If you're a liberal, left-winger, you positively adore Michael Moore and Morgan Spurlock, the film makers who've made mince meat out of fat cats from General Motors to McDonald's.

If you're a conservative, right-winger, you can't get enough of James O'Keefe, the film maker who brought community group ACORN to its knees.

Despite their divergent political ideology, Messrs. Moore, Spurlock and O'Keefe share one common trait: They are snakes, who will sacrifice anything – including truth, fairness and propriety to skewer their targets.

Which brings us to the current flap between the upscale, Upper East Side pantheon of discriminating fashion sense, Barneys, and the aging-yet-still feisty snake among snakes, Al Sharpton.

Rev. Al, of course, has become a bit defanged from his early heyday 40 years ago, when he burst on the national stage to perpetrate a colossal hoax involving African-American teenager Tawana Brawley, who falsely accused six white men of raping her. After furiously pumping the fictitious story to a gullible media and ruining the lives of the men in question, Sharpton was fined $65,000 for masterminding the ruse and then got his supporters to pay the freight.

Where others might have slunk away in shame, Sharpton rejuvenated himself as a kind of civil rights stalker, throwing himself headlong into any controversy anywhere that involved a whiff of discrimination.

For the past year, Sharpton has bided his time as an MSNBC broadcaster, Democrat Party king maker and FOB (Friend of Barack).  

But in October, when Barney's was reported to have interrogated two black shoppers because of the color of their skin -- the Rev. Al was back in business.   

After presumably spending months plotting strategy with the two  -- one of whom, a 19-year-old woman, paid $2,500 with a temporary debit card in February; the other, a 21-year-old man,  purchased a $350 belt in April – Sharpton screamed "racial profiling" and demanded a sit down with Barneys' brass.

How the refined merchant deals with its slithering adversary should be an object lesson for any high profile firm which finds itself in the sights of a bad publicity gun-for-hire.

Stated metaphorically, here's the antidote for the snake venom:

1. Take the charges seriously.

Is Al Sharpton a phony baloney, who specializes in targeting vulnerable, deep-pocketed adversaries in high-volume controversies that are often short on facts but long on righteous indignation? 

Yes, yes, yes, but ...

Takes the accusations seriously, regardless of the suspect credibility of the accuser and the fact that the alleged offenses happened months ago.

Accusations of discrimination are good copy. Today, with web sites and blogs – from Huffington Post to TMZ.com, from blackamericaweb.com to christianpost.com --  eager to leap on any  brewing controversy, very little slips under the radar. Once the blogosphere gets hold of  the looming battle, it's only a matter of time before the more legitimate journalistic web sites – nytimes.com, abcnews.com, et al – run with it as well.

So if you're a high-profile target, take every charge seriously.

2. Preempt with quick action.

When charged by a provocateur like Sharpton, don't wait for a sit down to act. Move immediately to preempt the charlatan before he gets the drop on you.

In Barneys' case, as soon as the Sharpton publicity bomb was dropped, the company announced it had retained Michael Yaki, a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, to review the operations and procedures at its Madison Avenue store, scene of the alleged customer inquisitions.

In acting quickly to hire an experienced, unbiased arbiter to find out the true facts behind any racism at Barneys, the chain preempted Sharpton from hand-picking a crony to audit its activities.

3. Accept a meeting.

It also makes sense to allow the snake into the tent, rather than denying him a meeting he demands.

Clearly, this is always risky.

Accepting a meeting with thugs elevates them in stature, confirming that they and their concerns merit top management's attention. In effect, the meeting legitimizes the adversaries. In Barneys' case, both of the "victims" are suing (Surprise!) the retailer and the New York Police Department, and a meeting with Barneys' top management presumably adds heft to their charges.

But as long as you understand the risks – and Barneys clearly does – the meeting becomes a symbolic testament of your willingness to listen to the other side and consider acting on what they've said.

That's why Barneys' CEO Mark Lee sat down with Sharpton and his battalion to hear them – and get them – out.

4. Control the post-meeting agenda.

This is the tricky part.

Al Sharpton is out for one thing – Al Sharpton. He wants the meeting to lead to actions that he will dictate and perhaps even profit from.

The trick is to steal the agenda away from him.

To do this, Barneys must be ready to announce its action plans to ensure that race discrimination never again rears its ugly head in a Barneys' store. Its plan should  include actions growing out of the Yaki Audit, a diversity training regimen for Barneys' personnel, and an internal adjudication program to deal with allegations of discrimination.

CEO Lee should make these plans public and promise to report periodically on progress. Sharpton won't like it, because such an approach will neutralize his bluster.

5. Mobilize your third-party allies.

Finally, to rid the premises of the snakes, use your allies to corroborate your good intentions and actions to remedy the problem.

In the case of Barneys, the chain's secret weapon is none other than one Shawn Carter aka Jay Z, the rags-to-riches rapper, who has triumphed over childhood in the Bed Stuy projects and scatological, sexist lyrics to become an art-buying, President-friending, budding member of the establishment.

Now he has collaborated with Barneys to benefit his foundation and  inner-city educational advancement.

 Carter understands that while Barneys, like any store, may have a few bad apples, it isn't fundamentally racist. He also understands that Sharpton isn't exactly the "crusader for truth and dignity" that he purports to be. He also knows that in the current pecking order, he outranks Rev. Al, who thus far has backed off on criticizing Jay Z for his Barneys' tie.

What Carter does next – either sever his ties with the store or reaffirm his commitment to a chain that disavows discrimination – may tell the tale on whether Sharpton gets more.

The bet here is that Jay Z, conscious of the big picture for the people he has promised to help as well as himself, will back Barneys and the snake will slither away.