OPINION:
The Rev. Al Sharpton, a face of the far left who’s been curiously quiet of late, has suddenly resurfaced in the public sphere to lead up a movement to — what else — bash President Donald Trump.
That he did it by wagging fingers at the supposed moral decline of America is laughable. To be blunt: The good reverend isn’t exactly a solid and shiny example of a virtuous, moral compass.
This is what he said to the crowd assembled by the Rev. Martin Luther King memorial in honor of the 54th anniversary of the former civil rights’ leader’s “I Have a Dream” speech:
“This nation is in moral trouble, It’s immoral to try and take the vote from people that blacks and Jews and others suffered and died for. It’s immortal to try and take health care from your mama because you don’t like Obama.”
Catchy cadence, right?
But here’s a thought: You know what else is immoral? Using a nonprofit billed as a social justice organization — his National Action Network — to enrich one’s own pockets. Sharpton, in late 2015, made national headlines for basically doing just that.
As Forbes noted: “Al Sharpton’s Charity Hikes His Pay 71 Percent, But Tax Liens, Clinton Imprint Remain.”
And the story opens with this: “Al Sharpton was in the news again, this time over giving himself a 71 percent raise.”
Nice gig if you can get it, yes?
But where were we — oh, yes. Sharpton. Morality remarks. So you know what else is immoral?
This headline, from The New York Times in late 2014, enlightens: “As Sharpton Rose, So Did his Unpaid Taxes.”
Enlightening. But Sharpton’s dossier goes deeper.
There’s this nugget of morality, from the New York Post in early 2015 — a headline that blared, “How Sharpton gets paid to not cry ’racism’ at corporations.”
In some worlds, that’d be called blackmail. But in Sharpton’s, it’s apparently just “business.”
Here’s how the Post wrote it up: “Want to influence a casino bid? Polish your corporate image? Not be labeled a racist? Then you need to pay Al Sharpton. For more than a decade, corporations have shelled out thousands of dollars in donations and consulting fees to Sharpton’s National Action Network. What they get in return is the reverend’s supposed sway in the black community or, more often, his silence.”
It’s one thing to bash Trump. It’s one thing to use a call for social justice as a cloak to further a far left “impeach Trump” message. That’s all predictable leftist-style politicking. But it’s quite another to bash Trump by painting a picture of his administration as immoral. The fact the tax-dodging, blackmailing, racial politicking, self-enriching Sharpton chose that avenue — well, that’s just one big ball of hypocrisy, that’s all that is.
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