In our twisted society, it seems that anyone can become an instant celebrity. It doesn't matter if you are a woman who backed her SUV into a crowd at a Hamptons nightclub, if you are a houseguest at OJ Simpson's house - or if you are the daughter of a hotel owner who had sex on camera - for some reason, this world will embrace you and turn you into an instant celebrity once you do something to gain infamous notoriety.

Unfortunately, the world's latest celebrity is someone who does not deserve the time of day - and someone who I have very publicly denounced because he is nothing but a lying, racist hate-monger who has used the issue of racism to build a career, rally people behind his twisted cause - and now steal $207,447.76 from New York City taxpayers after settling a lawsuit against the NYPD yesterday. The "person" I am referring to is the "Reverend" Al Sharpton.

On January 12, 1991, Sharpton led a march through the neighborhood of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn to protest what he felt was lenient sentencing of two white youths who killed Yusef Hawkins by beating him with a baseball bat in 1989. During the rally, Sharpton was stabbed in the chest by Michael Riccardi with a five inch steak knife. He suffered a punctured lung and spent five days at Brooklyn's Coney Island Hospital.

After the incident, Riccardi was arrested and convicted of first degree assault and got five to fifteen years in prison. Apparently, the arrest was not enough for Sharpton, who almost immediately filed a lawsuit against the NYPD, claiming that the police were, "careless, negligent and reckless." He claims that the police "promised" to protect him at the rally but did not, because, in his own words, "Though there were over 200 policemen standing around, none of them made a move to grab him [Riccardi]." He also claims that he still suffers from shortness of breath and has a fear of people approaching him in crowds.

With jury selection scheduled to begin yesterday in the civil case against the NYPD, the City's Law Department decided to settle the case instead of taking it to trial, because they felt, " the City could not predict how a jury might rule."

First of all, this crook does not deserve one red cent of my tax dollars or anyone else's. Yes, he did get stabbed and the person that did commit that crime deserved to be punished. But the fact that Sharpton got stabbed does not mean that he deserves almost a quarter of a million dollars from a cash-strapped City that has had to endure years of Sharpton's separatist attitude and racial war mongering.

Am I the only one who remembers when Sharpton and his cohorts convinced a 15-year-old girl named Tawana Brawley to claim she was abducted and raped by six white law enforcement officers when she was found in upstate New York covered with feces and racial slurs written in charcoal in November of 1987? Has everyone else forgotten that her case was ultimately thrown out on July 13, 1988 when a grand jury determined that her story was not credible, and cleared the "alleged" attackers of any wrongdoing? Can anyone recall that one of the six men accused, Steven Pagones, sued Sharpton and his cronies for defamation of character and won $345,000 in damages - $65,000 of which Sharpton was liable for? Apparently not - because not only was this Joker asked to host Saturday Night Live this past weekend - but he is actually running for President of the United States of America.

Personally, I would rather vote for Tonya Harding for President than Al Sharpton. I also give more credibility to Porn Star Mary Carey's campaign for Governor of California than Sharpton's pathetic run for President. The only "accomplishment" this man can offer the American people is his long history of divisiveness and notorious ambulance-chasing tactics that turn any incident in this City into a racially-motivated crime. I realize that anyone can run for President - but Sharpton's bid for the White House puts more of a black eye on our Electoral process that the bungled 2000 Presidential Election and the recent California Recall Election combined.

While everyone is entitled to their opinion, and while racial incidents do unfortunately happen in this City - Sharpton immediately lost all credibility in my eyes when he was found guilty of using a naïve 15-year-old girl to deliberately stage an alleged racial incident to divide the City for the sole purpose of furthering his own agenda. Bottom line is - without racial divisiveness - Al Sharpton would be out of a job. And although I am used to living in a country where infamous activity equals instant stardom - the fact that people take Al Sharpton with any shred of seriousness absolutely sickens me.

And now, as Al Gore endorsed Democratic frontrunner Howard Dean for President this morning in Harlem, perhaps Al Sharpton will realize that he has no chance in Hell to lead this country and pull out of the race - leaving the race for the White House to real, credible Americans.

I also hope he enjoys spending my tax dollars.