Once Again: Al Sharpton

I really shouldn't look at the news before I finish my coffee. Actually, there is a whole list of things I shouldn't do before I finish my coffee, but that one is at the very top.

The other day on The Golf Channel, some commentators were discussing what younger golfers could do to take on Tiger Woods, and the exchange went as follows:

"...maybe they should just gang up for a while"

"Lynch him in a dark alley."

The commentators were laughing and had been on the air for several hours, covering whatever golfing tournament or event they were there for, when the exchange was made. The woman who suggested younger golfers might have a chance at beating the champion by "lynching" him has been a close friend of Woods' for over a decade and was chosen to host a club demonstration with the golfing legend in Florida sometime back. The commentators were laughing and speaking off-the-cuff and Tiger Woods' own agent said the matter was a "non-issue" and considered the case closed.

Then effing Al Sharpton - demagogue, racist, and murderer - started making the rounds on the talking heads channels, screaming for her dismissal and blaming The Golf Channel for all sorts of imagined offenses. In turn, The Golf Channel released a statement, condemning the reporter's speech and suspending her for two weeks. But Sharpton will not be deterred: he continues to cry for her firing, and if he doesn't get what he wants, there is always the possibility of a "non-violent demonstration" in which several people will be murdered.

What I'm about to say is probably not going to be very popular, but then again, when has the truth ever been popular?:

Al Sharpton, and people like him, sit around, waiting and looking for something - anything - to be offended by. We all have that black friend who makes us feel self-conscious and nervous about every, single thing we say and every, little word that comes out of our mouths. He's the guy who constantly makes those faces and asks, "What do you mean by that?" after every other innocuous statement. He's also the one who casually uses "The N-Word" as a euphemism for everyone because, you know, he's black. Power to the people, brother!

But this isn't just a race issue: we all know that girl who loves to slip-in the occasional off-color joke or sexual innuendo, but then takes offense to the same when you do it. The girl who is convinced that every stupid, perverted, easy, little sexual quip you make is a thinly-disguised attempt to get into her pants, but thinks nothing of pointing out the obvious to you or flirting a little to get her way.

This kind of behavior is not just offensive and jejune, it's flat-out dangerous. These are the kinds of people who create turmoil and stir-up dissension where there would otherwise be none; they make life that much harder for the rest of us - they make the world that much worse a place to live.

It is without question that there were no ill intentions behind what this woman off-handedly said - I personally don't think there was any sort of racial connotation behind it, whatsoever - and the only faction concerned with it is none other than Al Sharpton: a vile, racist demagogue who has facilitated crimes, up to and including, murder on a continual basis for almost three decades now. So how do we deal with him and others like him?

As much as I hate passive-aggressiveness and confrontation, there is no other way: revelation.

You cannot simply ignore these people because they are incessant; the more you ignore them, the more their insidious conspiracy theories thread their way through general society until they demand to be faced at some point down the road. By that time, they've become so rooted in pop-culture that any attempt to dismiss them bolsters their "veracity." There is no sense in arguing with them because they are in Denial and will use everything you say to attempt to "prove" their theory, even when it makes absolutely no sense; in short, they are looking for a confrontation because they were trying to stir-up drama anyway. You will get nowhere by trying to "talk" to, or argue with, them.

You have to publicly, and confrontationally, list their shortcomings and point-out their hypocrisy and bullshit in a no-nonsense fashion. Don't make a joke of it, don't lighten the mood or cloud the issue; strike with vehemence and strike hard. They probably won't get it even then, but intelligent, reasoning individuals will and it allows them to see these people and their designs for what they are. This effectively strips them of whatever power they have, because they lack effective communication skills; their ability to stir shit up relies on the basest tactics and politics: rumor, innuendo, insinuation, and emotional rhetoric. They excel at the 3-second sound-clip, but fall flat on their faces in the short-form essay.

This whole fiasco is exactly that: just another opportunity for the evil Al Sharpton to get his ugly mug on every TV station on the American cable dial and promote and further his racist agenda. And The Golf Channel and anyone else who has given in to this horseshit should be condemned.

The Golf Channel has a "responsibility" to its audience, Mr. Sharpton? Really? Who the hell even watches The Golf Channel?