Al Sharpton is the gift that keep on giving for conservatives. His comment on CNN on socialism is likely to make the top hits for political commercials in the mid-term elections. Sharpton said “The American Public Overwhelmingly Voted for Socialism When They Elected President Obama.”
With lines like this, Sharpton may be the featured speaker at next year’s Tea Party convention.
Al Sharpton is a self-promoting idiot. He couldn’t define socialism if you put a gun to his head. Note that Obama kept both Sharpton and Jesse Jackson completely out of his campaign because he knew they were both poison.
I would ask the Reverend the same question that consistantly stumps teabaggers: So, where’s this socialism?
Tootie, you’ll have to come up with something better then pseudo-knowledge for calling Obama fascist… Obama is about as fascist as Bush was conservative..
Maybe read up on Adam Smith and Thorstein Veblen first… I also suppose you was the first in line to protest the last two wars/foreign occupations?
“FASCISM will come at the hands of perfectly authentic Americans, as violently against Hitler and Mussolini as the next one, but who are convinced that the present economic system is washed up and that the present political system in America has outlived its usefulness and who wish to commit this country to the rule of the bureaucratic state; interfering in the affairs of the states and cities; taking part in the management of industry and finance and agriculture; assuming the role of great national banker and investor, borrowing millions every year and spending them on all sorts of projects through which such a government can paralyze opposition and command public support; marshaling great armies and navies at crushing costs to support the industry of war and preparation for war which will become our greatest industry; and adding to all this the most romantic adventures in global planning, regeneration, and domination all to be done under the authority of a powerfully centralized government in which the executive will hold in effect all the powers with Congress reduced to the role of a debating society. There is your fascist. And the sooner America realizes this dreadful fact the sooner it will arm itself to make an end of American fascism masquerading under the guise of the champion of democracy.” (from the Lew Rockwell website)
John T. Flynn 1944
Read about him @
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_T._Flynn
Jericho: Fascism entails government taking over private businesses. That is exactly what Obama is doing.
How about ‘the public voted against corporate fascism’
Sharpton is correct, though I believe that Obama is a “temporary” Marxist of the socialist persuasion. Obama is no dummy. He was reared a socialist.
Obama knows (because of his Marxist upbringing) that socialism destabilizes a country or civilization. Friedrich Hayek (co-winner of the Noble Peace Prize when it meant something) taught us this last century before Marxism destabilized Europe and led to the slaughter of tens of millions.
Destabilizing the economy is essential for establishing despotism and dictatorship.
If people get jobs, they won’t need Obama to rescue them and that is why Obama is not concerned about unemployment because he wants government to provide jobs as rewards just like the Communist party does in Communist nations.
This is also why Obama wants to take over handing out money for college. Those who approve of Marxism will get the loans. Those who don’t will be punished.
If Obama and the dems hold the keys to life (health, housing, education, and next food) they control everything. This is the tyranny our founders sought to avoid.
Obama knows all this and there is no other explanation for the takeover of private industry except that this is what Marxists and fascists do and this is political philosophy Obama adheres to.
As a UK citizen I have a lifetime of experience of evil socialist healthcare. It’s great! Or perhaps I’m just in denial as I’ve been brutalised so badly by the damned socialists making me better every time I’m ill or injured.
My wife was born and brought up in southern asia, where they have a very good and noble non-socialist system of healthcare – you can’t pay? Then go away! Most can’t pay and end up giving most of their hard earned pittance to dubious local “quack doctors”.
Suddnely, the term “Give me Socialism or give me death” becomes VERY real.
Dead Pirate,
Do you actually know anything about socialism? As Gingerbaker mentioned, there is Socialism and social programs. We have social programs – not Socialism. And the horrible fear of a healthcare system that mirrors the “Socialist” European countries is just ridiculous. Everyone should read T.R. Reid’s “The Healing of America” which explains in great detail many of those scary socialist healthcare systems. We’re not even close – and that’s a sad thing.
I’m not saying the man’s credible, BUT, did anyone notice that Sharpton was speaking hypothetically right there?
Anyone?
– Joe G, 1, March 22, 2010 at 3:52 pm
Exactly. Joe G makes my point more succinctly.
(Also, sorry for misspelling “socialism” above.)
Rev. Al Sharpton was commenting on Geraldo Rivera’s suggestion that “some would argue that it’s socialim.” Rev. Sharpton replied, “Well, I’d, first of all, then we’d have to say that the American public overwhelming voted for socialim when they elected President Obama….” At that point, the video is cut.
It may be a political goldmine for the Republicans, but that’s just the same political gamesmanship that for the past 30 years has placed the power and prestige of holding office over doing something worthwhile as a government official.
Rev. Sharpton was simply reminding Rivera and his audience that Obama is the duly elected president of the United States and that health care reform is the the change that he promised. If conservatives want to classify health care reform as “socialism,” then they are free to do so. But this is the change that was promised and this was the change that was delivered.
Rev. Sharpton’s is not saying that he believes health care reform is “socialism” or the President Obama is a “socialist” or even that the American people actually voted for “socialism.” Clearly they did not. But they did vote for Obama and health care reform is the “change” that then Sen. Obama promised.
Nothing wrong with that.
Please define terms. Is “socialism” with a small ‘s’ or a capital “S’?
Do we speak of Socialism, the economic model which ” advocates either public or direct worker ownership and administration of the means of production and allocation of resources (wiki)”?
Or do we mean social programs which use some part of a federal budget for projects and institutions which work for the public good and “General Welfare” of the people?
I don’t think anyone from the left is talking about the former, and no one from the right is talking about the latter.
I think the public needs education on this, and Sharpton is starting that process by using the word socialism with positive connotations. Karl Rove was successful because he destroyed his opponent’s strengths in the eyes of the public. We have a great opportunity here to destroy our opponent’s greatest weapon – catchwords designed to malign progressive principles. We need to reclaim those words and NOT shy away from them.
Personally I think Rev. Al is correct. After the Joe the Plumber incident and his share the wealth comment only a person that could not put 2 and 2 together would think otherwise.
I am amazed that people are surprised by this.
I’m not saying the man’s credible, BUT, did anyone notice that Sharpton was speaking hypothetically right there?
Anyone?
No conservatives listen to him discourse when it advocates some liberal cause, so the cafeteria style selection of his comments is quite obvious and useless.
This time he is wrong.
Why only listen to him when he is wrong then quote it as if he is not wrong?
Oh, and I forgot about all the time they put into amending the Constitution in order to get rid of patent and copyright. There must have been some horrible, bizzare proto-Socialist sneakiness that resulted in sneaking by our Founders such a government interference in the free marketplace for the common good! Gasp!
How on earth did our nascent nation survive with Socialism! (Gasp!) written into the very DNA of our country!
I love how all these people who fear/hate socialism in any form do things like send back their Social Security checks and refuse to allow their town’s Fire Department to put out the flames when their house is burning down. I do feel sorry for them, though, as it is difficult to get anywhere when you avoid all publicly planned/paid for roads…
It must be tough for them to get to VA hospitals to protest: “Stop providing Socialist healthcare to our wounded vets! Kick them out of your government owned hospitals and make them get private insurance on the open marketplace to treat their life-threatening wounds! Boo, Socialism! Yay, free markets!”
I’m sure though, that they enjoyed their vacations to the “true free market” paradise of Afghanistan between the withdrawal of the Soviets and before the rise of the Taliban, where the economy there could “flourish”(?) free from silly government regulation or, gasp!, Socialism! What a glorious time and place that must have been!
Al Sharpton.
Since when did he become an expert on anything other than self-promotion?
Do you want to know how credible he is?
Tawana Brawley.
The only reason he gets on TV is that programming managers know he’s polarizing and polarization equals ratings. But an “expert”? On politics and economics no less?
He doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the wall much less what socialism is.
With friends like these, who needs Cheney? Hey man, I got mine and so what is it that the Pope said about the Irish. They got there’s and so now they are uppity.
This is the reason that Sharpton could not be elected: He is truthful.
You will never hear Barack Obama talk about Socialism, at least outside of his inner circle. But if you look at his background, Communist mentor, Marxist neighbor/friend William Ayers, endorsement in Illinois by the Socialist party, then you know his true feelings.
Barack Obama just doesn’t want “those dummies” (the American people) who simply misunderstand Socialism to not share in it’s dubious benefits. He is too smart for that. Considering that he was elected, perhaps there are mroe dummies than we realize.