GM asked to pull Kid Rock sponsorship over flag-flap

[Gorehamj]

John Goreham
Contributing Writer, GM-Trucks.com
7/13/2015

General Motors became the latest company to be dragged into the Confederate flag controversy. GM is presently sponsoring the Kid Rock Summer Tour. The National Action Network, a group founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton, has asked GM to pull that sponsorship (which is basically advertising) because when the group asked Kid Rock to denounce the Confederate flag he refused.

 

When asked by a network news anchor about the protests surrounding his refusal, Kid Rock reportedly responded "Please tell the people protesting that they can kiss my ....," according to the Detroit Free Press.

 

GM for its part is backing Kid Rock. Saying in a statement "We are committed to our sponsorship of Kid Rock's summer tour and are confident that he will provide his fans, many of whom are proud Chevrolet owners, with a spectacular concert experience that celebrates American Freedom."

 

GM Trucks scanned three years of images on the Kid Rock Facebook page today. There are no visible Confederate flag images shown. On the contrary, the Stars and Stripes is one of his frequently used images.

 

Images courtesy of the Kid Rock public Facebook page photos section.

[newdude]

Gee I sure has heck see the STAR SPANGLED BANNER all over him. Al Sharpton better start

[RyanbabZ71]

Glad Chevy has stood up to this so many companies back down

 

 

Ryan

[Silverado-Hareek]

Thank you GM for having a spine and not bowing to this PC nonsense.

[scott19677]

If GM caves to that race baiting, tax evading, false rape promoting (Tawanna Brawley), Gangster drug dealing, well I"ll let Al's record speak for him....

 

The Crimes of Al Sharpton –Part 1 and 2

MichaelSavage.com, ^ | 4-2007 | www.homestead.com

Posted on April 29, 2007 at 12:49:53 PM EDT by Main Street

The Crimes of Al Sharpton –Part 1

* In the Tawana Brawley case, a 15-year-old black girl was found smeared with feces, lying in a garbage bag, her clothing torn and burned and with various slurs and epithets written on her body in charcoal. Brawley claimed that she had been assaulted and raped by six white men, some of them police officers, in the town of Wappingers Falls, New York. Alton H. Maddox, C. Vernon Mason joined Sharpton in support of Brawley. A grand jury was convened; after seven months of examining police and medical records, the jury determined that Brawley lied about being assaulted by the police. Sharpton, Maddox and Mason were later successfully sued for statements made in connection with the case, and ordered to pay $345,000 in damages.

* In 1989 and 1990 Sharpton again beat the odds. First, Sharpton beat a tax evasion rap, which he called a government vendetta. Then, in 1990, he was acquitted on charges that he pocketed more than half of the $250,000 he raised through the National Youth Movement.

* The Crown Heights Riot occurred after a car accident involving the motorcade for the Lubavitcher Rebbe killing a young boy Gavin Cato. A riot was sparked after a private Hasidic ambulance came to the scene and, on the orders of a police officer, removed the Hasidic driver from the scene. Gavin Cato and his cousin Angela were picked up soon after by a city ambulance. Caribbean-American and African-American residents of the neighborhood then rioted for four consecutive days fueled by rumors (in part driven by Sharpton), that the private ambulance had refused to treat Cato. Al Sharpton became the de-facto representative for the Cato family. During the funeral he referred to "diamond merchants" considered a code word for Hasidic Jews, for shedding "the blood of innocent babies" leading marchers shouting "No Justice No Peace". Sharpton did not start the riots but his rhetoric was seen as inflammatory and unhelpful in easing the tension between the black and Jewish communities. A visiting rabbinical student from Australia by the name of Yankel Rosenbaum, 29 years old, was killed during the rioting by a mob shouting "Kill the Jew".

* In 2001, Sharpton served a three-month prison term for an act of civil disobedience consisting in illegally trespassing on U.S. property located on a bombing range in Vieques, Puerto Rico. Sharpton was imprisoned for protesting the United States Navy's ongoing bombing and target practices on the island.

* In November 2005, Sharpton appeared in advertisements for LoanMax, an automobile title loan company. Sharpton was criticized for appearing in the ads, as LoanMax has been accused of predatory lending charging fees, and for marketing them to primarily poor, urban and African American audiences. The ads featuring Sharpton were run in predominantly African American markets. Sources: Wikipedia/Answers.com

The Crimes of Al Sharpton –Part 2

* The Rev. Al Sharpton and two other men were convicted and jailed for their roles in the December 1987 ''day of outrage'' protest, which stalled subways in Brooklyn for hours.

* Sharpton appeared in a 1983 FBI videotape discussing the laundering of drug money with mobster-turned-informant Michael Franzese, one-time captain for the Colombo crime family. Sharpton appears on the tape to offer to broker a meeting between Don King and a South American drug lord. No indictments were filed.

* In 1995, he led his National Action Network in an ugly boycott against Freddy's Fashion Mart, a Jewish-owned business that had its rent raised by its black landlord. Freddy's in turn raised the rent on one of its subtenants, a blackowned music store. The street leader of the boycott, Morris Powell, was the head of Sharpton's "Buy Black" Committee. Repeatedly referring to the Jewish proprietors of Freddy's as "crackers," Powell and his fellow protesters menacingly told passersby, "Keep [going] right on past Freddy's, he's one of the greedy Jew bastards killing our [black] people. Don't give the Jew a dime." Some picketers openly threatened violence against whites and Jews -- all under the watchful, approving eye of Sharpton. The subsequent picketing became increasingly violent in tone until one of the protesters eventually shot four whites in the store, and then set the building on fire -- killing seven employees, most of whom were Hispanics.

* Sharpton embraced Yasser Arafat in 2001, again for political reasons as he hoped to unseat Jesse Jackson as the most influential black leftist in the United States.

Sources: NY Times and discoverthenetworks.org

Like I said If GM caves to this ass hole I will never buy any other GM product. Not even a valve stem cap...........

And this guy is an advisor to the POTUS.

We'll all be better off when this Pez Head Dispenser has left the face of the earth. Sooner the better!

[sahls01gmc]

Love or hate his music....Kid Rock is a great American, and I'll stand up for whatever he has going on!

[Cowpie]

This whole thing is getting ridiculous. At least GM isn't falling for this nonsense. I may do what some others are doing and order up a couple of "bars and stars" flags and put them up. As a celebration and respect of the honor, tenacity, and courage of the soldiers who fought on the Southern side of the war and out of protest of this stupid PC stuff that is taking over America.

 

While it is true, that I had no grandeous visions of the traditions and founding principles of America when I was a young man in the Army carrying an M-16, living in the mud with the bugs. I have had several decades to reflect on what wearing that uniform and serving meant and the oath I took. I am sick and tired of this PC nonsense that is destroying what I served to protect. It is time to reclaim America for Americans.... southern, northern, eastern, western, black, white, hispanic, native, asian and anyone else that has the heart and sole for Liberty and making America great again. An honoring those who served, even Confederate soldiers, is the American thing to do.

[LongrangeLauber]

Glad GM is keeping their sponsorship with Kid Rock. Some type of big company needs to stand it's ground against political "correctness"

[ChevyWife83]

Very Proud owner of a GM product! I have seen Kid Rock something like 13 times.. well I forget how many.. and Never ONCE did I see a Confederate Flag on Tour. This man does more for Detroit than the Government themselves ... If you don't like him... then keep your mouth shut and when he hands out money to the town of Detroit.. put your friggin hands in your pockets!

 

This was before I started seeing him :

 

" Rock told the Free Press in 2002 that he used the flag during that year's tour as a nod to Southern rock and a rebel spirit. It's unclear how recently Rock has displayed Confederate flag imagery in concert, but some fans have told the Free Press it has not appeared onstage in several years, including Rock's current tour. "

[TedzGMC]

I respect him more now than I ever have. He is entitled to what he believes and will not bow or break to the big money. Way to go Kid. Kudos

[laultimababygirl]

Yes pull him off that flag . The true soldier's are not putting themselves on the flags . I have lots of soldier's in my family,we have a long line of military lives . And myself i also now have my children who are soldier's. And its nust not right .!!!!!!!!!!!!#

[sahls01gmc]

I'm curious, what's your reasoning behind pulling him off the flag?

[Gator Jeaux]

Kid Rock is awesome. Glad to be a fan. He's one of the most patriotic Americans in the music industry along with Toby Keith. Glad GM is supporting Kid Rock.

[Chris]

I am a veteran, I do not agree with the Confederate flag being flown, but it is not racist like the media says. It was a battle flag for states that wanted war with the United States and that is my reason for disagreeing. The media and activist groups have the whole thing blown way out of proportion

[Cowpie]

At the risk of starting a never ending back and forth, and as a Iowa "Yankee", and an extensive study of U.S. History, the South only left the Union. They did not instigate war. Lincoln posted Union troops on S Carolina soil. Sure, the South fired those first shots after warning troops to leave, but when they fired on Ft. Sumpter, they made sure that they did not kill one Union soldier. This gave Lincoln the reason to start hostilities with the South.

 

100 years later, Johnson used the same strategy with N Vietnam and the Gulf of Tonkin incident, to escalate hostilities with N Vietnam.

 

Not saying any of this is right, wrong, or neutral. As Jack Webb was so fond of saying on the old Dragnet show.... "Just the facts"