Al Sharpton @ MindSay

UNION VALE, New York (AP) -- Vice President Dick Cheney spent about eight hours hunting Monday at a secluded Hudson Valley gun club where well-heeled enthusiasts shoot ducks and pheasants.

It was Cheney's second visit to Clove Valley Rod & Gun Club in Dutchess County, about 70 miles north of New York City. The previous trip was in fall 2001.

Although a heavy police presence kept the media and curious local residents at a distance, Cheney's visit did stir up a bit of controversy when a New York Daily News photographer snapped a picture of a small Confederate flag hanging inside a garage on the hunt club property.

The photo was shown to New York City civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton, who issued a statement demanding that the vice president "leave immediately, denounce the club and apologize for going to a club that represents lynching, hate and murder to black people."

Sharpton's statement was issued hours after Cheney departed the club at 3:45 p.m. for a flight out of the Stewart Air National Guard Base. In a statement issued Monday evening, Cheney spokeswoman Megan Mitchell said neither Cheney nor anyone on his staff saw such a flag at the hunt club.

It's not clear whether the door of the garage that contained the flag was even open at the time the vice president was in the area.

The flag flap was minor compared with the controversy that arose in 2006 after Cheney peppered attorney Harry Whittington with birdshot while quail hunting in Texas. The vice president was criticized for not immediately going public with the incident

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Someone should really just tell Al Sharpton to shut the fuck up.

So, as many are discussing, Paris Hilton was let out of jail yesterday, far short of the 45 days to which she was sentenced, and even short of the 23 days she probably would have served.

Rev. Al Sharpton, as he always has, had something to say to about it. Now, I'm not a Sharpton fan. I think he does more to expand the racial divide in this country than heal it. Rev Al said her release, "all of the appearances of economic and racial favoritism." Also saying, "I think that it's both another glaring display of how race and money seem to get different treatments. There seems to be a different criminal justice system for some than others."

WOW. Is Reverend Al waking up? Is he realizing that race is not the predominant issue in this country? Is he realizing that Rich People, predominantly white but of all races, are using race to divide poor people and keep them in-fighting, while oppressing them all? Probably not. But he slipped up and said something intelligent, which I agree with, so I thought it was worth mentioning.

For a little more on this subject:

Let me just say that I was born into a middle class family, and over the years we progressed into what, surely, would be called upper middle class. I have never felt the sting of poverty, until adulthood when I, it could be said, brought it on myself. I know what its like to choose rent and food over bills or luxuries. I know what its like to skip a Thursday of work, because I needed the gas to get to work Friday and pick up a pay check. My time in this condition was short, but it strengthened my resolve that NO ONE should have like that, for any amount of time, especially in the richest country in the world. For years, I have spoken about the growing divide between rich and poor. The way that the rich, by their own actions and those of their corporations, have opressed the lower classes, made them feel worthless for being poor, and hopeless to resolve the situation. While minimum wage has not been raised (until this year) in over 10 years,  CEO salaries are still climbing at thousands of percents of the common salary. Common folk pay $3.00 a gallon for gas and the oil companies rake in billions in profits. A company lays off 25,000 workers to cut costs but gives an idiotic CEO a $400 million golden parachute to get rid of him. The market economy which we hold dear, has become the beast that will oppress and kill us all if we are not careful. Pure Capitalism is the weapon of the upper class against the lower classes. Moderated Capitalism is the tool to limit oppressive wealth and close the income gap. Healthy economies result, rather than the strong, but lopsided economies of pure capitalism.

Worst of all, this money power has crept into the halls of government, meaning the last resort of the masses to control and change has been taken away in the smokiness of back rooms and the wads of cash stuffed into pockets and war chests. Then we expect these men to police themselves. We rely on those who benefit from loose campaign finance laws, to change campaign finance laws and hurt their own interests. Christ was sold for 11 pieces of silver. Socrates, convicted of killing a man, offered 11 pieces of silver as a fair price for his freedom.  Have we come to the modern day where those with the money hold, not just power, but ultimate power? Law and punishment rest on the bank accounts of the guilty. Justice is no longer blind, but merely a fast food register girl or an auctioneer calling out freedom and justice for the highest bidder.

The thought sickens me. Modern society sickens me. When who someone is sleeping with or how hard they are partying becomes CNN Breaking News. When the American public is more concerned with what the stars are doing, then what their Congressmen are doing. When Star magazine has a wider readership than the NY Times. SOMETHING IS WRONG HERE. Our society is dying around us. We feast, and drink, and orgy like tomorrow will never come, yet our civilization burns down around our heads. Like the last days of Rome, the barbarians are at the gates, in the gates, coming over the walls, bringing our food and drink. Meanwhile, our attentions lie to the edges of our evaporating empire. Our economy lies in ruins, but the rich don't feel the press of poverty. In 300 years, we have done what Rome took a Millenium and we are on the brink of self-destruction.

The only thing that stands between us and chaos, between us and economic ruin, between us and invasion (from the South), and between us and destruction from within are true patriots who seek the restoration of the Great Republic.  Screaming against the grind and clank of the machine, standing for what is necesary and right.

All is not lost. We are at the brink but not over it. All it takes is a little talk, a little action, doing the little things that need to be done.

Sorry for the epic wording, sometimes I get lost in the message. Passion is a double edged sword. Back to Rev. Al. As much as I disagree with the man, and often despise him, I'm glad my position has a voice that can reach nationally. Keep fighting (this) good fight, Al.

Bernard McGuirk the former Producer for Don Imus has called Al Sharpton a “race baiter.” Although I am no supporter of Don Imus, Sharpton is a hypocrite. He calls Imus a racist and turns around and says Mormons and Mitt Romney do not believe in God. Where is the MSM clamor to have Sharpton censured? There is no such clamor, and if there is a clamor from the Slanted Right it is doubtful the MSM will draw attention.