Posted on 11/12/2003 7:25:07 PM PST by buzzyboop
Al Sharpton, once labeled a racial polarizer, has recast himself as the soul of the Democratic Party. One rainy fall day, Sharpton paid a visit to Rolling Stone's offices to explain to us why he's running for president and how he fears the Democrats are about to blow it again. A decade ago, Sharpton was one of the most hated men in New York, accused by his critics of stoking racial fury and inciting near-riots. But since then, he has mellowed considerably, trading his track-suit-and-big-medallion look for tailored suits and flashy cuff links.
In mainstreaming his appeal, Sharpton is reaching out across racial lines --speaking not just to the angry black nation but to the larger pool of anger that he says is gathering in the traditional left-behind base of the Democratic Party: dispossessed union workers, minorities, homosexuals -- pretty much anyone who never received the invitation to join the party George W. Bush has been throwing for the nation's millionaires. "This race," Sharpton says, "is a lot more than another presidential election. Everything that we have fought for, in terms of civil liberties -- all of that is at stake if Bush is re-elected."
In person, Sharpton is a charismatic, galvanic presence. He was nearly forty minutes late for lunch. But he has a true star's ability to turn impatience into anticipation. From the moment he showed up, he was the exact same Sharpton you see on television: funny, quick, unapologetic, as much a showman as a politician. The comments here are drawn from our lunch with the reverend combined with an on-the-record interview in his campaign office a week earlier.
(Excerpt) Read more at rollingstone.com ...
WE HOPE YOU GET THE NOMINATION!
WE ARE ALL PULLING FOR YOU!
How does he do that hair? Is that a bro thing?
James Brown, you've said many times, was like a surrogate father to you. Tell us a story about him.Around Christmastime 1980, I was in James' office in Augusta, Georgia. I'd come down to see him, and he asked me what I was doing. Now, you got to remember James Brown is a lot more conservative than me -- he likes Republicans. I'd said to him, "You ought to jump on your friends in the White House about the King holiday [at the time, the debate over whether to make Martin Luther King's birthday a national holiday was a divisive issue] because, you know, Stevie Wonder's going to be leading a march on Washington." James says, "You don't need to be marching, I can get that done."
So I said, "Get it done."
To my surprise, he called, and on King Day 1981, they invite James Brown to the White House. What they did was slick. They got Stevie Wonder outside marching, and they have James Brown inside.
So James takes me with him -- that's when he made me style my hair like this. We go first to meet with Vice President Bush. We sit there talking for a half hour. James talks about how he knew Dr. King and how the people outside, they aren't trying to destroy America. We need this holiday.
Bush listens and then he says, "Let me take you over to the Oval Office to say hello to the president." So we go in to see Ronald Reagan. The president knew we were coming and, of course, is scripted. He shakes our hand and he sits down, and James says to him, "Mr. President, you all about to blow the country. You've got to listen to me."
Like a good politician, the president says, "Yes, sir. That's why we invited you here. What's on your mind?"
"You're about to blow it," James says. "You need to listen. I can give you the answers."
President says, "What are the answers, Mr. Brown?"
"The streets, they're about to explode. They're about to have violence everywhere. You've got to listen to me. I know what you need to do. You've got to listen to me."
Reagan nods and says, "Tell me, Mr. Brown, what you think I should do." So James steps back and looks at me and says, "Tell him, Reverend!" Reagan is looking at me, and I don't know what to say -- I wasn't prepared to tell the president what to do. And James is shouting, "You been marching all your life. You been on the streets. Tell him! Tell him!" Reagan's looking at me. And I'm trying to ad-lib on domestic and foreign policy. It was the most awkward moment of my life. And James is looking at me with total disgust because he's brought me off the streets of Brooklyn into the Oval Office and I don't know what to say. James Brown teases me about it to this day. He says, "I'm gonna tell the people that I brought you to the seat of power and you didn't know what to say."
That's what life with James Brown is like.
It's easy to whine in front of the cameras. Have to wonder how Al would respond to citizens of all colors pushing for their own agendas/programs if he were president. "Ain't got time for it, I've got things I want to do..."
I don't know. He says that he got it from James Brown. There are different products that he may be using on his hair. I'm white but I still put Murray's in my hair:
Tell him to end international communism like Lincoln freed the slaves, Al.
To my surprise, Al, Reagan wasn't inaugurated until January 20, 1981, which would've been five days after when you claim to have met him and the Godfather of Soul in the Oval Office.
And I thought Tawana Brawley was a tall tale.
He's saving that for when there are actually people watching!
So Al, since parents already decide what's best for their kids (including what faith and diet they will be brought up with) does this mean that adults are free to commit incestuous molestation and then go to Hell in the afterlife? Aren't there some civil rights matters that we have to intervene on in the here and now? Infanticide ranks up there on the same level as molestation and physical child abuse.
You can bet this issue would come up if Pat Robertson were running.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.