And circling overhead, it's Al Sharpton

One should fight like the devil the impulse to think well of Al Sharpton.

The Rev engaged in a little parachute protest here in Gatewayville yesterday, dropping in to rail at electric utility Ameren over the pase or power restoration following last weeks storms. Posing in front of Ameren's HQ, Sharpton called for the utility to cut its rates, threatened future demonstrations if his demands weren't met, and accused Ameren of restoring power to white neighborhoods ahead of black neighborhoods (a claim not supported by the numbers, according to local CBS affiliate KMOV).

Then he got back into his presumably air-conditioned BMW and drove away.

This on a day when an Ameren employee was killed while working to restore power in one area, and a contractor was severely burned working in another neighborhood - a predominantly black neighborhood, incidentally.

I'll say this: Unless Sharpton shows up with a hard hat, a bucket truck, and a willingness to climb an electric pole, I don't want to hear a goddamned word out of him about power outages. Not one word.

(Cross-posted.)