# Is Sarah Palin turning into the white Al Sharpton? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 14, 2011, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-turning-into-the-white-al-sharpton/574703 "2011-03-14T21:45:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-turning-into-the-white-al-sharpton/574703/61 "2011-03-17T15:35:52Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > First of all, I know Reverend Al. I use to babysit his daughters when they were younger. I’ve never liked his involvement with Tawana Brawley, but he dropped her soon enough and moved on to other things. It’s Maddox and Mason that won’t let it go. So you think that Al had “let it go” and “dropped her soon enough” when he claimed that the Attorney General for New York, Robert Abrams was masturbating to photographs of Tawana Brawley and that she was victim of “IRA initiation tactics.” I’m also a bit surprised by the comment that he has “let it go” since my understanding is that he has yet to acknowledge that Tawana clearly lied and he has yet to pay the damages to the man he libeled as ordered by a court. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-turning-into-the-white-al-sharpton/574703/62 "2011-03-17T15:38:34Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > I’m also a bit surprised by the comment that he has “let it go” since my understanding is that he has yet to acknowledge that Tawana clearly lied and he has yet to pay the damages to the man he libeled as ordered by a court. Yeah, but other than that, he’s totally atoned. Apology to Pagones and all. Oh, wait, not that either. But other than that. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-turning-into-the-white-al-sharpton/574703/63 "2011-03-17T16:29:17Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > I love it. > > Lonesome Polecat mentions that the left opposes middle and working class whites becoming “politically organized to protect their own rights and interests.” I bring up the left’s support of unions. And he basically comes back and says, “Nuh-uh, that doesn’t count since they’re corrupt and money grubbing.” > > Sigh. The cognitive dissonance is truly astounding. It’s actually the LACK of cognitive dissonance that’s astounding. CD is the uncomfortable feeling from holding conflicting viewpoints at once, not simply the holding of those two viewpoints. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-turning-into-the-white-al-sharpton/574703/64 "2011-03-17T16:36:10Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > No. She’s not a race baiter, she’s never gotten anyone killed, and the mainstream media are much harder on her than they are on Al Sharpton. I know, I keep waiting for some hard-nosed muckraker like Katie Couric to ask Sharpton the hard questions like what newspapers and magazines he reads. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-turning-into-the-white-al-sharpton/574703/65 "2011-03-17T16:55:09Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > First of all, I know Reverend Al. I use to babysit his daughters when they were younger. I’ve never liked his involvement with Tawana Brawley, but he dropped her soon enough and moved on to other things. It’s Maddox and Mason that won’t let it go. > > In person Al is a very funny and smart guy. I really likd him and his family. > > From what I’ve seen of Palin, I doubt that I’d like her of her family. > > How the flying fuck did you know they were hookers? Did you see the guys pay them? Or did you base it on their outfits? Al is a family man, and as someone who know him, I am not buying this. You do realize that the one does not preclude the other? A person can act differently when he’s on his own out of town than he does when he’s at home with his wife and kids. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-turning-into-the-white-al-sharpton/574703/66 "2011-03-17T17:00:49Z")
I think it’s incumbent upon anyone who wants to allege that Al Sharpton patronizes hookers to prove it. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-turning-into-the-white-al-sharpton/574703/67 "2011-03-18T04:33:22Z")
It matters that Palin has achieved a much higher degree of stature within the Republican Party than Sharpton ever achieved among the Democratic. A politician’s Evil Index is arrived at by multiplying his or her level of evil as an individual by their degree of political support and influence. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-turning-into-the-white-al-sharpton/574703/68 "2011-03-18T04:47:03Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I think it’s incumbent upon anyone who wants to allege that Al Sharpton patronizes hookers to prove it. Burton saw Sharpton bringing hookers up to his room. Isn’t that kind of like evidence? I think it puts the ball in your court now to prove he wasn’t patronizing prostitutes. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-turning-into-the-white-al-sharpton/574703/69 "2011-03-18T04:57:25Z")
**Nemo** , you can’t be serious. The totality of evidence is one person posting on the internet and\*\* Dio \*\*has to disprove that? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-turning-into-the-white-al-sharpton/574703/70 "2011-03-18T07:25:37Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Burton saw Sharpton bringing hookers up to his room. Isn’t that kind of like evidence? It’s nothing like evidence, actually. How does Burton know they were hookers? How do we know Burton actually saw Al Sharpton? How do we know Burton even exists? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-turning-into-the-white-al-sharpton/574703/71 "2011-03-18T12:46:13Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Burton saw Sharpton bringing hookers up to his room. Isn’t that kind of like evidence? I think it puts the ball in your court now to prove he wasn’t patronizing prostitutes. Come on now. Someone on the Internet is claiming to have seen something that even if he did, he could be wrong about. Treating it seriously is fairly weird is it not. I know arguing with Dio is favorite pass time here but seriously? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-turning-into-the-white-al-sharpton/574703/72 "2011-03-18T12:54:00Z")
[At least Palin pays her taxes.](http://www.ihatethemedia.com/al-sharpton-owes-3-7-million-in-taxes) Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-turning-into-the-white-al-sharpton/574703/73 "2011-03-18T12:58:49Z")
[Eventually](http://www.miamiherald.com/2009/02/18/909156/gov-sarah-palin-to-pay-back-taxes.html). And at least Reverend Al buys his own clothes. Actually, I don’t know why I’m defending Al. Fuck them both. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-turning-into-the-white-al-sharpton/574703/74 "2011-03-18T13:11:17Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > [Eventually](http://www.miamiherald.com/2009/02/18/909156/gov-sarah-palin-to-pay-back-taxes.html). That’s a fair point. Of course, so is the fact that in one case, it is income tax on a few thousand vs. three and a half million total. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-turning-into-the-white-al-sharpton/574703/75 "2011-03-18T14:16:27Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > [At least Palin pays her taxes.](http://www.ihatethemedia.com/al-sharpton-owes-3-7-million-in-taxes) Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-turning-into-the-white-al-sharpton/574703/76 "2011-03-18T14:18:47Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > That’s a fair point. Of course, so is the fact that in one case, it is income tax on a few thousand vs. three and a half million total. Don’t forget her little scandal involving her theft of taxpayer money and resources as Governor. Also don’t forget her numerous other ethics violations. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-turning-into-the-white-al-sharpton/574703/77 "2011-03-18T14:23:21Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > I love it. > > Lonesome Polecat mentions that the left opposes middle and working class whites becoming “politically organized to protect their own rights and interests.” I bring up the left’s support of unions. And he basically comes back and says, “Nuh-uh, that doesn’t count since they’re corrupt and money grubbing.” > > Sigh. The cognitive dissonance is truly astounding. No cognitive dissonance there, bub. The union movement hasn’t honestly represented working people of any race for decades. The left hates middle and working class whites because that’s where much of their opposition comes from. The last thing the left wants is for them to have any figure they can rally around, and that’s why there is so much vicious hatred for Sarah Palin. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-turning-into-the-white-al-sharpton/574703/78 "2011-03-18T14:24:29Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > “Where free unions and collective bagaining are forbidden, freedom is lost.” > -Ronald Reagan When unions are corrupt, it is meaningless to call them free. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-turning-into-the-white-al-sharpton/574703/79 "2011-03-18T14:28:36Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > No cognitive dissonance there, bub. The union movement hasn’t honestly represented working people of any race for decades. > > The left hates middle and working class whites because that’s where much of their opposition comes from. The last thing the left wants is for them to have any figure they can rally around, and that’s why there is so much vicious hatred for Sarah Palin. The left hates Sarah Palin because she’s too ignorant to be a credible leader. Of course this makes the mouth-breathers in the right’s base think, “Go getum’ Sarah!” ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-turning-into-the-white-al-sharpton/574703/80 "2011-03-18T14:36:56Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > The left hates middle and working class whites because that’s where much of their opposition comes from. Who exactly do you think the left _are_? > [@](#): > > The last thing the left wants is for them to have any figure they can rally around, and that’s why there is so much vicious hatred for Sarah Palin. Er, no. The left hates Sarah Palin because she is a narcissistic idiot with no demonstrated competency for higher office. President Sarah Palin would be like a toddler holding an Uzi - capable of inflicting enormous damage to the country, the world and/or herself without really being fully aware of the consequences of her actions. There are Republicans I loathe for their policy positions and ruthless tactics - Dick Cheney or John Bolton, to name two - who I don’t think are stupid or incompetent; quite the opposite. But Palin is not one of them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-turning-into-the-white-al-sharpton/574703.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-turning-into-the-white-al-sharpton/574703.md?page=5)