RUSH: Speaking of Obama, I’ve gotta get to this. This is in the New York Post today, it’s by Fred Dicker, a truly outstanding reporter: ‘Jealous Reverend Al Blasts Barack — Al Sharpton has launched a ‘big-time’ effort to tear down Illinois Sen. Barack Obama as a candidate for president, The Post has learned. ‘He’s saying that Obama never did anything for the community.” That’s like saying Obama is not down for the struggle. ‘He never worked with anybody from the community,’ not down for the struggle, ‘that nobody knows the people around him,’ not down for the struggle, ‘that he’s a candidate driven by white leadership.’ This is from a prominent black Democratic activist who knows Sharpton. ‘When it comes to Al’s attacks on Obama, frankly, I don’t know where to begin.’
”It’s driving Al crazy that Obama is as impressive and popular as he is, and he’s not happy about it,’ said another black Democratic activist. ‘Sharpton is just terrified of being overshadowed by someone of Obama’s class and character.’ Sharpton also has a personal ax to grind, a source close to him said. ‘Al had wanted to run again for president in 2008,’ the source said, ‘but now that Obama is a serious candidate in the race, that has become impossible.” Why? Barack’s ‘clean.’ He’s ‘articulate.’ He’s ‘good-looking,’ and obviously you can only have one of those on the Democrat side. So you can’t put Sharpton in? What, the Democrats can only tolerate one black candidate per presidential race? Obama beat the Reverend Sharpton to it so now the Reverend Sharpton, because Obama not down for the struggle, is being castigated and ripped. They’re try to tear Barack Obama down? (Laughing.) If this is true, we’ll find out soon enough, and I have no doubts if this is true — and this is just a wild guess, ladies and gentlemen, like your daily weather forecast — I happen to think that we will start hearing from activists close to the Reverend Sharpton and others in the traditional civil rights leadership again, not just in the media, but from these guys, ‘Is he really black enough? He’s half white. Is he black enough? He’s not down for the struggle.’