Roger Stone and the Rev. Al Sharpton.

Roger Stone and the Rev. Al Sharpton. Credit: AP / Patrick Semansky, Getty Images / Joe Raedle

Never assume in advance who will come out on which side of a political divide. This season is chock full of realignments, or odd alliances, that could startle those who haven’t followed the news.

In New York City, the Rev. Al Sharpton, once famous for agitation and denouncing City Hall and police, nowadays refers to would-be “de-funders” of the NYPD as elite “latte liberals.”

Sharpton declared last month, at a gathering of his National Action Network, that anyone who doesn't care about dealing with violent crime cannot truly claim to be progressive. 

"Progressive for who?" he asked.

This is done in support of Eric Adams, the city’s first Black mayor in a generation. It would have sounded impossible years ago to hear Sharpton say as he did last Thanksgiving: “We want our community safe from both the cops and the robbers that are bad, and we are going to stand with the mayor on that.”

Other twists abound, such as a recent attention-grabber from Roger Stone and Steve Bannon — who shill so loyally for Donald Trump that both received criminal pardons during his White House term.

Both men hail the presidential candidacy of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Democrat like his late father, the New York senator. “Bobby Kennedy would be, I think, an excellent choice for Trump to consider” as a running mate, Bannon said on a podcast. Stone called it a “dream ticket.”

This "bipartisan" embrace might be surprising if you haven’t paid attention.

Kennedy, trying to challenge President Joe Biden for the nomination, has long voiced the canard that vaccines are unsafe. He’s fueled cultish claims of top infectious-disease expert Anthony Fauci assisting in “a historic coup d’etat against Western democracy.” 

Even his sister Kerry Kennedy called him wrong on vaccines — and “very dangerous.” Like Trump & Co., Robert Kennedy Jr. spins other bizarre conspiracy stories.

In Washington, the House Republican majority suddenly has a chance to seize the moral high ground on a matter of political ethics.

In a story first reported in the right-wing Daily Caller, Rep. Lois Frenkel (D-Fla.) disclosed that she sold First Republic Bank stock before it collapsed — and bought JPMorgan stock before that institution purchased First Republic. Frenkel distances herself from the transactions by saying a money manager independently handles her account and decides trades.

That creates an opportunity for Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas to push bipartisan legislation he's sponsored before that would bar members of Congress, their spouses, and their dependent children from trading individual stocks. Such legislation has also been introduced in the Democratic-run Senate, but it didn’t win approval last year when that party controlled both chambers. Could it succeed now?

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has created an odd "us-against-them" scenario in his legal war against The Walt Disney Co. When was the last time you heard of a governor looking to break a big, job-generating corporation ensconced in his state — all to curb the cultural influence of "woke elites”? But that’s how DeSantis, a likely presidential hopeful, defines his public job.

All these developments show one basic truth: You can't predict or generalize about actions of the right, the left, Democrats, or Republicans without accounting for the motives and ambitions of the players involved. It can get unpredictable — for reasons good, bad or cynical.

Columnist Dan Janison's opinions are his own.

FLASH SALE

$1 FOR ONE YEAR

Unlimited Digital Access

SUBSCRIBE NOW >>Cancel anytime - new subscribers only