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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAl Sharpton, power player
Al Sharpton, power player
By Dana Milbank, Published: April 13
The Rev. Al Sharpton is lord of all he surveys.
Check out this, the flamboyant civil rights leader told me during breakfast at his organizations annual meeting this week. He flipped through the program until he found a full-page ad with the logos of Fox News, the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal. News Corporation Proudly Supports National Action Networks 2012 Convention, it said.
Sharpton grinned. They bash me on Fox News, he said. But they sponsor my conference.
Everybody wants to be on Sharptons good side these days. No fewer than five Cabinet officers and a senior White House official went to this years convention to kiss his ring. President Obama spoke at last years conference and has sought Sharptons advice on policy. Sharpton has a show on MSNBC five nights a week, and he doles out airtime to a procession of politicians and journalists (including me).
Wednesday night brought the sweetest moment yet in Sharptons long and controversial career: the announcement that Florida authorities would charge Trayvon Martins shooter. Sharpton, at the request of the boys parents, had done more than anyone else to bring the case national attention.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/al-sharptons-second-act-power-player/2012/04/13/gIQAZT4wFT_story.html
elleng
(131,037 posts)bigtree
(86,005 posts)I just can't get used to Milbank. I think this was just an excuse to muddle his recent successes with the man's past (media-hyped) mistakes and missteps. Ick.
(thanks for posting, tho)
babylonsister
(171,079 posts)bigtree
(86,005 posts)I think the fact that Attorney General Eric Holder showed up and spoke at one of his recent events said everything about how the Reverend is regarded.
monmouth
(21,078 posts)or sermon or whatever those guys call it.
la la
(1,855 posts)..and i'm sorry he's back ( milbank) Olbermann got it right!