Last week, Rev. Al Sharpton, Democratic candidate for president, proved himself to be as sold out to the special-interest-core of the Democratic Party as the rest of his fellow Democrats seeking the party's nomination.
For a day he seemed capable of independent thought. But it didn't last.
In this case, it was over the nomination of Janice Rogers Brown to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Here is what the Washington Times reported Thursday, November 6, in an article titled "Sharpton Breaks Ranks on Brown":
- The Rev. Al Sharpton implored Senate Democrats yesterday not to filibuster President Bush's nomination of California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown to the nation's second-highest federal court.
Justice Brown, who is black, has come under intense criticism by liberal black groups, such as the NAACP, and by Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee. The panel plans to vote this morning on her nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
"I don't agree with her politics. I don't agree with some of her background," said Mr. Sharpton, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president. "But she should get an up-or-down vote." [?]
Mr. Sharpton's comments not only complicate the vote for several Democrats on the panel, they also are a stark departure from some of the best-known black groups, such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. NAACP Chairman Julian Bond said Justice Brown is "hostile to civil rights and civil liberties and ill-prepared to sit on the nation's second-highest court."[?]
Mr. Sharpton echoed the concerns of many conservatives - especially black conservatives - that Justice Brown is being opposed because she doesn't conform to the Democratic ideology that many blacks espouse.
"We've got to stop this monolith in black America because it impedes the freedom of expression for all of us," Mr. Sharpton said in a television interview conducted by Sinclair Broadcasting yesterday. "I don't think she should be opposed because she doesn't come from some assumed club."
Mr. Sharpton compared the filibusters to the same sort of "pocket vetoes" used for so long against blacks.
But after a day of what was likely the most (maybe the first) uncomfortable pressure Sharpton has ever received from the Left, the Rev. flip-flopped on the Brown nomination.
Here's what the Washington Times reported the next day, Friday, November 7, in "Brown Nomination OK'd; Filibuster Likely":
- A Senate committee yesterday approved the federal court nomination of California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown, although the panel's Democrats unanimously voted against her - a clear signal of a filibuster on the floor.
During the same Senate Judiciary Committee meeting, the Rev. Al Sharpton, a Democratic presidential candidate, issued a statement reversing his earlier position on Justice Brown, who, like Mr. Sharpton, is black.
Democrats produced a new statement from Mr. Sharpton's campaign office that urged them "to do everything within their means to prevent" Justice Brown from reaching the second-highest federal court in the country.
"I am strongly opposed to the nomination of Janice Rogers Brown to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals," said the statement, echoing sentiments of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and many liberal interest groups. "She is so far removed from the judicial mainstream that she poses a serious threat to the progress we have made in civil rights."
Shameless.
