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Is Al Sharpton president of the United States? Or just attorney general?
I ask because it’s not clear where the rabble-rousing rev’s agenda ends and White House policy begins. These days, they are one and the same.
President Obama erased the final distinction Friday by describing the Florida shooting case exclusively in racial terms. Obama’s headline-grabbing statement that “Trayvon Martin could have been me” and his attempt to justify black anger were straight out of Sharpton’s playbook.
Don’t get me wrong — a personal speech on race from the first black president could be a game-changer in the right context. But this one suffered a fatal flaw — it ignored the fact that race played absolutely no role in the trial, including in lawyer statements, the evidence, testimony and the jury’s unanimous verdict of not guilty. Even the FBI found no evidence of racism by defendant George Zimmerman.
If Obama felt the need to say something, duty required him to emphasize the facts instead of endorsing racial manipulation. Sadly, though, his remarks follow a recent pattern where he and Sharpton sing from the same page. Both distorted the case to paint a broad picture of blacks as victims of white racism and ignored Zimmerman’s half-Latino family.
* Consider that Sharpton called for demonstrations against the verdict, then it was revealed that the Justice Department had financed protests. Obama said Friday that demonstrations were “understandable.”
* Sharpton called for an end to “stand your ground” laws like Florida’s, and Attorney General Eric Holder echoed the goal. Obama suggested Friday such laws add to violence, though he conceded the law was not part of the trial.
* Sharpton called for a civil-rights probe of Zimmerman, and Holder promised one. Later, the Justice Department held a conference call with the NAACP and other liberal groups and promised to created an e-mail address to solicit tips on Zimmerman. Aides say Obama supports Holder’s decision.
* Sharpton protested the stop-and-frisk policy of the New York Police Department, then Holder supported a federal monitor. But after Obama went off message by praising top cop Ray Kelly for doing an “extraordinary job,” White House insiders let it be known Obama is unlikely to name Kelly head of Homeland Security because of stop-and-frisk.
Sharpton, a serial tax delinquent whose name will be forever linked to the Tawana Brawley hoax, ran for president in 2004 and was trounced.
But his second life, as MSNBC anchor, White House regular and now agenda-setter for the president marks an incredible comeback.
Nobody elected him, yet his symbiotic relationship with Obama and Holder is more proof that Obama’s vow to be a post-partisan, post-racial president was a bigger hoax than Tawana Brawley.
America voted for Obama and got Sharpton.
That the relationship is taking full flower now is not surprising. Obama’s new Cabinet is full of uninhibited leftists, and he is returning to a community-organizer mindset. Only now he is doing it with the awesome power of the Oval Office at his back — and Al Sharpton leading the way.
In his Friday speech, Obama conflated an undeniable history of racism with a case that doesn’t fit the narrative. “There are very few African-American men in this country who haven’t had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store,” he said. “That includes me.”
No doubt true, but what’s the relevance? The six jurors had to decide in a color-blind case whether Zimmerman was justified in using his gun, and they said yes. Even the president can’t change that.
While Obama noted that black males “are disproportionately both victims and perpetrators of violence,” that also had nothing to do with the case. Better he save his thoughts on that provocative topic for another time because violent crime in urban areas is almost exclusively a non-white phenomenon.
Obama also said he doubted the verdict would have been the same if Martin had done the shooting.
Not coincidentally, Sharpton hailed the speech, saying it set the stage for this weekend’s demonstrations. Imagine that — a president encouraging divisive protests. That’s historic.
Back in 2009, Rahm Emanuel advised Obama to “never let a serious crisis go to waste.”
In 2013, the advice stands amended: “Never let a serious crisis go to waste, even if you have to manufacture one.”
That’s the world according to Al Sharpton, guru to the president.
Spitzer keeping A lock on XXX files
Eliot Spitzer has some “ ’splainin’ ” to do. Like how much he spent, how long it went on and how many times he did it.
We’re talking hookers, of course, and his notorious past is not dead yet. Spitzer is eager to bury it, but before New York voters decide whether to make him comptroller, they deserve to know more about his betrayal the last time they hired him.
Because Spitzer was never prosecuted, the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office refused to release details of its probe. Although the office initially said in 2008 that Spitzer’s resignation as governor was not part of a deal to let him avoid criminal charges, it later said his “acceptance of responsibility” was a factor.
The chief prosecutor at the time, Michael Garcia, summarized the findings this way. “Our investigation has shown that on multiple occasions, Mr. Spitzer arranged for women to travel from one state to another state to engage in prostitution.”
Despite unconfirmed reports that the wealthy Spitzer spent as much as $80,000 for sex over a period of years, Garcia said he found “no evidence of misuse of public or campaign funds.”
But as Post stories point out, some of Client 9’s hook-ups dovetailed with his official travel schedule. The inference is that he arranged out-of-town trips for the purpose of engaging prostitutes, then stuck taxpayers with the travel costs.
Here’s the bottom line: Spitzer must have his own copy of the key documents, including his admissions to prosecutors. He almost certainly made lengthy statements under oath about his deception, whether state employees helped him and how he long avoided banking rules as well as his police security detail.
An appeals court rejected a New York Times effort to get the federal file, including transcripts from wiretaps. But elections aren’t court cases. Spitzer owes it to voters to come clean about his past.
The only way to do that is for him to release the documents he has. All of them. Now.
This marriage is no Moore
The headline says “Michael Moore files for divorce,” but the shock is that anyone would marry him in the first place. Then again, as a friend reminds me, “there’s a lid for every pot.”
De Blasio and the Bloviator
How desperate is Bill de Blasio? The city’s public advocate and mayoral candidate appeared with actor Alec Baldwin at a recent fund-raiser.
That was days after Baldwin tweeted a homophobic slur and threatened violence against a reporter.
Imagine if a Republican . . . oh, never mind. What’s the use?