Posted by
RationalGuy on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 4:27:19 AM
It was astonishingly ironic and hypocritical for Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson to demand that Don Imus be fired. Did Sharpton quit leadership of his advocacy group after his (literally) inflammatory remarks at rallies against a Harlem shop-owner, whom Sharpton branded a "white interloper," and whose shop was torched shortly thereafter? Did he quit when, following the accidental killing (by car accident) by a Hassidic Jewish man of an African-American boy, he incited a crowd, referring to Jews as “diamond merchants”, leading to the mob killing of a randomly selected Hassidic Jew? Did Jackson quit his advocacy organization after his anti-Semitic reference to New York City as "Hymietown"? Did their followers show them the door? Not only did each NOT quit those jobs, they each felt worthy of running for president of our nation! Reasonable people can disagree on whether or not Imus should have been fired (I lean against it, but it’s not an easy call, particularly given some of his past statements that were even worse), but it was quite sad to see him, after already apologizing clearly and emphatically, groveling to those opportunistic hypocrites, and it’s time to demand a single standard for everyone, regardless of race.
And one more tangential note: A prominent political and social leader said several years ago, "There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery--then look around and see somebody white and feel relieved." Should a man who would say such a thing be allowed to continue a career as a political and social leader? What would Jesse Jackson say? Jackson, of course, would brand the man a white supremacist and call for the guy's head, except for the fact that that would require Jackson to decapitate himself. Yes, he's the one who said it.