Al Sharpton Wins Media Whore of the Week Award!!!

When does political correctness and racial sensitivity veer off to the absurd? Golfweek is the latest offender to draw the ire of Rev. Al Sharpton for posting a noose on the cover of its most recent issue. The noose was in reference to comments made by a female golf analyst about Tiger Woods being unbeatable short of a lynching. Tiger and that announcer are friends and Tiger said he was certain that no racist intent was meant, he said it was a non issue. None of this stopped Al Sharpton from calling for her to be fired. She got suspended and her career is probably down the tubes. So when Golfweek had the poor judgment to do the cover shot above , Al Sharpton rose up and heads rolled. The editor of the magazine was fired.

Al Sharpton doesn’t really care if he is targeting true racists, he doesn’t care about or wait for facts. He jumps on the bandwagon the minute the media reports a possible crime or misdeed committed by whites against blacks. And when he is wrong, no apology is forthcoming. He was wrong in the Tawana Brawley case and he was equally wrong in the Duke Lacrosse rape case. When an apology on his part is called for, Al (I demand an apology )Sharpton gives nothing .

Al is one of the greatest masters of spin to come down the pike, EVER. He is the modern day version of Bill Starbuck , the character played by Burt Lancaster in the Rainmaker. He is able to do his shtick because he appeals to his audiences emotions. He knows what people want to hear and he isn’t afraid to say it , regardless of fact or principal. Never mind that innocent lives may be forever damaged, or that riots may ensue. Ignore the fact that he does more to widen the racial divide than to close the gap. The truth has never been an impediment to Rev. Al.

Tony’s Kansas City is one of my favorite blogs. He constantly makes inflammatory often baseless remarks. The thing is he does it to draw attention to issues that need attention. He also draws a fair amount of criticism, along with racists and morons from both sides of the color divide. When its all said and done, he makes you think about issues that might otherwise slip by unnoticed. And if you are open minded enough you sometimes learn a different perspective. The difference between TKC's take on race and Rev. Al’s is that TKC tries to put a humorous spin on it, while Al goes out of his way to incite and divide. There are other obvious difference between TKC and Al Sharpton. Al is rich, famous and a great orator, while TKC is broke, lives in his moms basement and only gets to speak publicly on an obscure am radio morning show.

So it comes as no big surprise that Al rose up and smote the editor of Golfweek. And really why should anyone care that an editor got fired from a magazine that most of us, myself included, never read? We should care. White, black, brown or pinstriped, we really should care, we should be incensed in fact. While the golf analysts comments were stupid and could easily be perceived as racially insensitive, the cover of Golfweekly was not racially insensitive. In fact the picture of the noose was meant to draw attention to the insensitive comment made by the analyst and the resulting reaction that ensued. You can argue that it was sensationalism or thought provoking, even offensive to some. What you cant argue is that Al was able to spin it into another case of white America putting its collective foot on the neck of an entire race.

So where does it stop? Do publishers, editors, writers and photographers need to hire Al as a consultant and run every article, photo and book by him to make sure it is non offensive? Do we cast aside free speech, creativity and individual thinking in order to placate Al ?

Anyone who thinks that this country doesn’t favor whites is a fool. Racism is alive and well in the 21st century. Prisons are packed full of young black guys who get more time for an ounce of crack than you get for a pound of Cocaine. Police really are guilty of racial profiling. Inner city schools really are inferior to schools in more affluent areas. The list goes on and on. All of these issues and more are real and relevant. It needs to change. But where is the most Reverend Al Sharpton when it comes to these issues? Sure he may voice his opinion , and he may make a token protest against the violence and misogyny perpetuated in Rap lyrics. But not with the fervor and righteous indignation that he directs toward some white radio shock jock or the uber evil editor of some golf magazine. Hell if it wasn’t for Al , 99.99 percent of the population wouldn’t have ever seen the magazine cover. The fact is Al Sharpton has the ability to bring real issues to the table but chooses to squander that ability on hype , rhetoric and sensationalism.

So in honor of big Al Sharpton, I am going to begin a weekly installment on this blog. Congratulations Al Sharpton, you are the winner of The Midtown Miscreants Media Whore of the Week Award!