Sorry, but I have to vent re: one of Al Sharpton's comments.

[boxster]

Don't worry. This isn't Sharpton-bashing. In fact, I think he did a great job in the debate. I was very impressed with all of the candidates and hope that they all end up playing some role in kicking out King George and his cohorts.

Anyway, I digress. In reference to Mr. Clark's recent entry into the race, Mr. Sharpton said to Mr. Clark (From the transcript at washingtonpost.com):

"And don't be defensive about just joining the party. Welcome to the party. It's better to be a new Democrat that's a real Democrat, than a lot of old Democrats up here that have been acting like Republicans all along." (Emphasis added by me.)

I thought that this was very diplomatic of Mr. Sharpton, and I believe the comment was sincere.

Here's the question: is there any way to interpret the bolded portion of that statement (old Democrats UP HERE) as referring to ANYONE other than one or more of the other candidates on stage with him?

Well, I watched the entire debate, and I think it's incredibly obvious that he was referring to one or more of the other 9 candidates - what else could "up here" possibly mean?? - and I see no possible way to interpret that statement in ANY other way.

In stating that belief elsewhere, however, I was corrected and chastised by another DU poster who insists that it was obvious that Sharpton was NOT referring to the other candidates, and besides, I must be wrong, because that just wouldn't be Al's style.

Now, I'm pretty confident that it would be obvious to anyone that he was referring to some of the other candidates. But, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe I'm losing my mind. Is there some secret Sharpton code that I'm not aware of? Some Sharpton phrase translation guide? }(

I am kind of a newbie on DU, but this is ludicrous. If this is indicative of the level of debate at DU, it's no wonder there's been a lot of bashing going on and so little "real" discussion!!

Sorry, rant over. Opinions, anyone?

[Eloriel]

1. Well, sometimes in the heat of being

terribly clever I stumble over my own words and say things I don't quite mean, such as "up here" when I might really mean "in Washington," or something like that.

OTOH, he's right IMO if he meant some of those on the stage.

Welcome to DU!


Eloriel

[boxster]

7. Thanks for the welcome.

I probably wasn't clear enough in my original posting - I had no problem whatsoever with Al's statement. I thought it helped keep everyone on their toes, as well.

My issue was with the poster who was so blinded by their belief in their candidate that they'd ignore the fact that Al was obviously taking a little good-natured dig at his opponents! And then insist that they had to be right, even though it was in the transcript!

Though, I guess that's pretty mild considered to the "Clark/Dean/Kerry/etc. is the Antichrist" postings lately! Hehe...

[Cocoa]

2. I thought it was a dig

but a very good-natured one. He's said things to that effect before, criticizing the party as a whole, but not in a divisive way, more in the spirit of keeping the rest of the dems honest.

[boxster]

4. I agree, and I thought it helped keep everyone awake! My point was...

that it's stupid to take the DU debate down to this level. If we're going to mince words and completely ignore the reality of something this extraordinarily obvious, then how can we possibly have meaningful, intelligent discussions about things like, oh...the issues??

[kiahzero]

3. I dunno

I figured it was referencing Lieberman, but looking back on it, I realized that there's a slightly less intuitive, but entirely possible interpretation.

Speaking as a New Englander, I often refer to the area as "up here". Sharpton, a New Yorker IIRC, could have easily been referring, not specifically to the stage, but the entirety of the North (since Gen. Clark comes from Arkansas), or even the entire country.

I dunno.

[Solomon]

5. Doesn't matter to

me.

[Kenneth ken]

6. yes

"is there any way to interpret the bolded portion of that statement (old Democrats UP HERE) as referring to ANYONE other than one or more of the other candidates on stage with him?"

The debate was in New York, yes?

I use up down out and back as geographic short hand.

up north
down south
out west
back east

depending where I'm at at the time, or my origin. When I lived in FL, NY would have been an 'up' CO (origin) was always 'back', now it's 'out (here)' So, up here makes sense to me as a geographic reference to NY as a whole.

on edit: I don't know a lot about NY politics, but Guilianni was a Repub, and NY is supposedly very liberal, i.e. heavy Dem, so how'd he get elected?

[boxster]

10. I thought of and considered that possibility,

but in the context of the statement and in the way it looked live, it seemed obvious that he was referring to the other candidates, especially in the context of the statement ("the old Democrats up here that have been acting like Republicans...")

And considering that NY is pretty left-leaning overall, it didn't seem to be a general political statement.

I probably just overreacted, but it seemed like such a stupid thing to focus and argue about. Myself included.

[JohnOneillsMemory]

8. Only one of his great lines, that one was 'it's what you do, not how long

you've been hanging around.'

My favorite Sharpton line for this debate was on NAFTA and getting humane values into trade agreements:

"We can't act like just because something is trade, that also makes it right. African-Americans are here on a bad trade policy."

-ZING! Right On, Brother!!

[boxster]

12. I agree. That comment was too funny.

[Myra]

9. I assumed he was referring to Holy Joe Leiberman

Tho' I may be projecting my...strong feelings.
He may also have been, I hope, referring to
Gephardt, who has been a doormat for the BFEE
(along with Dashle) since the coup.

Anyway, I thought Sharpton's comment was quite pointed.
Not a general (no pun intended) remark.

[Toucano]

11. Geography was my first reaction.

[FredScuttle]

13. I thought it was directed at a few Dem candidates

Holy Joe, in particular. And it was SO deserved!

[Supply Side Jesus]

14. He was kidding on the square. (Frankenism)

He was giving him a good nature ribbing, and digging at him for doing the whole "what part do i belong to, stay tuned" song and dance. IMHO.