Al Sharpton’s Hollow Indignation
It’s one thing for Reverend Al Sharpton to use the racial gaffes of others principally as a means of attracting a spotlight or a microphone to himself. It’s an annoyance but the ultimate impact is on the credibility of Reverend Sharpton.
It’s another thing for him to do so when the gaffe involves the word “lynch”.
[I would interject here that I had a visceral reaction when I saw Kelly Tilghman’s comment in a headline which abated somewhat as I read of her apologies and the reaction of Tiger Woods.] In view of the incendiary statements he made prior to the actual lynching of Yankel Rosenbaum, Reverend Sharpton has nothing to say about a very stupid incident that involved only the word.Tiger Woods might not be teed off about a crack that he should be lynched, but the Rev. Al Sharpton is swinging away.
The civil rights leader has demanded golf commentator Kelly Tilghman be fired for saying young players who wanted to challenge Woods should “lynch him in a back alley.”
Woods, the sport’s first black superstar, said in a statement he was not offended by the remark made Friday on the Golf Channel, but Sharpton vowed to picket the station if it doesn’t fire her.
This one is a microphone too far.
As much as I enjoyed seeing Imus go down, the bitter aftertaste is the renewed credibility this pomade-coated charlatan got.
Have to admit, though, Golf Channel was in a tough position. If they let it slide, they would’ve been accused of making excuses for the babe that they might not have for a guy who made the same remark. As long as Tiger didn’t take offense (as was not the case for Fuzzy Zoeller), though, the action probably wasn’t necessary.
And now, Rhody, Bill Clinton has unfortunately added to Sharpton’s credibility – or at least, to his ego – by calling his show to clarify his (Clinton’s) recent comments about Barack Obama.
The only way to deal with an attention vampire is to ignore him.