# Kerry to Sharpton - Here's your kickback. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 9, 2004, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-to-sharpton-heres-your-kickback/278922 "2004-12-09T14:57:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-to-sharpton-heres-your-kickback/278922/21 "2004-12-10T03:08:06Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > This is a lie. Provide a cite, or retract it. [With pleasure.](http://www.rense.com/general57/swiftboatvetgot40m.htm) > [@](#): > > As the Washington Post reports, Rear Admiral William L. Schachte Jr., the man who claims Kerry was not under fire when he received his first Purple Heart, is a top lobbyist for a defense contractor that recently won a $40 million grant from the Bush administration. According to a March 18 legal filing by Schachte’s firm, Blank Rome, Schachte was one of the lobbyists working for FastShip’s effort to secure federal contracts [2] > > On Feb. 2, FastShip announced the Bush administration had awarded it $40 million [3]Schachte has other connections to the Bush administration. The Washington Post notes David Norcross, Schachte’s colleague in the Washington office of Blank Rome, is chairman of this week’s Republican convention in New York. [4] Records show that Schachte gave $1,000 to Bush’s 2000 and 2004 campaigns. [5] Funny, isn’t it, that the television networks totally neglected to mention this little detail. If we had learned that Kerry had steered 40 million to a company associated with Dan Rather, I doubt they would have been so quiet. And I would ask you to retract your announcement that I’m a liar, but I know it would only be a waste of time. ---
**Author:** ![BabaBooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dfb087/32.png) [@BabaBooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BabaBooey)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-to-sharpton-heres-your-kickback/278922/22 "2004-12-10T03:48:02Z")
> [@ITR champion](#): > > [With pleasure.](http://www.rense.com/general57/swiftboatvetgot40m.htm) > > Funny, isn’t it, that the television networks totally neglected to mention this little detail. If we had learned that Kerry had steered 40 million to a company associated with Dan Rather, I doubt they would have been so quiet. > > And I would ask you to retract your announcement that I’m a liar, but I know it would only be a waste of time. LMFAO!! I’ve been dormant since the subscription since I’m fairly low on money, but I just had to point out that you’ve cited a page that features “UFO photographed near crop circle” as one of its headline stories! Holy shit that’s good stuff. SDMB should kickback some of the $15 I just spent on a subscription. ---
**Author:** ![BabaBooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dfb087/32.png) [@BabaBooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BabaBooey)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-to-sharpton-heres-your-kickback/278922/23 "2004-12-10T03:49:40Z")
Damnit, first post back and I screwed up: "SDMB should kickback some of the $15 I spent on a subscription to you, as your post in the main reason I did such. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-to-sharpton-heres-your-kickback/278922/24 "2004-12-10T04:11:55Z")
> [@](#): > > but I just had to point out that you’ve cited a page that features “UFO photographed near crop circle” as one of its headline stories! Holy shit that’s good stuff. We’ll I’m glad you enjoyed it. For your further edification, let me point out that I cited a page that says no such thing; you may gripe about the website that it’s located on, but note those little numbers in the article. Those are called footnotes, and they allow you to verify everything that gets said if you don’t believe it. Here is the Washington Post story containing the most important info, just to save you the trouble of finding it yourself. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47542-2004Aug30.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47542-2004Aug30.html) ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-to-sharpton-heres-your-kickback/278922/25 "2004-12-10T04:14:12Z")
> [@BabaBooey](#): > > LMFAO!! I’ve been dormant since the subscription since I’m fairly low on money, but I just had to point out that you’ve cited a page that features “UFO photographed near crop circle” as one of its headline stories! Fair enough. So, if you don’t like that site, you can read virtually the same story in [this](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47542-2004Aug30.html) Washington Post article. Of course noone can prove any direct link between the $40 million contract and what Schachte said. On the other hand, noone can prove any direct link between Sharpton’s endorsement and the $30,000 political consulting fee. And, looking at the difference in these two figures, all I can conclude is that Sharpton looks like he sure sold out mighty cheap (which was actually my first impression when I read the figure that Sharpton got alone)! Maybe that factor of 1000 is the difference between Republican “kickbacks” and Democratic ones (besides the aforementioned one about who foots the bill…Is it really a “kickback” when it is paid by the campaign?) ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-to-sharpton-heres-your-kickback/278922/26 "2004-12-10T04:16:45Z")
Simul-post. ---
**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:** [December 10, 2004, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-to-sharpton-heres-your-kickback/278922/27 "2004-12-10T05:12:35Z")
If Sharpton was really in it for the money he’d become a Republican. Conservatives would pay him big time to “convert” and speak out against Democrats. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-to-sharpton-heres-your-kickback/278922/28 "2004-12-10T05:20:53Z")
[Funny you should mention that…](http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0405/barrett.php) ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-to-sharpton-heres-your-kickback/278922/29 "2004-12-10T15:52:19Z")
> [@ITR champion](#): > > [With pleasure.](http://www.rense.com/general57/swiftboatvetgot40m.htm) … > > And I would ask you to retract your announcement that I’m a liar, but I know it would only be a waste of time. You’re right, it would be. You claimed that Bush used tax payer money to subsidize Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, and then come up with a story about how the government does business with a company that employs one of them. Not very close. Sorry, you’ll have to do better than that. Show a connection, as has been mentioned, and that Bush pushed this. Or not, as you prefer. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-to-sharpton-heres-your-kickback/278922/30 "2004-12-10T16:06:00Z")
This is what ITR said originally: > [@](#): > > Better to pay your supporters with your money than with the taxpayers’ money, as Bush did with the Swift Boat Thugs. And, he has shown that a company that one of the SwiftBoat people (Schachte) was a lobbyist for a company that was awarded a $40 million contract by the Bush Administration. Worse yet, “Kerry spokesman Chad Clanton … not[ed] that Schachte did not challenge Kerry’s Purple Heart while describing the incident in an interview last year” and yet more recently he did. Does that prove cause and effect or quid-pro-quo? No. But, neither did the OP in his story about Sharpton’s endorsement and the money he got paid and I didn’t hear you complaining about that. (And, the difference is of course is that one involves the taxpayer’s money and the other does not. Even if there was quid-pro-quo in the Sharpton case, it is not illegal and it is not even clear if there is any really big ethical issue involved. However, if there was quid-pro-quo in the Bush case, there would clearly be a huge ethical issue involved and probably a legal one as well.) ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-to-sharpton-heres-your-kickback/278922/31 "2004-12-10T16:22:03Z")
Another alleged payout scam from 11/2003. [Sharpton’s _protests_ and the money he got paid](http://www.cardinalcollective.com/blog/archives/2003/11/000075.html) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-to-sharpton-heres-your-kickback/278922/32 "2004-12-10T17:50:34Z")
I would much prefer that progressives had nothing whatever to do with Al Sharpton, I don’t think he’s worth the fat it would take to fry him. He’s a loathesome pustule who exploits the very racial animosity he purports to oppose. And $35K wouldn’t cover his hairdresser’s bills for a year. But what are we to do? The Forces of Darkness would be tickled pink for us to unilaterally disarm for reasons of ethical purity. They want us to play Republican Poker: we get five cards, they get seven, all ours are dealt face up and they get to draw twice. They will pull every nasty trick there is, and when they win, claim its because God wanted them to. You play clean with these people, you will lose, and they will continue to construct the handbasket and chart the course. You can save your country, or save your purity. Choose. ---
**Author:** ![Renob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8c91f0/32.png) [@Renob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renob)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-to-sharpton-heres-your-kickback/278922/33 "2004-12-10T20:21:31Z")
Re: the government contacting issue and the Swiftboats – if anyone actually knew anything about government contracting they would know that government contracts aren’t handed out as political favors. It’s not as if Bush or Rumsfeld goes down a list of supporters and hands out government money to them. Gettinga contract is a time-consuming, bureaucratic nightmare with numerous checks-and-balances. And the contracting officer who awarded the contract is a civil service officer, not a political appointee. Politics does not play any part in awarding these contracts. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-to-sharpton-heres-your-kickback/278922/34 "2004-12-10T21:20:20Z")
> [@Renob](#): > > Politics does not play any part in awarding these contracts. Ah, the naivety of innocence… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-to-sharpton-heres-your-kickback/278922/35 "2004-12-10T22:00:44Z")
> [@](#): > > **Debaser** : It’s just a shame that the current crop of black leaders in the US are such scumbags. I would hardly consider Al Sharpton a leader in any read sense. He’s very good a self-promotion. And Jesse’s power is beginning to fade. Personally, I have a great deal of respect for Colin Powell, Rep. Harold Ford, Jr. (D. TN) and interest in Senator-Elect Barack Obama. And that’s just for starters. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-to-sharpton-heres-your-kickback/278922/36 "2004-12-10T22:02:32Z")
I _had_ a great deal of respect for Colin Powell. At one time. ---
**Author:** ![jshore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@jshore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jshore)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-to-sharpton-heres-your-kickback/278922/37 "2004-12-10T22:15:18Z")
> [@Renob](#): > > Politics does not play any part in awarding these contracts. [Right!](http://www.public-i.org/printer-friendly.aspx?aid=414) > [@](#): > > For instance, Sen. Specter received $24,500 from lobbyists working for Blank Rome LLP. One of Blank Rome’s largest clients is FastShip Inc., which transports containers between the U.S. and Europe. In 2003, Blank Rome billed the company $160,000. At a press conference with FastShip executives earlier this year, Specter took credit for bills appropriating $40 million in federal funds to construct the company’s state-of-the-art marine cargo terminal at the Port of Philadelphia. Admittedly, what is not clear is if and how the Bush Administration itself was involved in this. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-to-sharpton-heres-your-kickback/278922/38 "2004-12-10T22:32:12Z")
**rjung** nailed it. On top of which, there is a difference between getting paid for anything - consulting, endorsements, whatever - and a kickback, which implies that something covert and illegal happened. So **Mr. Moto** , can you explain what the wrongdoing is here? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-to-sharpton-heres-your-kickback/278922/39 "2004-12-10T23:32:10Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Compared to the ethical lapses in trying to find new ways to circumvent the Geneva Convention, authorize the use of torture, and dinking around with rigged e-voting machines, paying $30K to Sharpton is strictly amateur hour material. Kindly provide citations proving that any e-voting machine in the US has been rigged, or else retract that assertion. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-to-sharpton-heres-your-kickback/278922/40 "2004-12-10T23:57:28Z")
So you’re cool with the first two, but the third one bugs you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-to-sharpton-heres-your-kickback/278922.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerry-to-sharpton-heres-your-kickback/278922.md?page=3)