Al Sharpton Gives Bill O’Reilly A Clinic In History and Truth
Al Sharpton continues to swat at many Right Wing pundits for either attempting to rewrite history or to disparage Nelson Mandela’s greatness and achievements. On last Sunday’s Meet The Press with David Gregory, the panel was attempting to give the impression that Ronald Reagan was onboard the anti-apartheid movement. They tried to explain away why America was on the wrong side of history.
Al Sharpton did not allow them to get away with it. Among giving them a history lesson, he said, “But let’s not act like Reagan was a major supporter of Mandela and the anti-apartheid movement. It’s just not true.”
The Right Wing base has basically attacked Conservatives who attempted to give positive praise to Nelson Mandela. When Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) praised Nelson Mandela on his Facebook page, he was met by nasty comments and pushback.
The astute Bill O’Reilly found an ingenious manner in providing praise for Nelson Mandela. He likely hoped that this would appease his base. Basically, he disparaged Nelson Mandela by calling him a communist. He also called him a great man for his people.
Al Sharpton would have none of it. He called him out immediately. Very few Americans are cognizant of the real meaning of words like Communist, Socialist, Fascist, Imperialist, etc. What many Americans do is create an immediate inference to a person when one of these words is tagged onto them. By tagging Nelson Mandela a communist, Bill O’Reilly attempts to ensure that an asterisk is place on this great man as a transformational leader.
This is no different than what the Right is attempting to do with President Barack Obama. President Obama has accomplished many things past presidents have attempted and failed to do for decades (e.g., access to universal healthcare). The Right continues to put up road blocks that not only affect his legacy, but the economic well-being of the nation.
The continuous attack on those that have fought for progressive values, the only values that have allowed the progress of the common man, must be fought relentlessly. It is only through the fight, calling out of evil, calling out of anti-democratic actions, calling out of those disparaging real truth and real moral values, that real freedom is achieved by us all.
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