Al ( white mans burden) Sharpton

I tried , I really really tried. I told myself I was going to shut my blog hole and let it pass. But I cant do it, my resistance just isn't as strong as my alligator mouth. Just when I thought I had Al (chuck berry hair) Sharpton all figured out, he throws some new shit in the game.

Al is usually going out of his way to get thrown in jail. It makes for good press, the police, I assure you, treat him with kid gloves, and it's not like he is ever really locked up for any length of time. A few hours here, a couple there, it's just part of his gig. So I imagine that the P.T. Barnum of the modern day civil rights movement has found himself in foreign territory, trying to avoid going to jail. Al is normally the guy who hunts down and confronts governments and law enforcement officials. As the saying goes, "It ain't no fun, when the rabbit has the gun". The justice department who is usually on the business end of Al's sights, has flipped the script and drawn a bead on Big Al.

And that is where it will end. There is no way that the feds are going to lock Sharpton up. Al Sharpton is a love him or hate him, kind of guy. And for every detractor there is a believer. The feds know that Al would turn his trial in to the most racially divisive spectacle in the history of the world. Even if they got a conviction and sent him up the river, the after effects would be a shit storm. There would be riots that would make the L.A riots look like a love fest. If you think I am exaggerating, then you underestimate how powerful a figure Sharpton is.

So even if the feds sent Al to the joint, they would lose. One hand is going to wash the other, Al is going to back off of one cause or another, in exchange for his tax problems going away. I realize that any time someone implies that Sharpton is fallible, especially a middle aged white someone, the knee jerk reaction for some folks is outrage and righteous, albeit misplaced, indignation. I cant change my genetics and make myself less white anymore than Al Sharpton can refrain from stirring the pot anytime an issue is polarized by race. So like it or not, Al Sharpton is going to cut a deal and jump in bed with the very people he so often attacks.

Al Sharpton is a cross between a junkyard dog and the proverbial bull in a china closet. He does some good and then he negates much of it due to the methods he uses. He protects and he destroys, he brings attention to issues that need to be addressed, and then he alienates one half of the people who are paramount to fixing the problem. Supporters of Al will take exception to this comment, but here it comes. Al Sharpton has done more to strain race relations in this country since George Wallace. Now that is a harsh statement, but that doesn't mean it isn't true.

There is a reason why Al Sharpton has so many devoted followers, he tells them what they want to hear, he confirms their suspicions, even if their suspicions are wrong. That isn't to say that Racism isn't alive and well in America, it is, and unfortunately it is a two way street, all sides mistrusting of the other. And Al stokes the fire. Al fans the flames of controversy and racial division, because without them, Al would be out of work.

Many white people dislike Sharpton for the same reason so many African Americans love him. When Al sinks his teeth in to some heavy handed cops, or some small town like the one with the noose fiasco a year or so back, he does it in such a way that it comes off as an indictment of white America as a whole. He draws a line in the sand, and the two sides spend their time pointing at one another and saying "see, I told you so, nothing has changed". And it is this type of reaction that makes Al so successful, and dangerous.

I expect in the days and weeks to come, the media will jump on the hype wagon and speculation will run rampant on whether Sharpton will be indicted for tax violations or not. But even the media will handle Al with kid gloves. Nobody wants to play a starring role in Al's dog and pony show. If he is nothing else, Al Sharpton is a career end-er, just ask that curmudgeon Don Imus, if you can find him on the radio dial.

So , what is the point to this long winded post? The point is that all the talk now and in the future of Al Sharpton going to jail for tax crimes, is much ado about nothing. The real story, the one that wont garner much attention, will be when Al sells out to the feds to make his problems go away.

I will be back tomorrow with my prison for dummies series. I just had to take time out to talk about Snake Oil Al Sharpton, who is no dummy, and ain't about to go to prison.