Sharpton Returns To US On "Struggling African Airline”

Democratic presidential candidate Al Sharpton returned from his abortive trip to Liberia last Thursday, arriving in New York after a long flight on Air Ghana (soberly described by a fellow passenger as a “struggling African airline”), which touched down at JFK on Thursday.

Reverend Al, more courageous than previously suspected, had tried to charter a flight into Monrovia, Liberia, to meet with Charles Taylor, the escaped convict from Boston who now runs the country, but was met with basic pilot refusal.

All those mortar rounds striking the U.S. Embassy compound in war-ravaged Liberia took their toll on flight morale. “No way, too dangerous,” was the chant from even intrepid bush pilots.

Reverend Al did meet with Taylor reps in Accra, Ghana in an attempt to assist in a peace settlement. Sharpton’s entourage included Akbar Mohammed, a leader of the Nation of Islam, Cornel West, black-studies prof from Princeton, and Cora Masters Barry, who is a University of the District of Columbia political-science prof and wife of ex-Hizzoner Marion Barry. Security was provided by the Nation of Islam’s bow-tied bodyguards, known as the Fruit of Islam — with all due respect, an awkward handle in an age of double entendre.