How Did Al Sharpton Reinvent Himself as the Country's Moral Leader?

I find this whole issue with Duane "Dog" Chapman very disturbing. First I think you have to feel sorry for the guy as his own son entrapped him, recording their conversation and selling it to the "National Enquirer". Now I'm not defending his behavior. In fact I think it's extremely offensive and disgusting, but we live in a country where we are supposed to have FREE speech. And even though I don't agree or condone what he did, I defend his right to do so.

This whole type of lynch mob behavior is very scary. Does anyone remember when Mark Fuhrman used the "N" word many times during the OJ trial? He lost a lot of credibility, but it didn't seem to hurt his career at all. He's the darling of the "talking head" set these days and has written best selling books, so what is going on with this crazy mob mentality?

At least when Don Imus lost his job over something very similar it was because he was speaking on the radio in a public setting, but poor Dog was having a private conversation with his own son! Am I the only one who thinks this is CRAZY? I never agreed with the "fire Imus" crowd. His job was to provoke and create controversy and then when he did that, he was the bad guy. I'm not an Imus fan, but I am glad to see that he is probably going back to work on the airwaves soon. And what about Senator Robert Byrd, a former Klansman, who has actually used the phrase "white nigger" right on TV? And of course there are always the rap artists who say these things all the time, but somehow that's ok when they do it.

I'm sure there are many people who have used language like this and we just don't know it or have never heard them doing it so we don't know about it. I don't really care what Dog or Imus or anyone says or thinks. I do know that it indicates their character, or lack of it and definitely determines my opinion of them, but in a free country they can think or say whatever they want as far as I'm concerned.

A while back when the Dixie Chicks made an offensive comment about President Bush, in a foreign country, while we are at war, I thought it was disgusting. But the most interesting part to me was that they got angry when people didn't want to buy their records or concert tickets. They sited free speech, but they failed to understand that with free speech there may be consequences when people respond to your actions. So perhaps A&E should keep Dog's show on the air and let the public decide whether we want to watch him or not. Maybe A&E shouldn't be deciding what we the public want.

And when and more importantly HOW did Al Sharpton become the moral compass of this country. And what's up with everyone running to him to apologize? Now here's a guy with some real talent. He has managed to repackage himself as some kind of moral authority and the King of the Blacks. His credibility issues are legendary. His attempt to railroad prosecutor Steven Pagones for raping Tawana Brawley was proven to be a hoax and Sharpton was convicted of libel. Pagones won a judgement against him in a civil suit, though I'm sure Pagones' life has never been the same. Sharpton was largely responsible for revealing the stories of Jesse Jackson's (his friend and mentor) illegitimate child. His hypocrisy knows no bounds. In my opinion it is people like Sharpton and Jackson that are perpetuating racism in this country by fanning the flames of racial hatred. Sharpton himself has been guilty of infidelity and other improprieties, including possible money laundering involving the mob and even caught on video tape. He managed to talk his way out of if and nothing ever came of it. This toxic venom spewing race baiter is a cancer and it's beyond me why anyone with any brains would put him on the air and elevate him to a status he will never deserve.