Posted on 05/10/2007 4:06:38 PM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest
Al Sharpton, victim?
Yup -- according to Chris Matthews. The MSNBC host suggested that Mitt Romney had landed a "sucker punch" on Sharpton in reacting to the reverend's assertion that "true believers" will defeat the Mormon in the presidential race. Matthews laced his interview with Sharpton on this afternoon's "Hardball" with a number of comments painting Sharpton as the offended, not the offender.
After playing a tape of Sharpton's remark, and Romney's response, in which the former Massachusetts governor characterized Sharpton's comment as bigoted, Matthews went off on a riff.
View video here.
MSNBC HOST CHRIS MATTHEWS: Do you think they're jumping on you? Are they trying to make you into Sistah Souljah a la 1992? Do you think he's tagging you for political gain on the right? . . . Do you think you might be getting tagged pretty hard here because Romney, being pretty astute politically, sees you as a great target not just because you're a Democrat but also because you were very tough in bringing down Don Imus and he says, well, this guy's up on a pedestal; I'm going to knock him off, and that way everybody's gonna say he's a hypocrite. You could say it's a sucker punch, or a Sunday punch, but clearly Romney is swinging for the fences against your head. There's no doubt about what's going on here.For his part, Sharpton had the smoke-and-dust machine turned on full blast, obfuscating his "true believer" remark and offering a classic non-apology apology. Excerpts:
I'm just saying you're a big target Reverend. You know, every time you climb up the ladder a little bit, your rear-end gets bigger. That's just a fact of public life. You are a big man this year, you're bigger now than you were four, the last time you ran for president, three years ago, you're a much bigger fella, and the defeat of Don Imus, which was a career defeat, you were seen as the ramrod of bringing him down. So you have to understand that someone like Romney, who is probably looking for a way to distance himself from the left politically and a chance to bring down somebody big, this is a chance for him, isn't it? Isn't that what he's doing, rightly or wrongly?
THE REVEREND AL SHARPTON: How Romney reads all of that [the accusation of bigotry] into the line [Sharpton's original "true believer" remark] you just said is kind of appalling to me, but, it's politics I guess on his side. . . I said let's not worry about the Mormon candidate because true believers, meaning, not atheists, we're not going to rely on an atheist vote, we're going to vote. [I didn't say he would be beaten] because he was a Mormon. . . I'm glad to say that I talked today with two of the leaders of the top apostles group of the Mormon church. I said to them I was certainly not being anti-Mormon. I'm going to go see them in Utah. I would apologize to Mormons.I've said if I've offended Mormons with the misuse of my words I would apologize to Mormons.
View Sharpton's non-apology apology here
.BONUS COVERAGE: In a subsequent segment, Southern Baptist leader Richard Land stated that under no circumstances would he vote for Rudy Giuliani, given the former NYC mayor's stand on abortion. While mentioning that he doesn't endorse candidates, Land literally and figuratively smiled at the prospect of an independent McCain-Lieberman ticket. Later, pollster Charlie Cook predicted that Rudy's pro-choice views would ultimately do him in among GOP primary voters, and predicted that Romney or Fred Thompson will ultimately emerge as the candidate.
Contact Mark at mark@gunhill.net
Matthews-accuses-Romney-of-sucker-punch ping to Today show list.
Sharpton is the father of the sucker punch. He is the piped piper of Harlem.
As if Lardball’s entire performance at the “debate” wasn’t one “sucka” punch after another...
Damn these people piss me off. And they wonder why the American people have entrusted them with the WH for only 8 of the last 28 years...and only 12 of the last 38 (as of 2008 of course)
Tawana Brawley
Freddie's Fashion Mart
Duke
Matthews is, simply put, a jerk.
Glenn Beck on CNN has the Rev Sharpton backing and filling. He does not believe a word Sharp is saying and is more or less telling him so.
Good show, watch it if it repeats.
I’ve said if I’ve offended Mormons with the misuse of my words I would apologize to Mormons.”
Yes, he’s offended Mormons.
Now, did Sharpton ever apologize to Jews for Crown Heights riots and the death of a Jewish store owner he caused?
Did Sharpton ever apologize for Tawana Brawley’s false accusation destroying an innocent man’s life?
And why doesn’t Chris Matthews bring that up in every single Sharpton interview, the way he brings up the Mormon thing in every single Romney interview?
Is Chris Matthews goal to lay the groundwork for President Hillary or to do journalism? Do I even need to ask that question?!?
This charlatan has inexplicably been elevated by the media to a position of power. Democratic candidates bow and scrape and kiss his, er, ring. He can make or break careers, which is absolutely astonishing. Who ever elected him to be a "leader" in the African-American community? If I were AA, I would not want to be represented by him anymore than I, as a white woman, want to be represented by the odious Rosie O'Donnell.
Reverend, indeed :-((
Has Al “Jew them Down” Sharpton decried House Speaker Harry Reid (D-Mormon) yet?
Why is that fat blowhard even around? If that jerk Matthews ever treated my wife as rudely as he does his conservative guests he’d find himself having a visit from Dr. 2x4, D.D.S.
The same media that elevates this antisemite are in bed with him. They are all slime and evil.
Ebony & Ivory Liberals
If every stopped posting hardball stuff and laura would stop talking about it, it would already be in the ash bin of history.
I think by his actions, Sharpton is demonstrating his spiritual development and true credentials as a “Reverend”
Posting about Hardball and other MSM is kind of my job.
I agree: Matthews is a jerkoff.
Exactly correct. I have many times said the same thing about that assclown (Keith Doberman or something?) who apparently has a show on one of those obscure cable networks - - if I didn't see his name on FR threads, I would never see it at all.
Absolutely!
But the “alternative” media isn’t enough. There really must be a “new, new media” to completely overthrow these pigs. They are the elites at the trough, jackals at the carcass, and I’m absolutely sick of them.
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