Jack Newfield, who is missed from these pages, once said the Reverend Al Sharpton’s greatest strength is that he knows his weaknesses — and that his greatest weakness is a reluctance bordering on inability to admit to them.

Sitting in a red T-shirt in a suite at the Sheraton, getting ready to for the ninth annual National Action Network national convention, Rev. Sharpton politely disagrees.

“I think that Jack and I had a fundamental disagreement over what some of my weaknesses were,” he says. “I’ve certainly made my share of mistakes, and since I’m a public figure, many of them have been right there, out in the open, for everybody to see.”

As Rev. Sharpton prepares to play host to a variety of newsmakers, from presidential candidates (Senators Obama and Clinton) to conservative commentators (Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity from the Fox News Channel), he is taking stock of the events of the past week, culminating in the firing of radio host Don Imus.

Shouldn’t Mr. Imus have been forgiven, given all the good work he’s done?

“It’s not about forgiveness,” Rev. Sharpton says. “Of course he’s forgiven. It’s a question of he said things that should have never been said and he had to pay a penalty. When I met with” the president and CEO of NBC Universal, Jeff Zucker, and the president and CEO of CBS, Leslie Moonves, “I asked them, if they had made those comments, what would happen to them? They’d lose their jobs.

“It’s the same for everyone. When Jesse talked about Hymietown, he had to apologize, and he paid a price because it affected how people reacted to him, treated him.”

As for himself?

“I know there are critics out there, people very quick to point to the events of 20 years ago,” he says of those who question why he should be taken seriously, given his own history of incendiary comments. “There are certainly people who are going to object to everything I say just because it’s me saying it.

“I’m not necessarily trying to win over those skeptics. I’m trying to win fights.”

One skeptic he eventually did win over was Newfield, who for many years was one of his most vitriolic opponents.

“There was a long time he didn’t have a nice word to say about me,” Rev. Sharpton says. “Eventually, though, it came to pass that Jack recognized that while we did disagree on many things, there were also many causes where he felt I was the person who could move things forward.”

Rev. Sharpton knows that the events of 20 years ago — the Tawana Brawley scandal — is an association he will likely live with for the rest of his life. At the same time, he maintains that people shouldn’t use what happened to paint him with a broad brush.

“That I believed Tawana Brawley doesn’t make me a racist,” he says. “Just like believing O.J. did it despite what the courts said doesn’t make people racist, or believing that Michael Jackson did things he shouldn’t have despite what a court said. Those people are not racist. We live in a country where people can believe what they believe.”

Rev. Sharpton moves on to his conference and the fact that some of the speakers have been criticized for attending. “It’s strange, isn’t it?” he asks. “Senator Clinton shouldn’t come, but it’s okay for O’Reilly and Hannity? This is actually the second time for O’Reilly. It’s a complicated world, and there’s room for lots of different points of view. It’s time for people to understand that.

“I’ve made mistakes, said things I shouldn’t have, done things I shouldn’t have, but we learn from those mistakes and we keep moving. My critics need to ask themselves about their criticisms. Sure, some people are going to have legitimate disagreements with me about issues. Others should step back and recognize the fact that while they may not like me or agree with me, there are many others that do, and they are just as entitled to their opinions.”

With eight Democratic presidential candidates, Governor Spitzer, and a host of others due to appear with him during the next few days, Rev. Sharpton thinks for a second when asked if he ever thought that who he was 20 years ago would be playing host to such a crowd.

“To be honest,” he finally says, a smile on his face, “absolutely. I knew what I was capable of, who I really was and could become. I guess that’s why I put up with everything and kept moving.”