Given the current unrest surrounding the death of George Floyd, it’s not surprising to learn that yet another rally is being planned in D.C. But this one is being announced well in advance, scheduled to take place on August 28th, the anniversary of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech given 57 years ago. Unfortunately for those interested in participating, the host of this rally is perpetual opportunist Al Sharpton. Any time there is any sort of unrest involving issues of race, you can always expect Al Sharpton to show up and find a way to continue promoting himself, and the current waves of demonstrations are clearly no exception. (USA Today)

The Rev. Al Sharpton announced Thursday he is organizing a march in Washington, D.C., to take place on August 28th, the 57th anniversary of the historic March on Washington to “restore and recommit that dream.”

“We’re going back to Washington,” Sharpton declared when giving his eulogy at the funeral of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who suffocated last week after a Minneapolis police officer pinned him to the ground with his knee…

“We going back to Washington, Martin,” Sharpton declared again, addressing Martin Luther King III, the son of the civil rights leader, in the crowd. “That’s where your father stood in the shadows of the Lincoln Memorial and said, ‘I have a dream.’ ”

While I don’t think anyone will be all that surprised if the unrest over George Floyd’s death is still continuing into August, I remain perpetually amazed at Al Sharpton’s ability to insert himself into events like this and be taken seriously. As most of you will recall, Sharpton first broke out on the national stage as a race-baiter back in 1987 when he attempted to pull off the Tawana Brawley hate crime hoax, one of the worst in the nation’s history.

He went on from there to form the National Action Network, ostensibly formed as a grassroots campaign to fight racism. But as numerous reports revealed, NAN regularly threatened companies and organizations that refused to donate to his network with protests and claims of racism. Sharpton greatly enriched himself by running a protection scheme that Tony Soprano would have been jealous of.

Sharpton went on to form numerous corporations and organizations, both nonprofit and for profit. The one feature they all had in common was that each and every one of them wound up in trouble with the IRS for not paying their taxes. Of course, Sharpton’s tax woes might have been easier to clear up if not one, but two of his offices hadn’t mysteriously gone up in flames, destroying key financial records for which there were no backup copies. Talk about bad luck!

Al Sharpton eventually tired of NAN and decided to retire, but not before selling the rights to his life story to his own “charity” for more than half a million dollars. That was on top of the more than a quarter-million dollars he pocketed from NAN annually as his salary. Good work if you can et it, eh? Oh, and the fruit apparently doesn’t fall far from the tree. In 2015 his daughter attempted to sue the City of New York for $5 million after slipping and falling on a public street and severely twisting her ankle. There must have been some sort of miracle or other divine intervention going on, however, since she was filmed mountain climbing almost immediately thereafter.

Even with all of this history to draw on, Sharpton continues to be a darling of the left and his endorsement is mandatory in Democratic politics. Pretty much every Democratic candidate for president this cycle sought meetings and photo-ops with him. He’s wined and dined by presidents. He was given his own show on MSNBC that he maintained continuously despite abysmal ratings, even when other hosts were being let go. And the announcement about the upcoming rally was made while he was a guest speaker at George Floyd’s memorial service.

Al Sharpton has led a charmed life, to be sure. In a more sane world, he probably would have been behind bars by now, or at least in bankruptcy court with the IRS seizing all of his assets. And yet, he perseveres.