All you need to know about John Kerry's commitment to civil rights is this:

He has positioned himself like an index finger twined around its middle finger with Al Sharpton, the walking, breathing fraud who steals our air to spread hate, myths and hoaxes.

It was Kerry, playing the part of the index finger, who expressed his utter joy when Sharpton - the middle finger - threw his endorsement to the senator from Massachusetts:

�Over the course of the past year, I have come to appreciate the warmth and candor Reverend Al Sharpton exhibited in so many primary debates and forums across America. No one can argue with his ability to cut through the double-talk we see coming from this Administration."

Steven Pagones didn't enjoy the same "warmth and candor" from Sharpton. Remember Pagones? He was the man who Sharpton accused of taking part in the gang sexual assault of Tawana Brawley.

There were a couple of problems, though. There was no gang. There was no sexual assault. The whole story was made up.

And when law enforcement in the Hudson Valley of New York wanted to get to the bottom of it all, it ran into a stone wall.

Sharpton convinced Brawley and her family to snub their noses at a grand jury investigating that case back in 1988. Kerry, who reminds folks he used to be a prosecutor slightly less often than he reminds them he served in Vietnam, is apparently unbothered by this.

To this minute, Sharpton has never apologized. Steven Pagones had to leave a promising career as a prosecutor in his own right after he was smeared with the false charges.

"I thank Reverend Sharpton for his endorsement and look forward to working with him and all Democrats in the months ahead," Kerry said, accepting his help from America's best-known middle finger.

Why is this important, now?

Take it away, John Zobgy:(Via Reuters)

Kerry is still getting the support of only 84 percent of black voters, short of the more than 90 percent claimed by Democrat Al Gore in 2000 and enough of a shortfall to make a difference in a few critical states in such a tight election.

So when predominantly African-American precincts across the country fail to back Kerry in the numbers he needs, who will be the top spokesman for the campaign charging vote suppression and fraud? Rev. Hoax.

Democratic leaders make their choices and the results follow.

Says D.C. Thornton:

Someday, black Democrats will put their foot down and express their outrage for once again being taken for granted by the DNC. After the snubbing of the late Maynard Jackson for the party chairmanship, as well as the party�s unwillingness to back former New York gubernatorial candidate Carl McCall, it makes me wonder why nobody has thrown up their hands and said �Enough!".

There may be no hands being thrown up in the air during this election. Maybe all it will take are a few middle fingers.