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Watching Ms. Sherrod’s unfair firing story unfold, there are several people who likely deserve to be fired in the Obama Administration today, possibly even in the White House. But so far, the only person to lose her job is Ms. Sherrod, who appears to be the lone honest public servant in this sorry episode.
After multiple investigations proved that Andrew Breitbart’s buddies misrepresented a video that resulted in the unfair takedown of ACORN, the media already knew that they could be conned by professional "ratfuckers," a Republican term from the Nixon era that describes someone who engages in dishonest dirty tricks to manipulate public opinion against Democrats.
So when Andrew Breitbart posted an incomplete, edited video purporting to show a government employee expressing bias against whites, everyone should have said, "you’ve been shown to be dishonest, so show us the full video." Instead, they just ran with the story as though it were true, and Fox News featured it yesterday as a proof of the Obama Administration’s hatred of whites.
The NAACP overreacted and now claims they were "snookered" by Breitbart/Fox News, as were senior officials at the Agriculture Department, which may or may not have consulted with the White House about what to do about the brewing scandal. The simple answer should have been, find out all the facts before you get conned again. But apparently no one in Secretary Vilsack’s Agriculture Department or the White House thought to do that.
Instead, they fired Ms. Sherrod first (hoping to get ahead of Glenn Beck’s show?) without seeing the unedited evidence, and then watched CNN today as it dismantled the Breitbart scam, one lie after another. Here’s what we’ve found out today:
1. Ms. Sherrod’s recent speech related an event that happened 24 years ago, before she was an employee of US DoA or the Obama Administration.
2. She says she used the speech to explain how she learned to think beyond race; she came to realize that the problem was between those who have and those who don’t have. That’s the speech’s message to her NAACP audience.
3. Although she felt conflicted at the time and could have done more, Ms. Sherrod wound up helping the white couple keep their farm.
4. CNN found and interviewed the elderly farming couple she helped. (h/t to Think Progress for the video) They praised her; they said she saved their farm; they were shocked to see the stories twisting the facts into some racist tale. "Someone is trying to stir up trouble" the elderly man repeated. They called Ms. Sherrod their "friend for life."
5. Breitbart is stalling turning over the entire tape of the speech. But the actual film maker says the whole tape confirms Ms. Sherrod’s version. [Update: you can watch it here (h/t DeLong).]
6. Secretary Vilsack is still justifying his decision to fire Ms. Sherrod, claiming that he doesn’t want people to suspect there might be bias on any decisions in the future. He ignores that the basis for such suspicions would be a thoroughly dishonest ratfuck con job by a known liar.
7. The White House is hiding and refusing to intervene to fix a mistake. No one will confirm or deny any WH involvement. Vilsack says only that the decision to fire Ms. Sherrod was his alone, while the WH says they did not "pressure" Vilsack to fire her. That suggests to me the issue was discussed with the WH either before or after the fact, but we don’t know.
Bottom line: Ms. Sherrod seems to be a good public servant. Based on her statements in several CNN phone interviews, she’s the last person you would call racist in this saga. She deserves her job back with an apology from everyone involved, up to and including anyone in the WH who had a role in the decision. If she sues them for wrongful termination, I hope she kicks their butts.
Everyone else involved should be fired, including the Agriculture Secretary and his Undersecretary who initially handled the matter, along with anyone in the WH involved in the discussions. These people don’t deserve to be in government.
Andrew Breitbart should be banned from all further media appearances, condemned by all, and sued for malicious slander. I hope there’s at least a preliminary criminal investigation.
John Chandley
Update: Digby found this about Ms. Sherrod.
More:
Think Progress, Couple she helped: "no way she’s racist"
TPM, Breitbart denies he personally did the editing, but admits he never saw the complete video either. Add that one to the lawsuit.
106 Comments
The first person to be fired should be whoever in this administration thinks it’s OK for black people serving in government to lose their jobs so that the first black president can show how fair and balanced he is.
When Obama threw Jeremiah Wright under the bus, that was the harbinger for how he was going to handle charges of being racist against whites in the future.
Barry’s a gutless empty suit. We need to primary this prick in 2012.
Don’t forget Van Jones.
If for some reason my petition to emigrate to Canada is denied, I’m going to spend the rest of my years in the U.S. writing in “Sarah Palin” for every elected office, because it just doesn’t make a shit bit of difference.
Ben Jealous didn’t smell a rat.
I am surprised.
The Obama administration cut bait.
I am not surprised.
Thanks Scare
More shite. Barry swallowed?
If O got rid of her, it was because he wanted to; ditto NAACP denunciation. No one could have willingly gotten conned by Breitbart. He could even be a false flag bag carrier, doing the Ds’ work under R cover. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised.
She deserves to get her job back with an apology from President Obama, WHETHER OR NOT he had anything to do with her firing. As the Chief Executive, everyone else involved works for him.
The ACORN model metastasized. This is an edited version of a comment x-posted at an EW thread:
The context of Ms. Sherrod’s admission is the key to her comment’s value; it is the use to which she puts it that counts, not the admission itself. Presumably, that’s why Breitbart took her comment out of context via an edited tape, and it’s why he won’t release the full tape this time either.
Breitbart’s aim is to make the American government function more poorly in order to score political points. He succeeded, in that Mr. Obama again made the mistake of responding to his political enemies on their terms instead of his own, potentially far superior terms. He scored another own goal.
Ms. Sherrod exhibits behavior today – not 24 years ago – we all should admire and emulate. Her comment is like a pastor admitting that as a child, s/he once stole a candy bar, or that as a young person, s/he had lustful thoughts about a parishioner. It is like a long sleep-deprived pediatrician Dr. Barry Brazelton admitting he wanted to abuse a toddler – but didn’t.
These are admissions that the problems professionals address can happen to any of us. They are meant to remove guilt from the problem-solving equation and to focus on behavior modification, because it produces less guilt-inducing behavior and therefore better outcomes for us all. Those are explicit learning tools, there-but-for-the-grace-of-god role playing moments the mature personality uses to educate the immature.
This reaction by the Obama White House is appalling because it undercuts mature, frank discussions of all kinds for no positive gain. It throws them under the bus, along with the talented staff capable of them. Mr. Obama mimics the Catholic hierarchy and commands us to hide how complex we are. That ensures we will exhibit more flawed behavior rather than less, and because that modeling comes directly from the White House, it will be replicated far and wide.
In short, Mr. Obama’s preferred solution to political conflict is to populate his government with Rahm Emanuels rather than with whole personalities. The result will be what Breitbart and his patrons want – a less well-functioning government – not what we need.
If anyone deserves such punishment it is Andrew!!
This is nothing but more racist crap on his & the Whole ReichWingnuttery!
I cannot BEGIN to tell you how sick and tired I am of “Democrats” (scare quotes? you betcha) folding up like cheap card tables every time some right wing whackaloon says something. We really need a national party of non-pussies. The “Democrats” sure as shit aren’t that party.
O no doubt was very happy about getting ACORN shut down. Last thing in the world O wants is to let poor people vote.
Actually David Gergan said the same thing.
CNN has been all over this much to their credit, with incredible coverage and first person fact collecting. Meanwhile, billo gave this bogus story cover with a pathetic dialogue with monica crowley and that timid quisling alan colmes.
Well said.
Yes, she does. She deserves a beer – hot tea or lemonade at least – at the White House with Obama, Vilsack and the farmer she mentioned in her anecdote.
That would be an even better teaching tool than Ms. Sherrod’s original anecdote, and it would have great effect across the Obama administration. Not doing it will confirm the perception that Mr. Obama is unfair, immature and politically tone deaf. We all know that Mr. Emanuel is that, but lots of voters are still unsure about Mr. Obama.
NAACP has totally recanted and is now with the program.
The difference between the Obama and Bush administrations?
In the Obama administration innocent people get fired for false reasons.
In the Bush administration guilty people get promotions or medals of freedom for war crimes and deception. No one gets fired for any reason.
What do the Obama and Bush administrations have in common? Good people get screwed and bad people get rewarded. Rinse. Repeat.
So much for hope and change.
Can you expand on that; what did Billo say? Chris Matthews predicted early today that Billo would retract and admit Breitbart had misled him — but if he ducked on that, he’ll be on Worst Persons in the World for sure, and then Matthews will have to condemn him again tomorrow.
NAACP has less cover than O, so they had to recant. There’s no excuse for their falling for a Breitbart op in the first place, after ACORN.
true. but they did it quickly.
Thanks for the link, Deb.
Genius, 11 dimensional republican in democratic clothing.
He was selected not elected in an open election.
Dr. Dean america suffers your loss still.
There is a lesson to be learned. The Obama Administration will never learn it. Right wing thug Dan Gainor offered $100 for someone to “punch” firebrand Alan Grayson.
Grayson’s answer “I think he’s overlooking something important: I punch back.”
Obama’s answer “I punch hippies.”
de nada.
You didn’t sign this post I noticed. Any reason, or just forgot?
Ain’t that the God’s truth. It was pretty obvious early on, though, that the corpo media would NEVER have let him be elected. They had their marching orders and they willingly complied. It was like a professional hit only they neutered him rather than killed him.
I must say I’m getting a better appreciation for O’s 11-dimensional chess. Opponent is Ds, not Rs, though.
And we have another 2 1/2 years left so it can only get better, right ?
This just proves how scared the white house is of the teabaggers. Obama is terrified of a white backlash.
I liked (!?) the name of the workshop at NN on abortion— “The View from Under the Bus.”
Every cause that we care about has been thrown under the bus. You’d think we’d be used to it by now, but I’m tired of tire tracks on my face. The question is, what do we do about it?
I am SO ready for a dem presidential primary in ’12.
Why not? There’s always a learning curve, isn’t there?
Amen!
In this Georgia woman who has been fired in the kiln of deep south race, politics and service to the poor, even the media may have met their match.
Rachel is all over this right now.
Without Rachel, Jon Stewart and Colbert, I think I’d shoot myself.
Eli is upstairs!
Christianity: You’re Doing It Wrong
Ratf*ckers is a very good descriptive for the Breitbart jerks. *insert visual of the blow-up union rat prop being “compromised” by another evil looking blow-up rat.*
Can’t remember my name. Guess I have to do an update.
Your comment & Marion’s assume that O is folding, instead of being the moving force behind the campaign to get rid of anyone to the left of Attila the Hun.
Not in evidence at this time and curves can go the either way.
Try teaching rahm anything he’s o’s man.
While I agree that there is an Obama agenda to neutralize and eliminate the liberal and progressive philosophy, it seems to me in how quick and irrational this was suggests panic. I thought the same of the Acorn thing.
It’s what I have been saying for over a year:When this guy,Obama’s time in Office is finished he would have done more damage to the progressive community,setting it back 15-20 yrs.
This guy has to go,he is too spineless.
We have seen what he thinks of women and teh gays.
Well, part of my rage may be fed by the Ga. primary results. Do I think Obama is “the moving force?” Not so much. Do I think a bolt of lightning coming down and killing Rahm Emanuel would be a grand thing? You betcha.
Y’all should take into consideration that while I’m watching the election results I’m likely to be VERY snappish! For which I’ll apologize in advance.
It’s how quickly O reacts, panicky in your characterization, that makes me stress the possibility that O was behind it to begin with. There is nothing generally panicky about O’s demeanor nor his administration. So I’m looking for other possibilities.
Snap away. The environment warrants it.
It’s too bad that Stwart and Colbert are on vacation this week. They would take this story and really go to town with it. They probably will anyway but it will be very old news by then.
Didn’t some preznit say “fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice… you can’t get fooled again” or some such nonsense.
Even W. learned after being fooled twice.
Obama meet Lucy meet football.
Rinse. Repeat.
God help us.
As Rachel asks, who’s next. And how quickly with O fire that person or ditch that group? How many times does this have to be replayed before the pattern becomes obvious?
From an AP story (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_usda_racism_resignation):
O must go.
Not gonna happen.
One thing I learned while battling the right wing media is that the mainstream media will not take any action against people like Breitbart. There are few things that they can say or do that will get them banned, but what he did isn’t one of them.
I also found that what they accuse us of is what they do. I was accused of editing the audio clips of the right wing talk radio hosts, I always offered the full clip for context. When you would play the full clip the context did not change. But that didn’t stop them from saying it did. I had the proof and they would say to the press, “You are you going to believe, me or your lying ears.”
But the main lesson that I learned that the Obama administration seems to have forgotten is that the right lies. To paraphrase their Favorite President regarding Breithbart.
“Don’t trust, then verify.”
The solution is obvious: More Better Democrats. Donate now!
I am not ready to go Obama conspiracy with Brietbart. The Obama team is calculating for sure. However I believe I have seen signs of weakness and overreaction in both some of the ways they have dealt with issues that come up on legislation as well as other arenas when they believe they are in danger of a right wing jihaad. I do think many establishment Democrats are afraid of the aggressive meanness of the Republicans.
That is part of why I, and I imagine Marion, am taken with this Georgia black woman standing up for herself. As one who worked with Georgia black women during the earlier civil rights era. I can tell you their ain’t a back down bone in their bodies.
On other little note from a slightly bitter Vulcan.
I put together a panel session for NetRoot’s Nation to address how I and three other groups went about having an impact on right wing media.
Me with the SF radio hosts, Color of Change with Glenn Beck and Presente with Lou Dobbs. The panel was rejected. I guess they figured that they didn’t need any more lessons.
You don’t just ignore the right wing media, they are dangerous and they will hurt people.
Interesting image. She refused to sit under the bus.
Ain’t that the truth!
I knew you wold catch my drift.
Speaking of not a back down bone, I’m still keeping my fingers crossed for Regina Thomas in GA12, because Chatham and Effingham Counties haven’t started reporting… It’s a slim straw to hold on to, but it’s better than no straw at all.
This is a sore point with me. You have to be able to rely on your boss to be willing to listen to your side and take the time to figure out whether you are in the right or wrong. Vilsack has now proven to EVERY SINGLE USDA EMPLOYEE that they cannot rely on him. He has to resign.
Actually, he needs to be fired and join the ranks of the unemployed. It won’t happen, but it should. I mean, really, how FUCKING stupid to you have to be to believe Breitbart, or Brightfart, or whatever that butthead’s name is?
I will cross my fingers for you. Is Kingston your rep? Nathan Deal was mine and it looks like the club for growth GOP candidate will win the primary. We had a Democrat running that had some credentials, though I didn’t like him that much personally. Some GOPers said Boo! to him and he with drew for mysterious reasons. I think he was just too scared to face the campaign ads.
She wasn’t fired for the racism accusations. She was fired for saying it was about the haves and have nots. If I recall, Van Jones was canned for much the same thing. Obama doesn’t want anybody who would dare complain about being screwed by the aristocracy.
This is truly awful.
The Washington Post is reporting how badly the WH handled this case, how poorly they mistreated Shirley Sherrod, and how terrified they are of Glenn Beck/Pox News:
Digby has an addendum. Adds quite a bit to the story.
Shirley Sherrod: prevailed with courage intact against a system determined to destroy her, and chose to do such good in the world as she could. At the very least she is not, and probably never saw herself as, a token.
That’s what’s different about her.
I suspect those black farmers will get the $13 million the feds owe them for racial discrimination in administering its farm policies about when we finally pay American Indian tribes what we owe them for genocide and maladministration.
Well, the insiders let him in, didn’t they? He didn’t complain and said thank you very much. He’s still saying it.
Scarecrow,
Yeah, I saw tweety say that today too. He played his statement from last night then he stood by it. He was totally unapologetic about what had come to pass. He didn’t acknowledge any of the wider context. He used the fact that Shirley refused to come on the factor as a fig leaf. Alan Colmes was there to tell her side but crowley and billo stepped on him.
I agree too, Tweety will throw gas on that fire tomorrow.
Rachel did a great job tonight.
Which makes her different from Prof. “Yea, I’ll have a beer with you Barack” Gates how, exactly? I’d like to know almost as much as those employees who still work for Barack do.
Note on the Washington Post story: The first comment directs us to the Daily Caller story about how certain bloggers, including Spencer Ackerman, sought to oppose the stories about candidate Obama and Rev. Wright!0!
Just watched her interview with Anderson Pooper cnn and I agree. Shirley’s treatment is abominable just like so many other things this administration has foisted upon the American people and progressives in particular!
When playing a contact sport like boxing or politics, minimal competence usually requires being able to punch back. All this White House knows how to say is “Where’s the towel?”
Obama, Rahm, Axelrod, and Villasck should all apologise for caving into right wingers (again), looking like idiots (again), panicking (so much for Obama’s reputation as “Mr. Cool”), not finding out all the facts before making a craven political decision (again), and making it all but impossible to defend this administration on anything (again).
Morons, or MORANS.
Again, caving into Glenn Beck (of all people).
They trashed Van Jones because of Beck (and that didn’t stop him).
Beck even mocked the President’s daughter, which Obama seems to be OK with because no one at the White House said a thing.
Whoa. No just some faceless employee buried in the bureaucracy, but someone with a lifetime of commitment and achievement, acknowledged by Vilsack. That makes is even less believable that he acted without WH urging. Please let it be Rahmbo.
Yes indeed. But I don’t agree she is different. She is representative of many many here in the south who as she did chose to stay and serve with great dignity and determination. These women taught me much about how to be a woman.
Limbaugh briefly emerged from his usual drug addled stupor to showcase the article today.
And Rushbo was bashing Ackerman. Supposedly Spencer was leading the liberal media in downplaying the Rev. Wright story in 2008. Ancient history yes, but Spencer is now an “issue”. Spencer so far has no comment.
Lordy, I just went over and scanned digby’s post about Ms. Sherrod. The lady is so far beyond merely being the kind of patiently competent public servant that one still can find in federal departments that it almost excites suspicion. Specifically, it dawns on me that I’ve probably run into accounts of the work that she and her husband, Charles Sherrod, have been doing for decades with black farmers (and others, per her story) who have been discriminated against by the USDA.
Now I really, really would like to hear more about this story —and strengthening what I’ve said elsewhere, why on earth Ben Jealous wasn’t hipped enough to who she was to not only avoid the pile-on, but to have been ready to object in strong terms to the way she was being characterized. He should not make such strong statements against an individual in a vacuum, and someone around his office should have known her group’s story cold and had their memory nudged by a basic ‘net account of her biography.
I wonder whether she is enough of a public figure to use (especially for Breitbart) the reckless disregard for the truth standard.
Spencer’s response should be something to the effect of,
There are many many like the Sherrods who serve as they do here in the south. They live the spirit of the Civil Rights movement, dignity, forgiveness and redemption. Yes we could all learn so much about the spiritual core that makes a movement authentic.
I hate to be presumptuous but I think this is the black experience that Obama has no notion of. .. and sadly not many Democrats, even some liberals.
I’m thinking of another cohort, too many of whom decided to settle for sitting by the door and calling that “progress” (talk about doublespeak!).
Something I’d forgotten until somewhat recently is that many of these folk really hate activists, even those who merely insist on their fair shake.
Yes. too many want to wash their hands and say “well that’s over” “No more racism.” Much the same has happened in regard to the Women’s movement and others. I think an important thing is to keep serving others and your cause is some way.
I think you are right. I would never presume this in advance of anyone —all you need in the end are eyes, a brain, the usual cognitive set-up— but the evidence has been rolling in regarding Mr. Obama.
I’ve also heard confessions, more or less, from immigrants of African birth or descent, that there were things they did not understand about race in this country for a long time, that made the “traditional” African-Americans seem stranger to them than they came to do. (Ac-CENT, syl-LA-ble, etc.)
Good John, You expressed my sentiments exactly. The problem with this Administration is that, at every turn, it has ignored the claims of justice and fairness in the service of short-run pragmatism. It is morally corrupt.
ACORNed again. When will they learn.
O = the opposite of leadership.
Ugh!
sent you an e-mail—in essence note in that article the law suit, Pigford v. Vilsack is the title. It looks like a grudge could be woven into this in which case it makes it even more egregious. A little sleuthing needed.
I actually see brilliance from rahm-0-bama! What a better way to keep the Veal Pen in line !?
So, your a leafy neighborhood Veal Penner, and aside from peee-ing in your booties over what kind of ridiculous McCarthy-esque garbage will be dumped on your head, you also know that –
IF the fascists lie about you, THEN you’ll be tossed from the Garden of Hope & Betrayal! (oops! Hope & … HOPE!)
0-sell-out is turning out better for the thugs than a real thug would, long run wise. The ‘accomplishments’ of obama are, relative to the entrenched thieving of AHIP Pharma AIG Exxon Enron Fannie Freddie Goldman Haliburton Boeing … obama’s ‘accomplishments’ are short term nickles and dimes, compared to the long term big buck$ the big boy$ are $tealing, AND,
the Dim0-craps are getting the blame! ha ha ha.
And now, ya really really gotta shut up, or your place in the veal pen could be gone with a FAKE smear from fascists!
(sorry about finding a silver lining … I’m SOOOOOOO f’king disgusted – this is like the bush era – EVERYDAY the bullshit is f’king worse!)
rmm
This is sickening. A good public servant is chewed up by the right wing smear machine and the administration spits her out like she’s nothing. Of course she’s not a Harvard grad, so that probably figured into their calculus.
This administration is not only gutless, it’s pathetically amoral. The only thing we are left to wonder is who will Fox News manipulate this spineless, chickenshit administration into throwing under the bus next.
you REALLY nailed something – she isn’t part of the clique, is she?
rmm.
Actually this seems more like Obama’s war against whistleblowers than anyting else, given how Sherrod sued the USDA. The video merely gave them cover to do something they already wanted to do.
More from what looks like a right wing paper (not familiar with it but the editorial line up in the side bar kind of screams it). I do think, however, that there’s a connection with the law suit there somewhere.
Full video is now posted at several sites:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9NcCa_KjXk&feature=player_embedded
The “reporter” of that article.
Tom Blumer
Tom Blumer owns a training and development company based in Mason, Ohio, outside of Cincinnati.He is an Examiner Opinion Zone blog contributor. He has blogged for five years at BizzyBlog, is a Contributing Editor at Newsbusters, and a regular columnist at Pajamas Media.
This was a big mistake it appears.
One of the few shows I watch on Fox is Bret Baier’s show. He first said that the video never showed on his show, then he fully showed the lady was railroaded. At the end, the panel, the two conservatives talking heads, including Krauthammer, said the lady ought to be reinstated immediately.
Most here know I’m a bit more conservative than others here, but I will say this:
Andrew Breitbart ought to have his balls put in a vice.
The lady should get her job back, but on the other hand, she did say during the complete video, and in TODAY’s time frame, “his people” and “his own kind.” Not very good.
Any white person, even talking about an incident 50 years ago, would never say, “Yeah, that’s when they told those nxxxxxs to get out.”
So, me still thinks the lady has got some odd opinions about people of other color than her, but she still should have her job back, and be apologized to. Profusely.
Interesting article here, says the settlement had Grassley blessing.
The WH probably knew all the history, and is hoping this fades as quickly as Elizabeth Warren non-nomination. Independent thinkers not allowed beneath head honchos.
Indeed. Sanstesticles is too conflict averse to be moral, it will be one disappointment after another for the next 2 1/2 years. I know many here like to employ the rational actor model of interpreting behavior, and feel that Obama is a cool, calculating fucker who knows exactly what he is doing, but I think he would behave differently if he had any courage.
It may be his ego and slim resume that hold him back more than timidness.
I’m not being an apologist, I’ve been trying to figure him out from day 1.
Ms. Sherrod is the victim of the very thing she was trying to convey at the NAACP banquet and that is it is not mostly about race but social class (poor vs rich). Yes, her comments and what the news are reporting is partly a discussion about race, but the media is leaving out her conclusion about that its not all about race but its about social standing based on being poor or middle class. She was made to resign by the AG Dept. and White House w/o having a chance to give her side of the story. They did this because she has no real connections, no lobbying group behind her, and no rich powerful friends to stand up for her so the Obama admin. decided she is a nobody, just an average person with no real power so what cans he do about it if we indeed fire her.
The NAACP also is guilty of this. They stood by Professor Gates and Jones. They asked for everyone to look at the facts before making a judgment. They did not hesitate to condem Ms Sherrod before looking at the facts.
The Obama Administration and the NAACP did not look at the entire facts before they made Shirley Sherrod resign. They did not stand by her and they judged her guilty immediately. Why did the NAACP and the Obama Administration do this? They did it because Shirley Sherrod is just an average middle class citizen that is not rich and has no political or wealthy connections so why not just get rid of her instead of waiting for her side of the story.
So what she learned 25 yrs ago was correct. It is not so much about race, but about the elite/wealthy against the poor and avg citizen. The NAACP and Obama Administration proved this today because even though Ms. Sherrod is an African American she is not rich nor does she have any connections like Professor Gates did. If she was wealthy or had political connections this would of never happened to her.
All in all this incident just shows how the average citizen in this country does not get the benefit of the doubt or even fair treatment, but if your rich you will get all that and more.
Any community expecting ANY single leader – D or R – to move their agenda forward, deserves what it gets. That’s a snide way of saying to fellow progressives, stop waiting on a hero. I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it through this administration and the next.
The White House insists it was not involved in pressuring Secy. Vilsack to get rid of Ms. Sherrod. Okay fine. But Vilsack has confirmed that he asked for, and received, her resignation. I simply cannot get my head around the fact that this Administration asks “how high” every time some right wing political hack says “jump” by putting out another political hit piece. The fact that this came from Breitbart via FOX, the very same folks who brought us the fraudulent ACORN scandal, and that a member of the Administration reacted without investigation the allegations, is simply beyond comprehension.
It seems as if the White House thinks that if it gets a jump on a story, and takes preemptive action, it will save itself from political embarrassment. But, when it takes action based on an allegation that later turns out to be clearly false after even a cursory investigation, the White House simply makes itself look like it is being run by a bunch of political incompetents.
In my view, in order to contain the damage, the President should do three things TODAY:
(1) order Secretary Vilsack to reinstate Ms. Sherrod;
(2) order Secretary Vilsack to issue a very public apology to Ms. Sherrod for acting so rashly on an allegation from a source already known to manufacture political hit pieces; and
(3) make a public announcement to the effect that henceforth, the Administration will make no changes in personnel or policy whatsoever based on any media report, unless and until there has been an independent and complete investigation of any allegations of wrongdoing or impropriety claimed in such report.
The first two items above are a matter of simple justice. The third could stop this nonsense once and for all.
Obama is a political opportunist, loyal only to himself. He ingratiates himself with whoever he thinks holds political power. He is also a salesman, willing to say whatever will (in his estimation) improve his political capital.
In the early days after Obama’s election, there was a lot of angry, boisterous hostility from progressives over the possible nomination of John Brennan to head of the CIA. So the Brennan nomination died and Obama instead nominated some impressive people to the Office of Legal Counsel.
Now, eighteen months into his presidency, many progressive blogs and liberal media outlets have shown that they will marginalize and ignore Obama’s critics and smear any progressive that tries to hold him accountable. So Brennan is back, as Deputy National Security Adviser, WMD-true-believer James Clapper is the head of the DNI, and the Office of Legal Counsel has lost important voices.
Obama pays attention to who can help and hurt him politically. If he lived in Venezuela, he’d be a Chavista. If he lived in Italy, he’d support Berlusconi. Here, he panders to the deficit hawks, Fox News, the war industry, and the national security apparatus. He has no principles, other than the principle of putting himself first.
Good comment, disagree with 3.
This administration, if it hopes to do anything actually worth doing (unproven as yet) needs to tell some people where to get off. When it comes to personal, allowing every little thing to become a major investigation is giving Darrell Issa everything he wants.
I believe the phrase they should adopt internally is “Fuck off”, and externally, “We have our staff, and are pleased with their performance thus far”.
Obama had previously known Henry Gates. Hence, Gates was a real person to Obama, and was thus treated decently. Also, the Gates incident was very early in O’s presidency, before the Teabaggers started ripping Hell out of O and his team.
By contrast, Rahm was well seated in his saddle, and Obama really did not care all that much, later on when Small People, such as Van Jones, the entire Acorn organization, or now Shirley Sherrod became candidates for summary execution.
I really think that it’s the Small Person versus VIP that is the key differentiating factor here.
If someone has to resign every time a racist publishes a statement out of context, the President may as well go ahead and resign now. After all, how can he be effective in his job with posters being carried at rallies showing him with a bone in his nose? Nice move, sir. You just threw Rosa Parks under the bus.
grayson and dr. dean come to mind -
it’s been far too many years since i lived among the law books for my opinion to have any merit, but it seems to me that the conduct goes far beyond any concept of reckless disregard – which would be something like gross negligence. this manipulation is ugly, willful misconduct calculated to do harm -
Here’s some 11-dimensional chess for you:
Politico: Breitbart claims he has been set up by Obama mole! Edited video circumvented checks and balances at his show. Persons responsible are known Democrat sympathizers!
Consentual sex between two ratfucks is none of our business…
Can anyone really watch Orahmba and his physic vampires anymore without throwing up in your mouth!…and it is so much more than just visual…the vibe is so tainted and coated with sheer immorality and vileness, it just makes one really sick physically, emotionally, and spiritually. These asswads are truly demented and have ushered us in the final stages of the ‘dark ages’, starting with King George B, and moving forward.
I fear this disease of consciousness along with the spoiling of the earth, will be our collective final whimper as we succeed in wiping ourselves out. With that much negative and cosmic weight at the pinnacle, our tower of babal will fall!
Obama is scared shitless he’ll be accused of favoring blacks as president. So much so, that he shows his black staff the door the minute there is anything untoward (no matter how illegitimate) attached to their name. Too bad he doesn’t show the same behavior with his white overseers–Geithner, Summers and Rahm. What a jerk!
I had Jones in mind when I wrote this comment. This administration can’t fire blacks quick enough at the first whiff of criticism. My feeling is that the hair-trigger in these cases might just be indicative of something he’s afraid of.
Jeremiah Wright didn’t deserve the treatment he got but Obama ditched him.
Van Jones actually has principles he stands for and Obama got rid of him.
Rahm Emanuel is an Israeli military intelligence operative working in the Oval Office and his job seems pretty secure.
We are completely off-track in this country.