A COALITION AT WAR WITH ITSELF:

Sharpton, Lieberman Exchange Barbs (Jennifer Siegel, Oct 13, 2006, The Forward)

“You never once attacked or questioned my commitment to Israel or any racial group in private or public” during the 2004 presidential primary campaign, Sharpton wrote in the 800-plus-word missive. “For you to now totally flip the script to hopefully incite some race based hysteria in a desperate attempt to save your political career is beneath the dignity of the man I thought I got to know.”

Sharpton was responding to comments made by Lieberman at a private fund-raiser in New York on October 4, during which the senator reportedly said that “to some extent you’ve got to judge people by their friends,” and characterized Sharpton’s appearance at Lamont’s side on primary night as “a remarkable moment.”

For months, Lieberman’s camp has questioned Lamont’s commitment to Israel based on his decision to campaign with Democratic congresswomen Maxine Waters and Marcy Kaptur, who both have a history of votes that upset some pro-Israel activists.

Sharpton himself often has been accused of race baiting by some in the Jewish community. In particular, he raised Jewish hackles for leading marches during the Crown Heights riots of 1991 and for referring to the neighborhood’s Jewish residents as “diamond merchants” at the funeral of the Guyanese boy accidentally killed by a Hasidic motorcade. In 1995, he was captured on videotape referring to the Jewish owner of Freddy’s Fashion Mart in Harlem as “a white interloper.” The store was subsequently torched.

It's hardly a coincidence that Mr. Lamont is the kept man of the MoveOn Left against Joe Lieberman.

Posted by Orrin Judd at October 12, 2006 6:09 PM