Posted on 01/18/2003 4:34:23 AM PST by RJCogburn
The Rev. Al Sharpton believes he best represents the traditional principals of the Democratic Party of any of the Presidential candidates seeking the party’s nomination.
Speaking yesterday at a breakfast his campaign organized for about 25 clergy, political activists and college students, Sharpton railed against President Bush’s economic and foreign policies as he kicked off a day of campaigning in the state.
He was particularly harsh about the administration’s push toward war with Iraq, saying, “We see the same type of war machine that we saw in Vietnam being oiled in Iraq and the same kind of flawed argument for war.”
He criticized Democrats for giving Bush the power to go to war and for not opposing the death penalty and welfare reforms that humiliate people.
“The so-called new Democratic way has failed; it hasn’t worked. We need to have a new era where our priority is Americans,” he said.
Sharpton said he was the only Democrat running who opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement. “The new Democrats are nothing but old Republicans. You got a bunch of elephants running around with donkey clothes on,” he said.
He urged the people in attendance to make sure they questioned the other candidates about the issues of importance to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: economic fairness, racial equality and peace. “In the snow-capped hills of New Hampshire, we need to redefine what a Democrat is,” Sharpton said.
King said there are those who do what is politically correct and those who do what is morally right, Sharpton said.
While Bush is ready to invade Iraq over weapons of mass destruction that have not been found, Sharpton said, the President only wants to talk to the North Koreans about their nuclear program. “Not only do they have weapons, but they lied about it,” he said.
Bush is trying to distract the American people from the fact that 2 million people in the private sector have been laid off since January 2001 and his tax cuts only help the wealthy, he said.
Sharpton said Bush says the benefits will trickle down to everyone. “We heard that before. We heard that from Ronnie Reagan in 1980. He said give tax breaks for the wealthy and it will trickle down to the poor.
“We are now 22 years later, and it still didn’t get down to us. In fact, Mr. Bush’s daddy called it voodoo economics. It was voodoo in ’80 and it’s hoodoo voodoo in 2002,” Sharpton said.
He said Bush issued his statement on affirmative action on King’s actual birthday, Jan. 15. He said it was ironic that issues King worked on — economic justice and racial equality — are still in the headlines today.
“Trent Lott did with one joke what I couldn’t do in 10 years and that is make America at least start discussing that there is still racial inequality in this country,” he said.
Sharpton said what King accomplished in his short life allows him to run for President. “I want to be President of this country because I think the direction of the country is the wrong direction,” he said. Big business should not come first; the American people should, he said. The country should be working with the rest of the world to do such things as make sure children have clean water to drink, not starting wars.
“I understand more about the global village we live in than anybody talking about running because most people in the world are not rich white people,” Sharpton said.
Many people attending said they had not decided whom they would support in the Presidential primary, but many praised Sharpton for discussing the issues that matter to them.
Arnie Alpert of the American Friends Service Committee said he thought Sharpton was right on the mark talking about war and poverty.
Wayne Lesperance, a student at New England College in Henniker, attended the breakfast with five other people from the college.
“I’m interested in the political process and hearing all the candidates and their views,” he said.
Martha Yager of the American Friends Service Committee said, “It is good to hear someone talk about poverty in a way that dignifies people, not blames them. There is huge disparity, and it is empty rhetoric to talk about trickle down.”
The Rev. Gayle Murphy of Concord said she came to hear Sharpton because her confirmation class had told her he was “a wonderful preacher.”
“I figured it’s pretty hard to get that kind of praise from ninth-graders, so I thought I’d see what he had to say,” she said. “When I told my son I was coming today, he got really excited because Sharpton was in the Adam Sandler movie ‘Mr. Deeds.’ ”
Thanks for proving once and for all what you stand for and who you don't support! You have just taken the word of Al Sharpton over the word of the President of the United States -- that says it all!
I now want to apologize to Howlin on this thread because I posted comments on the thread about the President's speech on the UM lawsuit in attempt to diffuse the situation of the fighting that was going on between you and Howlin. Well I was WRONG! She and others had every right to take after you!
You cannot have it both ways by waffling in the breeze -- one minute saying that President Bush is the best President ever and now this ludicrous comment based on something Al Sharpton said.
This has proved to me beyond a shadow of a doubt where you stand and it certainly is not with Republicans that you profess to be part of. BTW, I have two of the most conservative Senators in Inhofe and Nickles and they thought the same thing about Lott. Your defense of Lott has gone so far overboard and your trashing of Republicans, that I would have to believe what I was originally told -- TLBSHOW pretends to be conservative and a Republican but he is neither! Let me say that you have just put the final period on that sentence!
Just write an email with a fair amount of ebonics in it, is this too much to axe?
You have attempted to introduce logic (or at least common sense) into an Al Sharpton Thread. You will be punished.
There is no way any amount of logic or common sense can over come hoodoo-voodoo. It is clear from this potent phrase-making that our next POTUS will be Al Sharpton. Deal with it.
Other candidates can but dream that they could do that old hoodoo-voodoo that he do so well.
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