Shirley Sherrod

[Cerek]

Anyone following this story?

USDA official's resignation stirs racial tempest

The short version seems to be that Sherrod made some racist remarks about white folks at an NAACP luncheon on March 27 while recounting an experience when she was forced to help a white farmer save his farm back in 1986. An edited excerpt from that speech was posted on BigGovernment.com in response to NAACP attacks of racism aimed at the Tea Party movement.

Sherrod was asked (or harassed in her words) to resign her USDA position immediately when the video was made public. Fox News ran the edited version of the speech on their broadcast after the White House accepted Sherrod's resignation.

The NAACP initially supported the forced resignation and described Sherrod's comments as "shameful", but has since retracted that stance after viewing the full version of the speech. In the full clip, Sherrod admits the racist feelings she had, at first, towards the farmer, but goes on to say the incident "opened her eyes" and made her realize the issue was really about the poor vs those who have rather than an issue of race. She admits to giving "limited help" at first, but later did everything in her power to help save this farm. The farm owners agree and have nothing but praise for Sherrod's efforts.

Now the central issue seems to be whether the White House should retract their position as well and give Sherrod her job back since the full context of her comments has been revealed.

What do you think?

[ElfBane]

Do you believe in redemption and free will? Or is it 'one strike and you're out'? How can you be 'forced' to resign? I mean, what incentive does she have? Has she reached retirement benchmarks? If one has reached retirement benchmarks then it behooves you to retire(resign) and get said retirement vs. being fired and losing said retirement benefits. If she HASN'T reached retirement quotas then I guess she should fight for re-instatement.

As to her initial prejudiced response, well, I guess we all are guilty of that unless we had a paragon-like childhood.

[Memnoch]

So this was the old "show a portion of a clip out of context" trick, was it?

[Cerek]

Originally Posted by Memnoch So this was the old "show a portion of a clip out of context" trick, was it?

Yes. The original "excerpt" was posted by Andrew Brietbart(?) on his website, BigGovernment.com in response to allegations of racism in Tea Party members by NAACP President, Benjamin Todd Jealous. According to Brietbart, he learned about the existence of the Sherrod video through an email in April. He didn't act upon it until NAACP President began making allegations of racism among Tea Party members.

In an interview with Hannity (IIRC), Brietbart admitted up front the video was posted in response to that and also admitted he only posted part of the video that showed Sherrod admitting to having racist feelings towards the farmer in question initially. He said he had no intention of getting Sherrod fired, he was just trying to post a counter-example to Jealous that racism has been discussed (and condoned) among NAACP members as well. Not the most noble motivation, by any means, but at least Brietbart was honest about it.

He also had a memo from a former Cabinet member under Clinton who now apparently works as a political strategist. The alleged memo strongly encourages Democrat candidates to use these racist accusations towards the Tea Party in the upcoming elections so Republican candidates will be forced to spend time distancing themselves from the movement and/or denying claims of racist feelings themselves.

I watched the interview with Brietbart last night, but couldn't find a link to it when I did my search tonight. If I find it, I will post it

[machinehead]

For all the over-warped speed in initially getting that bogus version of the Shirley Sherrod story out there and pushing her our the door at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, other details in this story have been surprisingly slow to emerge. In particular, I'd been waiting to hear more about a comment from Sherrod on CNN that her father had been murdered by a white farmer in 1965.

Now we know a few details. Her dad was named Hosie Miller, and he was a deacon at Thankful Baptist Church in Newton, Ga., toward the southwest corner of the state. He was also a farmer who, according to CNN, grew corn, peanuts, cotton and cucumbers and raised hogs, cows and goats. Forty-five years ago, Hosie Miller was shot to death -- in the back, no less -- by a white farmer in what his daughter now describes as ostensibly a dispute over a few cows, although the exact circumstances were murky.

A grand jury investigated the case, and no one was charged. All of the grand jurors were white, as was typically the case before the passage of the landmark civil rights legislation of the mid-1960s.

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/a...otten_war.html

I don't think I could be as forgiving as she was/is.

[Timber Loftis]

She needs to sue Brietbart for libel, see whether or not manipulating context and content like that can result in an actionable misrepresentation of the person that injures them.

[Lord of Alcohol]

Originally Posted by Timber Loftis She needs to sue Brietbart for libel, see whether or not manipulating context and content like that can result in an actionable misrepresentation of the person that injures them.

I'm not much on the sue people wagon, I could have for work injury. But this yea I would be pissed, and sue.

[Felix The Assassin]

Originally Posted by Timber Loftis She needs to sue Brietbart for libel, see whether or not manipulating context and content like that can result in an actionable misrepresentation of the person that injures them.

Then W, needs to sue SNL, and the POTUS the NYT. But those were in jest right?

I do think the POTUS acted before "all" of his advisor's checked in. In the past, it would take days for him to say, do, speak about an issue, but this one was rapid fire, and proves once again, he needs all of his vast assortment of czars and advisor's pointing to what needs to be done.

[Cerek]

Originally Posted by Felix The Assassin Then W, needs to sue SNL, and the POTUS the NYT. But those were in jest right? I do think the POTUS acted before "all" of his advisor's checked in. In the past, it would take days for him to say, do, speak about an issue, but this one was rapid fire, and proves once again, he needs all of his vast assortment of czars and advisor's pointing to what needs to be done.

The NAACP also acted hastily (in hindsight), calling Sherrod's statements "shameful" after viewing the initial video. Of course, once they investigated it further and saw the full video, they reversed their position, posted the full video on their website and began calling for Sherrod to be reinstated.

The NAACP President also angrily claimed they had been "snookered" by Fox News and that led to their premature criticism of Sherrod. I understand the President, Benjamin Todd Jealous, is rightfully embarassed that they jumped on the bandwagon too soon, but it rings kinda hollow for him to basically say "It's Fox News' fault that we didn't investigate this thoroughly before issuing our initial statement."

Still, I do give the NAACP credit for (a) acknowledging racism goes both ways and condemning racist comments made by a black towards whites, and (b) admitting their mistake and throwing their full support behind Sherrod's reinstatement.

As for Sherrod's forced resignation, I'm not sure how much input or info Obama had on the situation. It sounds more like it was her boss at the USDA that jumped the gun, then refused to admit he had also made a mistake.

*Checking current stories on this, I believe Tom Vilsack (USDA boss), has also reversed his position and issued an apology to Sherrod. I would imagine Sherrod will be reinstated rather quickly to correct the mistake that was made.

[Felix The Assassin]

Originally Posted by Cerek The NAACP also acted hastily (in hindsight), calling Sherrod's statements "shameful" after viewing the initial video. Of course, once they investigated it further and saw the full video, they reversed their position, posted the full video on their website and began calling for Sherrod to be reinstated. The NAACP President also angrily claimed they had been "snookered" by Fox News and that led to their premature criticism of Sherrod. I understand the President, Benjamin Todd Jealous, is rightfully embarassed that they jumped on the bandwagon too soon, but it rings kinda hollow for him to basically say "It's Fox News' fault that we didn't investigate this thoroughly before issuing our initial statement." Still, I do give the NAACP credit for (a) acknowledging racism goes both ways and condemning racist comments made by a black towards whites, and (b) admitting their mistake and throwing their full support behind Sherrod's reinstatement. As for Sherrod's forced resignation, I'm not sure how much input or info Obama had on the situation. It sounds more like it was her boss at the USDA that jumped the gun, then refused to admit he had also made a mistake. *Checking current stories on this, I believe Tom Vilsack (USDA boss), has also reversed his position and issued an apology to Sherrod. I would imagine Sherrod will be reinstated rather quickly to correct the mistake that was made.

Additionally, the WH placed a personal phone call to her, and the POTUS spoke with her at length. She has been offered a different job within the USDA, and what would be a promotion and pay step increase.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_1...64-503544.html

The two reportedly did not get into a discussion of any White House involvement in Sherrod's firing.