BREAKING NEWS: USDA to reconsider ouster of official Shirley Sherrod over race comments

[guitar man]

Source: MSNBC

BREAKING NEWS: USDA to reconsider ouster of official Shirley Sherrod over race comments

banner at top of page, no story yet

edited to update link and add excerpt:

USDA to reconsider ousting of worker over race charges
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said early Wednesday that his department will reconsider the ouster of an employee who resigned over alleged race comments.

His statement came after civil rights leaders said they were "snookered" into believing a conservative website's charges of racism against employee Shirley Sherrod were true.

Vilsack said that he will "conduct a thorough review and consider additional facts" about his decision to ask Sherrod to resign.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38321920/ns/us_news-life/

---

Yippee!!

[Heidi]

1. Recommended.

:hi:

[Hissyspit]

12. AP Story:

USDA reconsiders employee ouster over race remarks

By BEN EVANS and MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press Writers – 19 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says he will reconsider the department's decision to oust a black employee over racially tinged remarks after learning more about what she said.

Vilsack said in a statement early Wednesday morning that he will "conduct a thorough review and consider additional facts" about his decision to ask Shirley Sherrod to resign.

Sherrod, who was the Agriculture Department's director of rural development in Georgia, criticized the administration for pushing her to resign Monday after a blogger posted an edited video of her saying that she didn't give a white farmer as much help as she could have 24 years ago.

Sherrod says her remarks were part of a story about racial reconciliation, not racism.

[Triana]

54. Wouldn't it have been wise to learn more about what she said FIRST

before ousting her?

Pfft.

[zanana1]

94. That's exactly what I was thinking.

I can't believe they're actually taking Fox News at their word over someone like Shirley Sherrod. Sad; very sad.

[SnakeEyes]

136. Yeah it's ridiculous

especially considering the NAACP had the full tape. All they had to do was look at it first. Dumb.

[backtomn]

139. It's worse than that......

.....the NAACP came out against her comments.....presumably from people that actually heard the comments. I guess the excuse is that many people are nodding off during that type of talk at a conference (I can relate), but there is no excuse for refusing to review her comments before blasting her.

We are in a difficult position when FOX is supported by Obama's Dept. of Ag and the NAACP. Unforced error.

[AllyCat]

102. Nah. It seems the order of the day is to appease GOPers and the M$M

at every turn.

[peace frog]

163. +1111111

Wnen confronted by the RW over even the most trivial of issues, they fold like cheap suit. Golly, I'm soooo proud that they are MY elected officials. :eyes:

[ElsewheresDaughter]

180. I am mad as hell at how easily thrown under the bus people are by Pres Obama......

at every fucking crazy wim of the lunatic's on right.

I truly hope that he learns this lesson well because it really does is makes him and his admin. look weak

[pattmarty]

181. Yes, exactly. How many "assistants" does a Sec of Agric have?...........

..............IF, he was totally responsible for the decision to fire her, the least he SHOULD do is resign. Shit, just for the stupidity, for crying out loud.

[Hydra]

2. Public pressure is a beautiful thing

And some people advocate us shutting up. Why is that?

[gateley]

4. Public pressure and coverage is so often the only thing that really works. nt

[skeewee08]

157. agree

sad but true

[dencol]

27. Legal pressure too.

She ought to sue her employer for jumping the gun and being reckless and discriminatory. I doubt this would have happened if she happened to be a white male.

On edit, and I know people don't like this, but I think Vilsack should be pressured to resign for jumping the shark.

[SkyDaddy7]

36. Then she should consider suing the NAACP as well?

I agree EVERYONE jumped the gun and this should be a very valuable lesson not to allow FOX "News" to influence ANY decision on ANY issue!

I love the idea of "No Drama Obama" but the reality of that idea I am quickly not liking!

[wordpix]

90. NAACP has already & swiftly apologized---Dept of Ag is "reconsidering" it

[La Lioness Priyanka]

156. she can sue NAACP for libel but its much harder than suing employers

[SkyDaddy7]

159. Hopefully her employer will do the right thing!

[La Lioness Priyanka]

160. yup

[dencol]

175. It's ridiculous that you would defend an employer for unduly demanding a resignation.

nt

[SkyDaddy7]

193. I KNOW it is ridiculous that you make shit up! nt

[dencol]

194. What did I make up?

Shit isn't very clear. Defend your position if you're so passionate about it.

[SkyDaddy7]

195. Don't play stupid just bc you jumped the gun on my comment...

You made one very incorrect statement which I described as "SHIT"...Now go back and figure it out!

HINT: If you need even further clarity on my position look at the next comment I made before you came in firing off "SHIT" that had nothing to do with what I said or meant.

One would think when it came to a story about people jumping the gun over misrepresented facts you would have taken the time to at least understood my comment before attacking my position...Or maybe you are no better than Brietbart and ignoring facts is just what you do?

Do what is correct and apologize for at least jumping the gun and at worst knowingly misrepresenting what I said...I will be waiting.

[Cherchez la Femme]

32. Maybe because

IOKIYD, in a Democrat administration, to be A-OK with Authoritarianism?

...just a wild guess.

[hughee99]

74. Wasn't it public pressure that made her lose her job in the first place? n/t

[SunnySong]

85. Honestly even today the vast vast majority of Americans have no idea who she is...

Outside of nursing homes and people waiting to get their tires rotated I am constantly (and pleasantly) surprised how few people pay any attention to 24 hour news.


I admit I am one of them.

If it wasn't for DU I would never had heard this story.

[DrDan]

108. well . . . it is certainly all over the news this morning

[SunnySong]

118. True but it's July no-one pays any attention to the news unless something happens.

We are in the middle of silly season and the average American as well as the above average American has better things to do with their life then watch fox, CNN, the Today show or anything else designed for the near dead or housebound.


If you randomly surveyed twenty people on the street I would be shocked if more than 1 out of 20 would have any idea who Sherrod is.

[SnakeEyes]

137. She was fired before Fox New aired a story

Drudge linked to Breitbart's story, Fox News online had one article, and that was about it from anyone of significance (which I don't use praisingly). She lost her job only a few hours later because the WH panicked believing this would become a big story and embarrass them and made her pull over to the side of the road and email her resignation on her blackberry.

[hughee99]

141. So basically it was the threat of public pressure

the WH didn't want to have to deal with the public pressure they were expecting to get, so they acted preemptively.

[Hydra]

150. Substitute "public" with "right wing noise machine pressure"

And you've got it.

[hughee99]

155. So you're suggesting that our President accepted the word of a group

known to distort facts or outright lie, without any investigation whatsoever. I feel worse about the situation now than I did before.

[Hydra]

158. I'd like to paint a better picture than that

But I refuse to accept this administration is in any way stupid.

Fox news is an unabashed RW propaganda organ. That tells me that the WH is afraid of RW propaganda, and will happily throw anyone under the bus in order to avoid criticism.

[hughee99]

161. I don't think they were stupid either

but does this sort of fear of RW criticism based on sketchy claims really paint a better picture?

[Hydra]

166. Not in my mind

And it's worse because it's the WH's fault, in the end.

We had a historic opportunity- the Republican party was on life support, completely irrelevant. The chance was there to put the final nail in their coffin...and instead, President Obama offered them a seat at the table.

Newly energized, empowered, and dangerous...the right is back.

BTW, that seat belonged to the left.

[ljm2002]

140. No, it was not...

...there was no time for public pressure to develop. Rather, it was the fear of an imminent firestorm on FAUX via Beck et al.

[kirby]

81. Uhh, knee-jerk public pressure caused this!

Those behind this, like in the NAACP, should be ashamed. This was a high-tech lynching based on unverified facts from a non-credible source.

[DrDan]

110. and the WH

[SnakeEyes]

138. The NAACP condemned her after she was forced to resign.

So they just piled on after the WH made it's move. Despite the fact they had the full tape since the speech was at their event.

[gateley]

3. I've been waiting for this, but thought maybe it had gotten too late for a statement

tonight. Thanks!

I hope they do more than 'reconsider' and bring the hammer down -- publicly -- on Fox and Breitbart.

[Abq_Sarah]

6. For what?

They could have reviewed the video, spoken with Sherrod and made an informed decision. Instead, they jumped the gun and leveled accusations of racism, blowing this up a hell of a lot more than it ever deserved. They could have made Breitbart look like an ass for showing an incomplete video but they chose to take the low road and run for cover.

Instead of playing the blame game for their own mistakes, they need to own up to their stupidity.

[gateley]

9. I don't get your point - don't understand why you're addressing this to me.

I've been waiting for some indication that they were taking action, or at least thinking about it. We haven't heard a word from them. The NAACP was on it immediately.

I'm aware they jumped the gun -- again -- and they need to do the right thing. So what are you hollering at me for?

[Abq_Sarah]

14. Oh crap,

A thousand apologies. I didn't mean to address it to you. :blush:

[gateley]

16. No problem -- I just didn't understand why you apparently thought I disagreed

with you. :hi:

[dencol]

26. I have to say it.

It only blew out of proportion because she is black. She could have looked at a white person funny, and they would accuse her of racism. How fucking ironic.

[alcibiades_mystery]

64. They should issue a statement saying "We're stupid"

You're right.

...

[SnakeEyes]

143. But even then

Breitbart was just going to fall back on the original argument he made when he posted the video... that his point was some of the people in the crowd reacting in approval of her initial response to the white farmer. This was posted because of the NAACP's condemnation of the tea party as racist. An incomplete video argument wasn't really going to be effective.

[lob1]

8. Yes, they have to say it was a fraud perpetrated by

Fox and Breitbart. An easily proven fraud, at that. Rub their noses in their crap.

[Enthusiast]

41. Rub their noses in it!

Nominate Rachel Maddow for an award for she expose she did last night!

[dencol]

30. What about Vilsack?

And those who forced her resignation prematurely without even bothering to conduct a fair investigation. I tend to think a white person would have at least been granted that. P.S. For what it's worth, I am white and happen to have seen this bullshit happen too many times in business.

[joe black]

109. Yep.

Even in jobs that small people like me have had internal investigations always occurred before action was taken.

[DrDan]

113. and the WH . . . . apparently

[ljm2002]

144. Totally agree...

...had she been white, she would have been afforded some opportunity to present her side of the story before being summarily fired.

And yes I am white too.

[pattmarty]

182. He should resign, just because of stupidity. AND, I am not being facetious.

[Chulanowa]

5. Maybe the USDA should stop taking right-wing sources as gospel

In fact, assuming everything they say is a lie until independently confirmed by multiple sources seems to be a safe route to take.

[villager]

7. Why keep the "D" in there? Maybe the USA should!

;-)

[gateley]

10. Excellent! nt

[Chulanowa]

11. Because the USA should deport all right-wingers to Colombia

They like militant right-wing governments? Well, there you go, guys. And hey! Cocaine is only about two bucks a gram down there, and there are no shortage of child prostitutes; right-wing heaven, no doubt.

The USDA doesn't have that kind of power though, so their options are limited.

[Enthusiast]

39. Plus fucking one!

These people are downright horrible. Imagine the worst you can and they will exceed it.

[mwb970]

57. I dislike conservatives more and more with each passing day.

This is just one more maddening example of the low-road cheating and lying that is standard operating procedure for today's bottom-feeding conservatives. I am so ashamed that these people are (or call themselves) Americans.

What has happened to us? Why are we allowing the very worst America has to offer to dominate our politics? WHAT IS WRONG WITH US?

[LargeGreenSpider]

67. Bravo!

Send them to Somalia, too. Just get these destructive, treasonous robots out of here.

[Bette Noir]

120. Why send them to Colombia and Somalia?

Haven't the people in Colombia and Somalia suffered enough?

[activa8tr]

58. Very good point! Agree!

[EV_Ares]

91. Right-on, the hell with Breitbart and Beck and Fox News, they have

their agenda and nothing is going to change that so I wish they had listened to her first and then go after Breitbart for what he did.

[still_one]

98. Maybe the administration should take the same advice, not just the USDA /nt

[DrDan]

114. and the WH as well

[ProudDad]

188. Maybe the Obama Admin

should tell faux-noise to STFU...

And bar them from the White House...

But, that would take a spine... Most Democrats appear to be invertebrates...

[Chulanowa]

192. Yes, yes they do

Including the voting side of the situation.

[Fluffdaddy]

13. Don't know who I'm more angry at

Fox/Breitbart or the Obama administration for falling for their bull crap again..............AGAIN

[gateley]

17. IF the administration doesn't take this opportunity to make it right to Sherrod,

rip Fox/Breitbart and their smarmy stunt to shreds, and issue an order that from now on no more action will be taken without knowing all the facts, then I'll be more pissed at the administration.

We KNOW what Fox and Breitbart are, why would we expect anything else? Especially since it seems to work so well and we fall for it every time.

[guitar man]

21. Exactly

They need to make it 100% right with her and, this is a golden opportunity to stick it to Fox Noise. They are standing there with their pants around their ankles on this one, time to close in for the kill.

[EV_Ares]

92. Same here but I still think thee should be some consequences for Breitbart, eom.

[Bette Noir]

122. Ms. Sherrod should sue him for defamation.

Make the amount something that would force Mr. Breitbart to learn what it means to live in a car.

[guitar man]

15. Edited, full story at link now

I hope this is the end of Dullfart, I've had quite enough of him. I would say I hope this severely damages Faux Nooz credibility, but that would presume they had any credibility to begin with.

[aquart]

18. Vilsack needs to whip himself in a public square.

Not feeling the love.

[bergie321]

20. I heard about this story this morning

On MSNBC. Complete with the out-of-context video snippet. A lot of people need to eat some crow on this one.

[Enthusiast]

43. 'Need' being the operative word.

This just illustrates how fucking awful they are.

[bergie321]

19. Even for a ginned up Faux News "scandal"

This one had a short but explosive half-life. Either the right-wing propaganda machine is slipping, or we are getting better at debunking their lies.

[guitar man]

23. This one debunked itself

When the whole story came out it was right there in broad daylight where even the thick headed can see and understand what happened.

[LostinVA]

46. The supposed victim (ie the white farmer's wife) advocating for Sherrod helped, too

She talked to the emdia VERY quickly yesterday, saying Sherrod had been for friend for almost 25 years.

[guitar man]

103. I hope she can sue Breitbart

I don't know if his actions meet the standard of libel but I would love to see that smarmy little POS sued until he's homeless and knocked off the public stage for good :grr:

[FirstLight]

116. It counts as slander/libel in my book

this is the kind of stunt that would get one expelled from journalism school...

oh, right, those people (faux & friends)aren't journalists.

[alp227]

22. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

Now when will Congress repeal the Defund ACORN Act following the multiple governmental reviews (on both state and fed level) exonerating ACORN of any criminal activity? Washington needs to stand up and refuse to be bullied by the smear machine.

[McCamy Taylor]

24. Everytime the right wing says "jump" the administration says "how high"?

Why can't they listen to the concerns of average working class Americans the way they listen to a few idiots on the right? Are they so scared of bad press that they will throw anyone under the bus?


Just wait. Before 2012, they will throw the NAACP under the bus. Claim they are "too contraversial".

[SusanaMontana41]

25. All great questions

for which the Obama administration apparently has no answers.

Whatever happened to "fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me"?

[NewJeffCT]

75. That's what I was thinking - after the Acorn tape was shown to be a lie

why did they jump immediately when the same source had a tape of Shirley Sherrod?

As George Bush said, "Food me once, shame on you, fool me twice... won't get fooled again"

[LostinVA]

47. I have gotten beyond of sick of it

And, that's all I'll say about that.

[farmbo]

48. Err... the NAACP said "jump" at first...

They called USDA and denounced her remarks based on the edited version of the speech.
USDA did not act in a vacuum.

Once the NAACP backed off and the full version of the speech was released, USDA did the right thing.

[glitch]

104. It's great that the NAACP quickly apologized, but who there didn't do the initial research?

It was a speech to them, they had to have the video or transcripts. 15 minutes of research could have smacked this shit down. Likewise the USDA and anyone else kneejerking to Breitbart.
There should be reprimands and demotions, at the very least TRAINING resulting from this mess.

[SemperEadem]

51. they are so afraid of what stupid will say in her next media whoring

and that is the reason why they didn't snatch a knot in Vilsack's ass for this.

I'm sick of the Dems allowing the right wing lunatic, racist fringe to define their game plan. They need to do a better job of following Alan Grayson's tack with the rwingnuts rather than this limp dick, doughy-bodied response thing they've got going on right now.

[naaman fletcher]

28. A rare admission of error by the government. very stand-up. i'm psyched. nt.

[Cherchez la Femme]

29. YaY!

(But I still won't hold my breath for justice to be served)

[naaman fletcher]

31. A question about Breitbart.

By now you would think that he would know that whatever video clips he publishes, eventually the context will come in.

I presume his website is profitable. So,

1. Is he just f'ing nuts?
2. Does he think the short term hits to the website will pay for the long term reputational damage
3. Are the freepers so stupid that there is no reputational damage to his base because his base will believe anything.

I'll tell you I believed this one when it first came out because I assumed he wouldn't be that stupid to take something so wildly out of context again. I was wrong and I was a dumbass.

[Blacksheep214]

33. Fire Vilsack

Put Sherrod in his place!

Can't we prosecute anyone for these lies?

[Enthusiast]

44. It appears to me

that Sherrod deserves Vilsack's position and he needs to be fired.

[alcibiades_mystery]

65. Dumb

You don't disrupt the operations of a whole department for something like this.

[glitch]

106. Dumber

A. he's doing a lousy job anyway and B. the operations have already been disrupted.

[alcibiades_mystery]

121. Um

A. That's neither clear nor relevant; if you want him fired for some other reason, make that case. Don't piggyback.
B. No, the operations of the USDA have not been disrupted, or at least not anywhere close to the disruption of a fired cabinet officer.

Cable news isn't the only thing in the world, you know. There is a government and agencies that actually do policy implementation and stuff like that that doesn't get on "Hardball."

[Bette Noir]

124. In my experience, it's the grunts who do the work.

Executives can be replaced all the time, or their positions left vacant. It's the nurses who make hospitals "go," not the guys in the penthouse.

[Blacksheep214]

111. It's a big department

Doesn't character assassination mean anything these days?

Truth is optional in right wing world.

[6000eliot]

34. They need to stop letting themselves be punked by right-wing assholes.

WTF is going on in this country?

[BumRushDaShow]

35. K&R

How many times must Faux Snooze be discredited before the rest of the lunatic fringe-owned M$M and other organizations finally get it? They are not a news organization. Appears Vilsack forgot what Gibbs said about them not so long ago.

[Enthusiast]

37. I watched Rachel's piece on Shirley Sherrod.

What Fox News did to Shirley Sherrod was the most blatant act of racism I have seen by a TV news organization in many many years. They should do more than apologize. They should be called out by the entire rest of the media until they hang their heads in shame. Just my take. Fox News is as filthy as one can possibly imagine.

[still_one]

99. They won't be, the media are are in this game together /nt

[Enthusiast]

38. K&R

I hope no one has unrecommended this thread. There would be no excuse.

[Enthusiast]

40. Vilsack, your job is to now

rip Fox News a new asshole.

Say it! Say this: "This is a blatant act of racism by Fox News." Say it you fuck! Say it! They edited the tape to perpetrate a lie to discredit her. Call them out! They only did it BECAUSE SHE IS BLACK.

[SnakeEyes]

146. Brietbart did it.

Although he claims that clip was all he had at the time. Fox didn't air the video until after she had resigned. Direct your hate on this one at him. But continue hating Fox for other reasons :)

[underpants]

42. Good the mention of "Glenn Beck" should have raised flags

THIS is the lowest of the Obama administration.. Glenn Beck? Really? Someone takes Glenn Beck seriously?

[NewJeffCT]

142. Didn't Beck lead the charge to "stop" Van Jones?

And, he was one of the primary Anti-ACORN persons.

So, it seems Glenn Beck has more of a voice in the White House than people wanting universal healthcare.

[Mimosa]

179. YES! n/t

[LostinVA]

45. A "a thorough review and consider additional facts" should have been done FIRST

By the USDA, the NAACP, an dthe MSM.

Disgraceful.

[alcibiades_mystery]

Correct

It should have been. It wasn't. This is the next best thing.

Together with a review of process for things like this.

[myrna minx]

80. Exactly. n/t

[florida08]

49. Shirley is a wonderful lady

She tells her story about her parents and how her father was killed right before her brother which her father wanted so much was born.

You can see it in it's entirety here:
http://www.naacp.org/news/entry/video_sherrod/

She overcame her feelings of how her family was treated during the height of racial discrimination. What Fox and Brietbart have done to her is reprehensible. They should be openly castigated.

[ingac70]

50. They better take her back!

I hope she sues every right winger and the "liberal" media for this lie!

[xchrom]

52. Better do more than reconsider.

This whole thing just looks dumb, vilsack.

[Blandocyte]

53. Well, yeah!

Rachel had great commentary on the situation last night. Apparenlty some TeaKlan-minded jerk found some footage of her from what, 1986? Back before she was working for the fed gov't. They edited the tape by cutting the intro to the story off, as well as the ending. Sherrod had actually told a story of how she learned to be more tolerant and less racist through her interaction with the farmer. But the WH apparently didn't look into the situation and just flinched.

[oberliner]

87. The footage was from this year, not 1986

She was telling a story about something that happened 24 years ago (presumably in 1986) but the footage was from earlier this year.

[Turborama]

55. This is fromt page stuff on ABC and CBS, too

Here: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=11214040

And here: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/07/21/politics/main6697520.shtml?tag=stack

[sendero]

56. If NilSack..

... has a sack he will admit he was wrong and give her job back.

[LynneSin]

59. This whole Sherrod incident once agains prooves just how racist the Teaballers are

:grr:

[Dappleganger]

60. The way this was handled by the USDA is absolutely shameful.

My god, if dumbass Glen Beck can see that then you are definitely on the wrong side of the issue. I feel so sorry for this sweet lady. :(

[AngryOldDem]

61. She said on "Today" that she's not sure she wants her job back.

I really can't blame her.

[guitar man]

132. I don't blame her either

If Ballsack was that quick to throw her under the bus without finding out what actually happened, I don't think I'd want to work for the SOB either

[Name removed]

62. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[mdmc]

63. I wonder which civil rights leaders were snookered

Are these the same ACORN video people?

[SnakeEyes]

147. I want to know which person..

Who didn't check their tape of the full speech first. That person needs to be fired.

[reformist2]

66. Sin in haste, repent at leisure?

It's a weird time to be following this old maxim.

[rocktivity]

68. This would go up less than an hour after I went to bed last night!

I didn't want to until there was some definite word that either Vilsak or Obama was reconsidering. Well, it's a huge relief!

:headbang:
rocktivity

[guitar man]

88. I had gone to bed too

It woke me up, I get breaking news alerts from MSNBC on my iPhone, so when it dinged and woke me up I rushed here to post it. :hi:

[DailyGrind51]

69. FOX orchestrated a "high tech lynching"!

And should be ashamed, if shame is even possible at FOX?

[NewJeffCT]

78. No, shame is not possible there

They could have a series of mass murders done by people shouting out to Hannity, O'Reilly and Beck (along with all the books and everything) and it would not matter to them.

[SnakeEyes]

148. Maybe i missed something..

How was Fox News involved in this. From what I've read they didn't air the video until after she resigned. It seems the WH kneejerked to Breitbart and Drudge's link to Breitbart on the fear of the story blowing up.

[LanternWaste]

154. Yes, you did....

"Maybe i missed something..."
Yes, you did.

Fox News reached an erroneous conclusion, and broadcast that conclusion to its viewer's without appropriate verification or fact-checking.

[SnakeEyes]

177. What erroneous conclusion did they broadcast?

[JBoy]

70. I hope they can use this as a "teachable moment".

[The Wizard]

71. Methinks the firing emanated

with Rahm. Republicans stamp their feet and DLC tough guy Rahm does their bidding.

[Odin2005]

72. K&R

[supernova]

73. This is good news

Stupidity can be reversed.

[connecticut yankee]

76. The USDA should be ashamed of itself

They should have investigated the charges before taking action.

Now they look like fools for falling for Breitbart's charges.

This isn't the first time this administration has taken the bait -- e.g. ACORN and Van Jones.

Why are they so afraid of Fox News and the right-wing smear artists?

[pgodbold]

77. Sue Fox News and biggovernment.com to the ground. n/t

[myrna minx]

79. How benevolent of them to reconsider.

:puke: Would *you* want go go back to work for them after they threw you aside for political reasons?

[Kingofalldems]

82. K and R for the teabaggers and freepers to see

[DirkGently]

83. Mighty sweet of them

Unbelievable. It wasn't enough to go along with Breitbart's hitjob on ACORN? Now he does it again, and no one can be bothered to even investigate the tape produced by a known liar?

Hilariously, Glenn Beck is now claiming to have "uncovered" this shocking job of "railroading" by the administration, although he clearly did not get his information by watching O'Reilly and the other inflatable talking head fruitbats on Fox, which must be laughing its collective socks off at getting the administration to bite on a racist lie, then stumbling around trying to figure out what to do to fix it.

Unbelievable.

[Jefferson23]

Thank goodness! n/t

[90-percent]

84. Breitbart

This guy was the benefactor and mentor for the James O'Keefe and Sarah Giles video smear of ACORN. The Main Stream Media and the Administration must be smart enough to never again get snookered by what this man puts out there!

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice....won't get fooled again.

Rachel's coverage of this Tuesday night was Pulitzer Prize winning..... and I will ask what she asked:

WHO'S NEXT?

-90% Jimmy

PS - I sure wish this Administration paid attention to Progressives as closely as they pay attention to Fox Noise

PPS - Has Fox offered any updates or corrections about how false they were with their ACORN coverage? Considering ACORN was legally absolved of any wrong doing what so ever? Are they covering Juan Carlos Vera's lawsuit against O'Keefe and Giles in Cali? http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/joe_conason/2010/07/14/acorn

[dadzilla]

86. The fish rots from the head

Perhaps it's time to consider asking Vilsack to tether his resignation...

[wordpix]

89. reconsider yourself, Vilsack---you should be fired if anyone should

rush to judgment---did not even ask to see ALL of the video... did not call Ms. Sherrod in to hear her side of the story---taking Faux News' "reporting" on Sherrod's 20 yr. old story as truth---no due diligence...does not say much for Dept. of Ag Sec. Vilsack...:puke:

[Borchkins]

93. Shirley is a wonderful woman.

I knew Shirley 14 years ago when I worked at the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund in Alabama. She was a wonderful, warm, kind woman--to everyone. This is amazingly unfair and I'm pissed that Obama, et al, could be fooled again by Fox and Breitbart.

B

[Kber]

95. The REAL Reason the Right Wing went after her...

from a related article in CSM:

"It's about the poor," Sherrod said, just over 20 minutes into the speech. "It made me see it really was about those who have, versus those who don't ... black, white or Hispanic.

"It made me realize that I needed to work to help poor people ... those who don't have access the way others have."

She said the incident helped her get beyond issues of race.

"And I went on to work with many more white farmers," she said. "The story helped me realize that race is not the issue, it's about the people who have and the people who don't."

http://www.ajc.com/news/usda-reconsiders-firing-of-574027.html

[Doctor_J]

96. Amazing how many libs & Dems believe right-wing media

Be it the gun culture believing the NRA crap, people posting links to Fox "News", anti-immigrant lies... The brainwashing is very thorough.

[still_one]

101. That includes the administration. It is no surprise that the administration seems to compromise to

the conservatives so readily. They did it with HCR and financial reform

[glitch]

112. If by libs & Dems you mean DLC, agreed. Liberals have been onto their shtick for decades. nt

[cbdo2007]

127. I agree and it adds to their credibility. Heck, no one takes Limbaugh and Beck etc. more

seriously than most of the DU crowd who fawn over them all day in GD.

Brietbart was only ever taken seriously after the Dems started freaking out about him. Before that he was just another "news site" that had headlines and forwarded you on to other news sites like Drudge does.

[BlueMTexpat]

97. This is all part of the "reverse racism" meme of the GOP

(and the Tea Partyers).

Shame on Vilsack and the USDA for falling for it! They certainly deserve to be thoroughly castigated.

[Romulox]

100. I've been calling for this since I became aware of this story

(not as if that matters.)

Still, it's encouraging to see that sanity and decency can prevail. Please do the right thing, Mr. President, and make Vilsack publicly apologize and reinstate Shirley Sherrod.

[ieoeja]

105. This really puts the spinmeisters at FNC on the spot.

How do they explain her re-hiring? How do they explain the change of mind without informing their audience that the original story was faked? What happens if they ask Vilsack on air, and he simply replies, "we learned that *you* lied in the conclusion to your story."

The firing worked out great for Sherrod. Instead of spending the news cycle fighting the spin, she is now universally recognized as an innocent victim. And the Rightists must now defend themselves.

[wordpix]

115. just saw a MSNBC interview with Breitbart. His spin was incomprehensible but one thing he said

sheds light: he said it's too bad the rush to judgment hurt Ms. Sherrod, b/c the real culprit is the NAACP. :puke: :crazy: :puke:

:crazy:

[SnakeEyes]

149. Yeah I saw that

He was going on and on and on about how supposedly his point was the NAACP audience reacting with approval to her initial response to the white farmer and not discussing Sherrod being unfairly fired.

[newspeak]

190. yeah, they're all CYA

Breitbert blames NAACP for his shorting the tape to make it look like a racist scenario? Now it's all the NAACP's fault. And Faux, from Hannity to Beck had the incident as a main talking point; now that the full film is exposed, again, it's someone else's fault--the administrations fault. Well, since they're supposed to be some type of journalists, they could have investigated the full tape. I blame them all, however, after watching the Rachel show tonight, I agree with her. We got a meme going here by the repugs, it's the "scary black people" meme. See, those repugs don't need no black people, as long as they can make enough white people afraid--afraid enough to vote for the over the edge crazies. Faux is the mouthpiece, in my opinion; they have little to no creditability.

I also, will never forget what they did to Acorn. They have destroyed an organization that helped the poor to vote, and what the government did, and what faux did is incomprehensible.

[DrDan]

107. just so disappointing that they would believe these neocon cretins over her

Perhaps the charge of racism is better leveled at her supervisors/WH.

[DimplesinMI]

117. This is an EMBARRASSMENT to the Obama Administration

They could have done what CNN did, easily. Just examine the facts of the incident with an investigation BEFORE firing her. She should sue for the treatment of her by this administration and the USDA Under-Secretary; that harassed this 60 year old women on the road, driving to an assignment, demanding her to resign.

At this point, I am seriously having great issues with the Obama Administration, as an African-American. Bill Clinton (who I consider my favorite President) would have stood up against this charge or at least had his staff investigate the situation, BEFORE taking action.

Hopefully, someone in the Democratic party will have to courage to primary challenge President Obama in 2012. Otherwise, after this incident, many African-Americans just might stay home, than give another vote this this individual.

[jah the baptist]

119. maybe you could run against him

you would have as good a chance of beating him as anyone else.

[cate94]

123. Sherrod should be offered a promotion.

Reconsidering? They knee jerk her into resigning over false allegations w/o listening to her side, or investigating for themselves and now they are reconsidering. How big of them.

Offer her the job back with a fat raise and a promotion. This is a no-brainer. Apologize to Sherrod for listening to a known liar (Breitbart) and the right wing noise machine (Fox). Promise the American people you will never make this stupid mistake again. Acorn and Sherrod should be enough proof that getting the story wrong is Breitbart's specialty.

[waronbanks]

125. And with this latest disgusting knee jerk reaction

by this inept and compromised administration they have officially fallen to loathe status.

How pathetic. They couldnt get her to resign fast enough. Sickening. Contributing to the racial tensions Fox is trying to create...playing right along and whippin up the race thing.

Just more shameful actions by an administration that clearly, was in no way ready to govern a nation in terrible need of leadership. Beer summits to this...good god.

[DimplesinMI]

126. So agree and..............

Very well said, by the way!

[donquijoterocket]

128. reinstatement

A diary over at Kos recommends that if Shirley Sherrod is indeed offered reinstatement the administration should fly her to Washington ad perform the reinstatement in as public a manner as possible emphasizing the fact that Ms.Sherrod did in the end provide valuable assistance to the farm family in question as attested to by the farmer and his wife.I find this a most worthwhile idea.

[Poll_Blind]

129. Good. She should NOT have been fired/forced to resign.

Sound-byte versus reality. I was taken in too at first.

PB

[DailyGrind51]

130. I hope she tells them to "take this job and shove it"!

[catbyte]

131. My 8-word e-mail to the White House:

Stop being Charlie Brown to the Right's Lucy.

[wordpix]

135. good one!

[superconnected]

133. I'm glad they act fast to take care of problems, they just acted too fast in this case.

[Vinca]

134. If I was Shirley I'd have the lawyers lined up and ready to go.

Her character was run through the mud by the right and they need to pay. And the administration isn't much better for not bothering to investigate before acting.

[seafan]

145. What do the dirty outcomes of Election Night 2000, ACORN and Shirley Sherrod have in common?

...and its single-minded army of corporate, warmongering, racist right wing bigots whose daily existence is to manufacture lies to steal elections, defile the truth and destroy the reputations of the innocent.



Election night 2000
Jeb Bush cousin John Ellis and FOX


ACORN
Breitbart and FOX


Media Matters: Full video vindicates Sherrod, destroys Breitbart's accusations of racism
Breitbart and FOX




Any questions?

[Hepburn]

151. KnR...n/t

[gauguin57]

152. OK ... on the count of three ... let's everyone in the universe stop listening to Fox News.

1 ... 2 ... 3! Done!

[SoapBox]

153. Get your BUTT in gear White House! Contact WH here....

Good GAWD White House! Get your ass in gear!!

Get Sherrod rehired…Publicly apologize…Fire Vilsack and that Cook woman…And then GO AFTER FakeNews and that freak Breitbart!

Every SECOND that they wait to rehire Sherrod is going to be used against them. Sheesh...get moving!

CONTACT the WHITE HOUSE here and tell them to rehire her:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contac

[wordpix]

162. wrote my brief statement including

"don't trust Fox "News." " It's not a news org, it's a RW GOP Corpos lying mouthpiece.

[KansDem]

164. Haven't we all learned by now? Don't ever, EVER, trust FOX News...!!! 9nt0

[Politicalboi]

165. Let the FCC know how you feel about Faux

http://www.jabberwonk.com/flinker.cfm?cliid=1j9qel

[handmade34]

172. rec and thanks for the link

[MikeNY]

167. Maybe I'm from another planet

Hey, I don't know about you all, but maybe I'm from another planet, because I watched the whole video on the NAACP website, and I still concluded her remarks are racist.

She still concedes that she didn't help the farmer as best she could because he was better served by "his kind"
CNN brings the poor 90-sum-year-old farmer on TV, who can barely form a coherent sentence, and he defends her.
She claims the White House demanded she resign and then recants her story.
She goes through a whole story of how she went to great lengths to help this farmer, even though its clear she said at the NAACP meeting she didn't use her "full power" to help him (BECAUSE HE WAS WHITE)

People saying her resignation should be reversed clearly aren't following the news because she says she is glad she retired.

And it seems like this became a story about Shirley Sherrod instead of the NAACP applauding derogatory comments towards white people, which shouldn't be surprising, since no group, person, or government entity is perfect, irregardless of its affiliation.

The real story here is about how the NAACP tried to cover its ass by condemning this person without even watching the full tape, and then recanting when the MSM does a 180 and claims the woman isn't racist and that its a giant conservative conspiracy. However, even after I watched this video in full, I still came to the determination that her comments were deplorable. They would be acceptable if she wasn't in a public position, but she was.

Instead of being pawns in the race game that the government and media love to play on unsuspecting people, perhaps we should be open minded that anyone and everyone is capable of racist comments, and that people entrusted by the public to say and do what is appropriate should have some moral and ethical responsibility to do just that? I guess I'm being too idealist in my assertions.

[Ter]

168. You are correct

If a white person had said that, the would be no reconsideration. That person would be fired and correctly so.

[handmade34]

171. you, my dear, need to go watch the video again

also. There was absolutely no basis for firing Shirley Sherrod except for kneejerk fear of perception

[handmade34]

170. you need to go watch the speech again

even someone from another planet could see that Shirley Sherrod's speech was about her life and events that transformed her belief system... a very powerful speech and told by a woman we should be proud to have serve in the position she was in

[MikeNY]

174. Yes, watching the video again

Like Strom Thurmond or Robert Byrd, she is a reformed racist who realized that "his kind" wouldn't take care of him and that she needed to spring into action, because of "his kind"!

[handmade34]

176. I suspect you have no point of reference

or are unable to empathize... I don't believe you are "hearing" what she is saying

[ShamelessHussy]

185. this might help...

[peacetalksforall]

187. You are crazily messing up history. What you are saying means that anyone who years ago did

something that they regretted, but put it to right, should be locked into the initial mistake and should not even bother making ir right because they are forever wrong in your eyes? Have you no understanding or awareness OF HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND TIMING? Please, if you don't understand history and awareness and righting wrongs, you are not going to understand the clock.

If a soldier took pleasure in killing a Vietnamese or an Iraqi while he killed them and later regrets it and makes it right, do you only remember the part about the pleasure he took.

Humanity and the clock. Consider it.

[BEZERKO]

169. I was hoping they would reconsider this.

Faux News had a lot of nerve saying she was railroaded.

[sandyj999]

173. Ever Hear About Checking Your Source?

This should never have happened.

[RavensChick]

178. They'll "reconsider" all right...

by dragging this poor woman through the mud and use every ounce of red tape they can! Vilsack? He's more Vilsuck to me!!!

Enthusiast, you're so on the money I'm up here screaming in total agreement with you!!!! If you're ever in DC, I'll buy you a beer :-)

If USDA thinks they can bring her back and say to her, "our bad, we made such a terrible mistake", they better think again because she's probably getting her dream team of lawyers lined up!!!

Please say a prayer for Sherrod and for me because I'm getting the hell out of there before there's another dust up!!! Thanks.

[peacetalksforall]

183. This is the only way to show decency. This is only way to expose the LI Party - Lying Indency Party

This country is going crazy and if our Executive and Government Departments allow the LI Party to rule them it is all downhill from here.

I would like to know what Rahm Emanuel's advice was on this.

The DLC is a Republican enabler and it would be a good idea to know what the DLC is saying.

If you can't stand up for your own, what hope do we have.

[peacetalksforall]

184. What is insufferable and unforgivng of the White House and USDA is that in the last week

there have been news and blogs about three lawsuite against Breitbart, O'Keefe, and Giles. It's in their face about how they brought down Acorn and they allowed this crap to rule their decisions - even demanding, DEMANDING, that Sherrod pull over and message a resignation on a blackberry. Incredible and UNFORGIVING. Who looks the worst here? I feel the same about those in charge at the NAACP who did this.

[peacetalksforall]

186. You know what this says? It says that the WH, USDA, NAACP believe that FOX is credible.

[ProudDad]

189. Exactly...

and when are they going to "get it"?

[Skittles]

191. translation

they're getting their asses handed to them for making hideously bad decisions