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Fox News spreading race-baiting garbage is old (and all too often ignored) news. So is their spreading Breitbart disinformation. So is their getting caught at it. So, unfortunately, is people reacting to the original smears without waiting to see if or when they’re debunked. But what’s new now, in the latest big-time Fox-promoted, Breitbart-originated conservative disinformation scandal, the smearing of Shirley Sherrod, is that one of the defenses Fox and Breitbart’s people are deploying sounds a lot like something out of the 1970s comedy Animal House. That’s right, gang, it’s the Stratton Defense — "You f—ed up! You trusted us!"
Honestly, check this out from Breitbart’s blog (h/t Mediaite and Pensito Review):
BIG GOVERNMENT BLOGGER: If this story is true, and there is no reason to doubt her, it shows the extent that Breitbart, Fox,and the Tea Party have gotten under the skin of the White House. Rather then to think it through they overreacted and forced Sherrod to pull over on the side of the road and resign without telling her side of the story.
And here’s the Fox version thereof, courtesy of Media Matters:
Doocy on Sherrod: "What
was the big hurry for them to condemn her in the first place?" On the July 21 edition of Fox & Friends, Dana Perino and Steve
Doocy falselyasserted that, in Perino’s words, "before the news even broke, she had
resigned." Perino then stated that "everyone’s nerves are raw and exposed on
these racial questions, and I think we should all look before we leap." Doocy
then stated: "What was the big hurry for them to condemn her in the first place?
I don’t get it, because the totality of what she said was out there."Rosen: "Did the White House
essentially railroad an innocent woman in this?" On the July
20 edition of Fox News’ Happening Now, James Rosen reported that
the additional context from Sherrod’s speech "appeared to corroborate" her
statement that she was telling the story of "how she came to see beyond race,"
and then asked: "Did the White House essentially railroad an innocent woman in
this because they are on edge themselves because of the Van Jones controversy,
the Black Panthers Party case, and other controversies?
Yes, the NAACP, the USDA and the White House shouldn’t have been so quick to jump when Fox and Breitbart told them to. But one mustn’t forget who told them to jump in the first place.
10 Comments
Thanks for the info. Sadly I somewhat agree with the crap-greedheads at Fake Nooz, etc, for what they’re saying. I’m still shaking my head over the fact that the POTUS on down immediately knee-jerked to Breitbart’s obviously fake lie to fire Sherrod. WTF was that all about.
Citizens should take note (seriously). When the NAACP stood up (and I agree with them) to call out the clearly obvious racism of some elements of the Tea Party, national figurehead Sarah Palin (I can’t stand her, but she is a national figure, for better or worse) stood up for the Tea Party.
When well-known, proven serial liar Breitbart called out the NAACP/Sherrod for racism, what happened??? Sherrod got fired before ANYONE even looked into the situation. WTF?? Where the national figurehead who came out and spoke in defense in Sherrod? Oh, that’s right: they were, one & all, dissing her and firing her.
Citizens: take note. THIS is what you can expect from the so-called “liberal” establishment. If some serial liar from the right accuses of you, as a liberal, of some wrong-doing, then you won’t be asked for your side of the story, and NO ONE will stand up for you. Instead: you’ll be fired on the spot.
Take note.
That said, the rightwing corporate media IS execrable, and Breitbart is the scum of the scum. But seriously: WHY would anyone *believe* a word that comes out of Breitbart’s mouth???? WHY??? WTF????
The problem is that it isn’t just Obama kowtowing to them. All the movers and shakers do, and have ever since they were created. (In fact, here’s CNN’s Anderson Cooper trying to minimize Fox’s and Breitbart’s culpability by pulling the False Equivalency Scam, pretending that there are lefties out there with pull like unto that of Fox and Breitbart.)
The rightwingers have made sure over the past few years that DC is bathed, even more so than the rest of the nation, in retrograde “news”. The Moonie Times and the Fred Hiatt Post are the two big dailies there, and Fox is the favored lobbyist TV channel, and DC follows their lead.
So long as corporate America values lies over truth, and so long as the progressive and liberal communities fail to understand just how the conservatives have spent decades and billions gaming the media, Fox News will always be able to get away with pushing smears.
The LA Times in today’s editorial does the false equivalency BS, that this all started with the NAACP resolution concerning the Teabaggie rascism. The Times ignores the fact that polls show that the majority of teabaggers don’t like Obama because he is black in color. The taxed-enough-already is so bogus becaue it wasn’t an issue prior to Obama.
It’s their way of avoiding responsibility for pushing something by someone they know to be (to put it mildly) untrustworthy because he’s a conservative.
The Times is also ignoring reams of photographic and video’ed evidence. I “get” that there are many who consider themselves as Tea Party, who are truly not racist. That said, there are definitely and for sure many in the Tea Party who ARE racist. The NAACP was not lying about that or making it up. It’s factual. One can see it with their own eyes.
Until citizens start calling this stuff out over and over, it will go on. But the “case” is not helped when the laughably identified “left” does absolutely nothing to back up innocents who are victimized by the right. What Shirley Sherrod did was in no way racist, AND the NAACP had the *right* to truthfully call out the obvious racism in the Tea Party.
Breitbart lied and had no just or truthful cause to attack Shirley Sherrod OR the NAACP. It is truly a false equivalency, and all the LA Times is saying is: don’t you dare ever attack the rightwing (even if you’re telling the truth and have reams of factual evidence to back you up) because the rightwing – in collusion with the so-called “leftist leaders” – will gin up some LIE and attack you back, and YOU will be ground under by the machine. And it will all be justified by the establishment, including the POTUS, the NAACP and the LA Times, amongst others.
Disgusting but also frightening. Take note.
You are playing Murdoch’s game if you enlarge your target from specific individuals to whole groups like the Tea Party. Seems to me we have more to fear from Peterson and the Banks than we do from the Tea Party. All the non overt racists in the Tea Party are already more than irritated for being called racist. They are already running video of the Tea Party telling Swatiska wearers to get out of their gatherings.
I am all for calling out racism but better keep it to individuals with factual quotes.
Subliminal racism is a tougher nut to crack.
PW, this a damned good post and the clip is flipping perfect!
Blue Texan. I read this post and it inspired me to write a diary about what the next step might be.
Breitbart to Become a Free Speech Martyr for Journalists? Let’s Not Let Him. | The Seminal
It’s noticeable that with the exception of Dawn Johnsen, all of the people that Obama has fired/repudiated/betrayed are black and/or serving the poor: Jeremiah Wright, ACORN, Van Jones, and now Shirley Sherrod. Is that racist/elitist or what? Maybe I’m missing somebody. Elizabeth Warren?
“Andrew Brietbart posted an edited clip of Shirley Sherrod. Chaos ensued. Sherrod was fired and it’s the fault of Fox News. Or is it? Herewith a case study of Fox Haters and their noise machine.”
“To set the stage, it is necessary to know the true timeline. On the morning of Monday July 19, Andrew Breitbart posted a video clip of Ms Sherrod. Long story short, it did not provide the complete context of her remarks. That afternoon, Ms Sherrod was called repeatedly by the administration and told she was to resign. At this point, this story had not been reported on FNC, CNN, or MSNBC. There was a [reason]* why FNC had not been covering the matter:”
* http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/07/bill-oreilly-apologizes-to-shirley-sherrod-for-not-doing-my-homework.html
—
‘Michael Clemente, senior vice president of news editorial, said the network’s news programs reported the story with caution. “When I heard about this Monday morning and saw it on Breitbart’s website, I said, ‘OK, could be a story, let’s check it out,’ ” Clemente said. “We did the normal fact-finding we would do on any story.” At an afternoon editorial meeting Monday, Clemente urged the staff to first get the facts and obtain comment from Sherrod before going on air, according to internal notes from the meeting that were provided to The Times. “Let’s make sure we do this right,” he said.’
—
“Sherrod resigned, and the news broke on Monday evening. The first mention of the matter on FNC was from Bill O’Reilly. His show was taped about two hours earlier; he played the edited clip, called on her to resign. But by the time it aired, Ms Sherrod had already resigned, and an on-screen graphic noted same. (O’Reilly would later admit his mistake and [apologize]*.) That same night CNN also [played]** the [clip]*** in reporting on the resignation, as did Hannity (who discussed it with Newt Gingrich and a bi-partisan panel). It was also mentioned briefly by Dana Perino (subbing for Greta). By Tuesday morning, the NAACP had gone on record approving of the firing. Their statement has been [removed]^ from the NAACP website, but it [said in part]^^:”
* http://video.foxnews.com/v/video-embed.html?video_id=4289777&w=600&h=374
** http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1007/19/acd.01.html
*** http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1007/19/acd.02.html
^ http://www.naacp.org/press/entry/naacp-statement-on-the-resignation-of-shirley-sherrod/
^^ http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20011026-503544.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody
—
‘Racism is about the abuse of power. Sherrod had it in her position at USDA. According to her remarks, she mistreated a white farmer in need of assistance because of his race.’
—
“Both [MSNBC]* and Fox & Friends discussed these developments. As the LA Times [noted]**:”
* http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036789/#38359302
** http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/07/bill-oreilly-apologizes-to-shirley-sherrod-for-not-doing-my-homework.html
—
‘The first reported piece on Fox News, by [correspondent James Rosen]*, aired on Tuesday morning, and included a second video clip that added context to Sherrod’s comments.’
* http://mediamatters.org/embed/clips/2010/07/21/7765/fnc-20100720-rosensherrod
—
“Along with the LA Times, reports from [Mediaite]*, the [Washington]** [Post]^, and [others]^^ make one thing clear: nothing that aired on FNC could possibly have caused Ms Sherrod’s firing, because FNC aired nothing until after she was already gone. That’s not a matter of opinion; it’s fact. So now the fun begins, as the haters kick into high gear.”
* http://www.mediaite.com/online/examining-the-myth-that-fox-news-drove-shirley-sherrod-to-resign/
** http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/21/AR2010072106708.html
^ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/21/AR2010072106708.html
^^ http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/zontv/2010/07/bret_baier_sherrod_naacp_fox_n.html
***
J$P: Fox Haters Week in Review!
http://johnnydollar.us/files/100725fhwir.php