cartoonist’s reaction to the shooting parked right next to the In MLK’s honor, let’s strive for dialogue that’s passionate but not poisonous header, it’s not easy to look past that unintentional irony and take anything else on the page seriously.
Dana (8ba2fb) — 1/11/2011 @ 9:43 pmRev’s gotta eat.
daleyrocks (e7bc4f) — 1/11/2011 @ 9:47 pmMaybe it’s just me, but does anyone else find it a bit ironic that politicians, pundits and our own blogosphere continues to act as if the current political atmosphere amounts to a crisis untold in our young nation’s history?
1861-1865.
That was vitriol.
Ag80 (e03e7a) — 1/11/2011 @ 9:59 pm5.Rev’s gotta eat.
— Literally. Did you see him on the Ed Schultz Sideshow yesterday? He has lost A LOT of weight, as in ‘illness-related weight loss’.
Icy Texan (aff374) — 1/11/2011 @ 10:08 pmSharpton’s incitement to violence really did directly cause deaths.
And he comes out with that? He’s f**king stupider than I thought.
SPQR (26be8b) — 1/11/2011 @ 10:13 pmIf Al Sharpton really hates the ugly tone out in politics, he could actually do something about it that mattered. He should apologize. He should go right up to the cops and DA and families of the dead from his riots and say he is sorry. He should admit that he instigated in just the way he is pretending the right instigated.
There is a major difference between being angry over a government that you rally to change via election, and being angry because a racist like Sharpton has told horrible lies to cause a huge race war. A whole lot of people, not just on the left, I admit, have said things that they can come forward and apologize for. That would be a proper way for a demogogue to call for a more civil tone.
But I need to add that they are way out of line to do so because of this shooting. This psycho created his own world, and no one outside it is responsible for what he did.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 1/11/2011 @ 10:14 pmDon’t I know it!
Tawana Brawley (3aa1fd) — 1/11/2011 @ 10:16 pmIf I wanted to by a cynical bastard about this, in the Rham sense, I could note what should be obvious to everyone already.
The Tea Party is going to digest this as a reason to be extremely motivated to win elections and ignore the MSM yet still. Anyone at all sympathetic to the Tea Party is going to be polarized to the right.
2011 and 2012 pose a political risk because it’s much harder to blame the entire government on one party’s actions. And we had a major victory. It’s hard to keep momentum going.
If the democrats are this desperate, they are calculating very poorly. In the long term, the people who really remember this on election day, the day that really matters, will be the slandered.
But that’s not good enough, and Al Sharpton should STFU. We can win elections without this mud slung.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 1/11/2011 @ 10:19 pmFred Phelps’s bunch are going to picket the funerals of the victims.
Michael Ejercito (64388b) — 1/11/2011 @ 11:19 pmFrom Sharpton:
“. . . I was wrong to refer to this man’s race, and I was not careful in making distinctly clear that we were solely calling for nonviolent opposition. . . . But the fact is, if I in any way contributed to the climate – which was clearly more volatile than I had thought – I had to be more careful and deliberate in my public language rather than sharpen my defenses.”
Isn’t a bit weird that he takes it this far, but never quite gets up the nerve to add a simple “I’m sorry”? I don’t claim to know anything at all about psychology, but this seems almost like a certain pathology in which one freely admits mistakes but never apologizes for them. I wonder if it has something to do with Sharpton being able to talk out of both sides of his mouth, telling a more moderate and subdued crowd that he has acknowledged his mistakes, while still being able to tell the fire-breathing radicals that he has never apologized for anything he has done in the pursuit of racial justice, or whatever he calls his vaudeville show now.
JVW (4463d3) — 1/11/2011 @ 11:40 pmDear
MoveOn memberPatterico Reader,The tragedy in Tucson has shaken us all to the core. Facts are still coming in, and we all must be careful not to jump to premature conclusions.
But in the wake of this disaster one thing is clear: We must put an end to the rhetoric of violence and hate that has exploded in America over the past two years.
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 1/12/2011 @ 3:04 amRedc1c4, seriously? What about the hate, violent images etc of the previous 8 years? Oh, I get it… Only those opposed our current glorious leader are hate mongers and those other people were simply performing their patriotic duty to disagree and debate… What a ding-a-ling!!! This whole argument is ludicrous.
You don’t think that Nancy Pelosi strutting with a giant gavel through the crowd of Americans who were bitterly opposed to government takeover and destruction of our health care system may have provoked some ill will from the majority of Americans who were yelling NO! Stop! Leave us the hell alone! So the majority of Americans who are opposed to this should STFU so as not to incite the anarchist nut jobs among us? No way, stick it where the sun doesn’t shine for most of us, it may for you as it seems that is where your head is residing. ;p
Texas Mom 2012 (cee89f) — 1/12/2011 @ 5:02 amAl Sharpton is truly a failed human being and yet FOX the Post and other’s consistently give him a platform to give the appearance of civility. He is the most UNCIVIL person from my youth and Kos is the most uncivil animal of my middle years! I am sure another Democrat will rise to the top for my senior years. The Democrat Party just seems to encompass the worst of the worst of our society!
JadedByPolitcs (a74345) — 1/12/2011 @ 5:05 am