Tuesday, May 24, 2005

On The Mark -- Keep Fighting, Al

Say what you will about Al Sharpton, but I have to give him credit for seeing through the smoke regarding Mexico’s President Vicente Fox. If you’ve been following the story (and/or my posts), you’ve seen that Fox clearly made a very disparaging remark about African-Americans a couple weeks ago. He refused to apologize for the remark.

Then Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton jumped into the picture and demanded an apology. Fox finally offered a weak response, but it wasn’t an apology, rather a “regret” he had said anything that might have hurt some feelings. Although the media, such as Associated Press, published headlines stating Fox had apologized, he hadn’t, which I pointed out previously.

Yet, Jackson was satisfied and went on his merry way, probably knowing he had gained good PR points because of the inaccurate reporting by the media (of an apology that wasn’t) and calculating the story didn't have any legs.

Sharpton, on the other hand, said I’m afraid that’s not good enough, and demanded another meeting with Fox, which just occurred. Fox stood his ground saying his comments were misinterpreted (which they weren’t; he meant exactly how those offended read his comments). Reuters quoted Sharpton as saying:

"There was no misinterpretation. It is very clear what he said and it is very clear that we understood what he said," Sharpton told reporters.

"If I step on your toe, I should apologize. I should not say that I regret that you think your foot hurts," Sharpton said.

I never thought I would say this, but I actually agree with Sharpton on something.

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