July 24, 2008
Sharpton
The other day we posted an item about the Reverend Al Sharpton and a demonstration he held in New York on behalf of Cuban political prisoners. As I mentioned on the Babalu Radio Hour last night, regardless of what you think of Sharpton he has his followers and he commands media attention. And when it comes to media attention that exposes the truth about the castro dictatorship, it's all good.
But there are people out there who read this blog meticulously, looking for opportunities to say that we are hypocrites. One blogger in particular who has an unhealthy obsession with us (he has nothing better to do than read the writings of people he despises) apparently searched our archives for a post in which we were critical of Sharpton. Here's the excerpt of Val's post from April of last year:
I wonder how Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, the NAACP, Pastor's for Peace, Harry Belafonte, Danny Glover, Charles Rangel, etal, would react if an African-American man were taken from his home, tried secretly and sentenced to jail time for "dangerousness"?
The blogger in question dismayed by the fact that we posted the news of the Sharpton protest with "nary a whisper about [our] past outrage ." He concludes by saying,"It's a good thing, especially in this case, that babalu's perceptions of certain groups of people are, well, totally wrong."
This blogger, who is obsessed with telling other bloggers what they should write and how they should write it, is the only one that's totally wrong. In the past Sharpton has carried water for the castro regime, of that there can be no doubt. In this 2003 Slate piece, Sharpton's views on foreign policy are examined:
After visiting Cuba in 2000, Sharpton met Fidel Castro and called him "one of the three most impressive people I have ever met in my life." Sharpton says they had a "talk about the human rights violations—of which I personally saw none." He argues that the United States has "continued to demonize Castro at the expense of good, sound foreign policy."
Now, while Sharpton was in Cuba being impressed by fidel castro and not seeing any human rights violations, Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet was already rotting in a Cuban prison. The same Biscet that the press releases about Sharpton's protest refer to. When Sharpton was in Cuba being impressed by fidel castro and not seeing any human rights violations, Jorge Luis Garcia Perez “Antunez” was rotting in a Cuban prison. Antunez' sister Bertha was at Sharpton's side on Monday.
All of this is to say that Sharpton was wrong about Cuba's human rights record before and he's right about it now. What changed his mind? I can only speculate. But we were right to point out his hypocrisy before and we're right welcome his criticisms of the human rights record of Cuba now. I don't know why that's so hard to understand.
It's a historical fact that black civil rights leaders in America have bought into and helped spread castroite propaganda in America. This development with Sharpton is a welcome one. This doesn't mean that I agree with Sharpton on anything else. It means that we at least agree that Cuba is a violator of human rights. And that fits in with our mission of portraying Cuba as it is.
Here's a little message for the self-appointed Pope of the bloggers:
H/T: Ernesto for the Slate article
Posted by Henry Louis Gomez at July 24, 2008 11:19 AM
Comments
OUCH!
You nailed him, and without the pedantic sophistry of the nailee.
Posted by: Val Prieto ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.babalublog.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at July 24, 2008 11:24 AM
Video has been removed.
Posted by: albertodelacruz at July 24, 2008 11:37 AM
Youtube is giving those errors when your flash plug-in isn't updated or some other technical thing is happening with your computer. Try a different browser. The video works fine for me.
Posted by: Henry Louis Gomez at July 24, 2008 11:46 AM
Henry,
I misstook the blogger in question. Seems you nailed two birds with one short, concise and to the point stone.
Posted by: Val Prieto at July 24, 2008 11:48 AM
Funny how Rick proclaims that Babalu's perception of people is sometimes wrong, after admitting that the same blog recognizes Sharpton for his stance on Cuban prisoners. Our acknowledgment of Sharpton left Rick in no other position but to find some other reason to criticize this blog. If the guy actually practiced what he preaches and acknowledged HIS past misjudgments (of which there are plenty), then he can rightfully point fingers. Of course, we all know that will never happen, so we're left with Rick (and his adoring Babalu-haters) doing the Pembroke Pines-two step.
Posted by: Robert at July 24, 2008 12:03 PM
Hahahaha.
"The Pembroke Pines Two Step", from the album "Medleys of Intellectual Dishonesty" by the Robert Carlyle Byrd Democrats Band
Posted by: Val Prieto at July 24, 2008 12:11 PM
An album full of dissonant harmonies, to be sure.
Posted by: Robert at July 24, 2008 01:06 PM
Rick is the William Hung of bloggers.
Posted by: George L. Moneo at July 24, 2008 01:27 PM
William Hung with a God complex.
Posted by: Henry Louis Gomez at July 24, 2008 01:30 PM
I guess I have not been paying attention or it never interested me enough to want to "check him out", but who is this Rick?
Posted by: Cangrejero de Caibarien at July 24, 2008 10:37 PM
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