rush to judgement on shirley sherrod

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I

isadore

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7,762 posts
Jul 21, 2010 11:07 AM
Andrew Breitbart and Fox New seemingly destroyed the career of a very good woman. An edited piece of video, taking completely out of context was used for this destruction. It seemed to show her as a racist ignoring a white farmer's plea to save his farm, but actually the totality of her speech was quite the opposite. She overcame her racist feeling caused by whites murdering her father. She helped save the white man's farm. They became friends.
Breibart and Fox used the editied tape, they also made it seem she had taken this action recently while she was working for USDA, when it had happened 24 years ago, when she worked for non-profit organization. NAACP rushed to condemn her, fearing they be labelled racist. Ag Deptmart forced her resignation. Both looked gutless. At least now, NAACP has apologized, and the ag is rethinking accepting her resignation.

But she is not sure she wants it back.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38321920/ns/us_news-life/
Jul 21, 2010 11:07am
majorspark's avatar

majorspark

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Jul 21, 2010 10:28 PM
If I were her I would not take the job back. I would tell them to pound sand.

Claiming that supposed right wing news sources destroyed her career are BS. She will be just fine as the full context of the video justifies all of her comments.

Really the blame falls on the whitehouse and it goes all the way to the top. BHO personally should take the blame for this. Making decisions of this magnitude within hours of media reports are asinine. Especially if they are being pushed by what many in the administration would consider right wing media sources.

According to Sherrod the administration was so demanding that she immediately resign that they asked her to pull over to the side of the road and cough it up. No time for investigation. The lack of leadership and competence that BHO and his administration displays at times is troubling to say the least.
Jul 21, 2010 10:28pm
I

isadore

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Jul 21, 2010 10:42 PM
MS, so unsurprisingly quick to give Breitbart and Fox a free pass. They generated this whole problem and now try to weasel out of it. i doubt if Obama had much to do at all with this decision, made down the chain of command. At least the administration moved quickly to correct itself.
Jul 21, 2010 10:42pm
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IggyPride00

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Jul 21, 2010 10:48 PM
majorspark;429495 wrote:If I were her I would not take the job back. I would tell them to pound sand.

Claiming that supposed right wing news sources destroyed her career are BS. She will be just fine as the full context of the video justifies all of her comments.

Really the blame falls on the whitehouse and it goes all the way to the top. BHO personally should take the blame for this. Making decisions of this magnitude within hours of media reports are asinine. Especially if they are being pushed by what many in the administration would consider right wing media sources.

According to Sherrod the administration was so demanding that she immediately resign that they asked her to pull over to the side of the road and cough it up. No time for investigation. The lack of leadership and competence that BHO and his administration displays at times is troubling to say the least.

David Frum tonight (Bush's former speech writer) laid out verbatim what you just said will be the right wing talking points to look for now that Breitbart has been exposed as just trying to race bait to even the score for liberals calling the Tea Party racists recently. I typically try and keep up with that stuff, but I didn't get the memo on how to pivot the story to Obama. I had better read harder I guess.
Jul 21, 2010 10:48pm
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Writerbuckeye

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Jul 21, 2010 11:07 PM
Fox nor Breitbart fired her -- so your answer lies with the good folks who brought us the porkulus package and a health care system that will probably be in ruins in another decade.

Breitbart ran the video he was given (he didn't get the entire video until later). Is that shoddy journalism? Yep. But it's no less shoddy than most of what we're seeing on all the networks these days...and I don't see them being forced to be accountable to anyone.
Jul 21, 2010 11:07pm
majorspark's avatar

majorspark

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Jul 21, 2010 11:19 PM
IggyPride00;429509 wrote:David Frum tonight (Bush's former speech writer) laid out verbatim what you just said will be the right wing talking points to look for now that Breitbart has been exposed as just trying to race bait to even the score for liberals calling the Tea Party racists recently. I typically try and keep up with that stuff, but I didn't get the memo on how to pivot the story to Obama. I had better read harder I guess.

I have not had the displeasure of hearing David Frum's comments. I don't give two shits whose speech writer he is. My opinions are my own. I think you have read enough of my posts to know I am no right wing shill. Perhaps that is not what you are implying.
Jul 21, 2010 11:19pm
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BoatShoes

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Jul 21, 2010 11:32 PM
It just seems weird that one time where conservative media outlets totally got it wrong that the Obama Administration did exactly what those on the right would have them do. Now conservatives are using it as an opportunity to once again complain about how incompetent BHO is, even though Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity commended BHO for his swift action only nights ago. I suppose I'm agnostic on the issue...just another thing that regardless of the outcome; conservatives will find a way to use it to take shots at the president. Do you think if BHO would have done his due diligence and investigated the matter, those on the right would be commending him for his good judgment? Not. A. Chance.
Jul 21, 2010 11:32pm
I

isadore

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Jul 21, 2010 11:34 PM
ccrunner609;429550 wrote:Dude how is the video edited? Did they dub over her voice and planted those racist statements in her voice? She made vome very racist comments.

As far as accusations about Fox......is stupid. The NAACP and the POTUS made big mistakes here and they showed their true colors to politicize everything.


As for your idea here isadore, lets look at where she sent the dollars and we will see how racist she truely is cause as far as I am concerned she is racist, its right there on the video.

her total statement was the exact opposite, she learned not to be a racist. But you do not consider the context. So let me use that method.
ccrunner609 wrote:Fox......is stupid.
Jul 21, 2010 11:34pm
B

BoatShoes

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5,703 posts
Jul 21, 2010 11:34 PM
ccrunner609;429550 wrote:Dude how is the video edited? Did they dub over her voice and planted those racist statements in her voice? She made vome very racist comments.

As far as accusations about Fox......is stupid. The NAACP and the POTUS made big mistakes here and they showed their true colors to politicize everything.


As for your idea here isadore, lets look at where she sent the dollars and we will see how racist she truely is cause as far as I am concerned she is racist, its right there on the video.

In the unedited video she discusses how she originally had racist inclinations towards whites because whites murdered her mother. As she dealt with the poor white farmer she befriended him and says she came to learn that it's not about "white" and "black" but the "haves" and the "have nots." Seems like she overcame her racism.

But, she's not quite conservative yet because if that were true she would've said something like "but I didn't help the farmer out anyways because clearly he just didn't work hard enough" ;)
Jul 21, 2010 11:34pm
majorspark's avatar

majorspark

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Jul 21, 2010 11:38 PM
isadore;429504 wrote:MS, so unsurprisingly quick to give Breithart and Fox a free pass. They generated this whole problem and now try to weasel out of it. i doubt if Obama had much to do at all with this decision, made down the chain of command. At least the administration moved quickly to correct itself.
The press does not hold political power. You can search my posts. I rarely rail on the media bias thing. In fact most times I point out that today with the internet and satellite tv available to the masses in this nation, it is faulty to claim that the vast majority of citizens today don't have the freedom to find the media source of their choosing. There are plenty of media sources out there. How do you think I came to my opinion on this matter? Foxnews? Rush? Breitbart?

In fact in my post I sided with Sherrod. I laid ultimate blame on the same place she did. The administration she gave her service to. They alone held the power that forced her to immediately resign. She knows it and that is why she has lost confidence in them and is not sure she wants to ever serve under their command. And I don't blame her.
Jul 21, 2010 11:38pm
I

isadore

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Jul 21, 2010 11:44 PM
majorspark;429567 wrote:The press does not hold political power. You can search my posts. I rarely rail on the media bias thing. In fact most times I point out that today with the internet and satellite tv available to the masses in this nation, it is faulty to claim that the vast majority of citizens today don't have the freedom to find the media source of their choosing. There are plenty of media sources out there. How do you think I came to my opinion on this matter? Foxnews? Rush? Breitbart?

In fact in my post I sided with Sherrod. I laid ultimate blame on the same place she did. The administration she gave her service to. They alone held the power that forced her to immediately resign. She knows it and that is why she has lost confidence in them and is not sure she wants to ever serve under their command. And I don't blame her.

The press has no political power, LOL. Number one the firing of a midlevel bureaucrat is not a Presidential decision. Number two in very short order the administration righted itself.
Jul 21, 2010 11:44pm
majorspark's avatar

majorspark

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5,122 posts
Jul 22, 2010 12:12 AM
isadore;429573 wrote:The press has no political power, LOL. Number one the firing of a midlevel bureaucrat is not a Presidential decision. Number two in very short order the administration righted itself.

I will clarify a little. When I say the press has no political power, I am referring to direct government power. Those granted government power by the people bear the ultimate authority. We trust them to gather all external and internal factors and come to a solution in our behalf. They and they alone bear the ultimate responsibility for their decision.
Jul 22, 2010 12:12am
I

isadore

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Jul 22, 2010 12:20 AM
we elect people to office. And people make mistakes. Acting quickly to rectify a mistake is a positive characteristic. The administration moved quickly to fix this mistake. We could use the example of the last administration allowing Donald Rumsfeld to run the war in Iraq as an example of a mistake that took much to long to correct.
Jul 22, 2010 12:20am
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majorspark

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Jul 22, 2010 12:28 AM
isadore;429622 wrote:we elect people to office. And people make mistakes. Acting quickly to rectify a mistake is a positive characteristic. The administration moved quickly to fix this mistake. We could use the example of the last administration allowing Donald Rumsfeld to run the war in Iraq as an example of a mistake that took much to long to correct.

I was with you until you brought Rummy and the Iraq war into this. No practical comparison.
Jul 22, 2010 12:28am
I

isadore

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Jul 22, 2010 12:54 AM
that is because you can not see the forest because all of those trees are in the way.
Jul 22, 2010 12:54am
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majorspark

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Jul 22, 2010 1:34 AM
isadore;429650 wrote:that is because you can not see the forest because all of those trees are in the way.
Well then cut those trees down for me and provide a practical comparison. I can envision a general comparison. But that is about it.
Jul 22, 2010 1:34am
C

cbus4life

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2,849 posts
Jul 22, 2010 2:21 AM
Liberal media re: Writer's post=Giant Douches

Fox et. al. re: This post=Semi-Giant Douches.

Of course the media referenced in Writer's post is very disturbing and they should be widely and heavily condemned. Anyone who can't see their bias is incredibly blind.

What happened here is not on the same level, true, but it is very, very hypocritical to try to dismiss it as being "not a big deal," or what have you.
Jul 22, 2010 2:21am
believer's avatar

believer

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Jul 22, 2010 4:44 AM
Did Shirley Sherrod use racist comments in this video despite being taken out of context? Yes.

If Sherrod had been a white conservative who made these racist comments despite being taken out of context, would the leftist "mainstream" media, Al Sharpton, and Jesse Jackson be having a field day for weeks about it? Hell yes.

Was the BHO Administration a bit premature in its handling of the situation? Yes.

Should Fox News have aired the comments in that particular context and acted in the same manner as its left-wing media counterparts do on a continual basis? No.

Should Fox News have done due diligence and then aired the entire clip to show Sherrod for the "one of his own" racist she is (and there's no question that she is)? Absolutely.

Did Fox News/Breithart fire Sherrod? No.

Does this situation point out the propensity of the media - right or left - to create news as oppose to report it? Yes.

Should we move on? Yep.
Jul 22, 2010 4:44am
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Belly35

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Jul 22, 2010 7:44 AM
So will this now create more departments in government? Department Of White Unemployment, Department of Black USDA and the Department of Hispanic Children Services hey … can we also get labeled drinking fountains. While we are at it let set race relationship back 50 years. Within Miss. Sherrod mind, in her comment and actions that what she did. Is there room in a public servant position for this type of mentality? During her speech the membership of the NAACP clapping and cheering Miss. Sherrod accounts of handing the White farmer (are we really white, black are more sepia that black .. we need to get this color spectrum corrected) is a perfect example of the racism that is prevalent within the NAACP. Those organization and other like them is indeed a racist group and there is in no place in America culture for this type of racism being supported by the Federal Government. The Affirmative Action policies should be reviewed and those groups and organization demonstrating racist tendencies should be rejected from federal support. Any and all funding of the NAACP should be cut.

This is not about Miss Sherrod this is about those organizations that support racism. This is about those that work in the public servant sector that are out of control and with no direct accountability to performance. Her actions exposed the situation of Black organization racism and its effect within the public servant sector of government. The Affirmative Action policies and programs need to be reviewed “Reformed Act”.
The incompetence of Obama and his Administration created the knee jerk reaction stem from the Eric Holder and the Federal Government decision to drop the Black Panther issue. (Eric Holder is the one who should be fired).
Incompetence breeds more incompetence’s
Jul 22, 2010 7:44am
I

isadore

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Jul 22, 2010 8:58 AM
majorspark;429631 wrote:I was with you until you brought Rummy and the Iraq war into this. No practical comparison.
If you want to see a forest, destroying all the trees is not a good idea.
1. All people including government officials make mistakes.
2. Being quick to correct a mistake is positive action, letting it continue is a negative.
3. Firing Shirley Sherrod based on the film clip was a mistake
4. Acting quickly to offer her job back was correcting the mistake.
5. Allowing Donald Rumsfeld to run the war in Iraq was a mistake
6. Waiting years to remove him, made the mistake worse.
Jul 22, 2010 8:58am
Writerbuckeye's avatar

Writerbuckeye

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Jul 22, 2010 11:14 AM
ccrunner609;429753 wrote:I bet this would of never happened if the NAACP wouldnt of went after the Tea Party last week. Tit for tat.

I'm sure you are correct.

The left is actively and deliberately creating "news" that the Tea Party is racist, all of it (so far) based on lies and innuendo -- and the lies get repeated by the mainstream media without any corroboration or verification. Repeat a lie often enough, especially when it's done by CBS, ABC, NBC, et al, and people start to believe it.

Breitbart has been actively battling this strategy for months now, including putting up $100,000 to anyone who can provide video proof showing those black congressional folks were called the "n" word and spit on. Of course, nobody has even tried to collect that money, despite all the video that was taken during the event.

When Breitbart received this video (edited already, apparently) he went ahead and aired it, because it showed the NAACP to be the racist organization it is -- the same one that came out with a statement repeating the racism/Tea Party lie just last week.

If the NAACP doesn't jump into the racism lie, I'm betting Breitbart isn't so quick to use the video, or at least he takes more time and finds the entire thing as he should have done in the first place.

Regardless, ULTIMATE responsibility on this matter lies with BHO and his underlings -- and they blew it by jumping the gun. It was their responsibility to do THEIR due diligence before canning this woman and they failed miserably. Yes, they've now corrected their mistake, but it just shows (once again) that it's amateur hour when this administration takes on something. They seem to have a penchant for reacting poorly, wrong, too late, too politically or some combination of all of these.
Jul 22, 2010 11:14am
F

Footwedge

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9,265 posts
Jul 22, 2010 1:44 PM
Tea party is not racist. The media's coverage hinting that it is...is BS. The racial festering that is going on is not productive at all. Both sides need to quit blabbering race cards.
Jul 22, 2010 1:44pm
B

Bigdogg

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1,429 posts
Jul 22, 2010 3:40 PM
Neither the Tea Party or the NAACP are racist organizations, as that is not their mission. The KKK and to an extent the Black Panthers are both racist organization as that is their mission. Now if you say there are people in the NAACP and the Tea Party that are racist then you would be correct.

To claim that the responsible "media" ( Not Fox or MSNBC) clams anything to the contrary of what I just said is a total distortion of the facts. I have no problem with the head of the NAACP asking the Tea Party to refute any members with racist ideology. Instead of the Tea Party denying that it existed at all they should have came out and said they would and encouraged the NAACP to do the same.

That would have been the high road and right thing to do. Instead they chose to fabricate a story the resulted in a innocent women losing her job.
Jul 22, 2010 3:40pm
Writerbuckeye's avatar

Writerbuckeye

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Jul 22, 2010 5:38 PM
Bigdogg;429982 wrote:Neither the Tea Party or the NAACP are racist organizations, as that is not their mission. The KKK and to an extent the Black Panthers are both racist organization as that is their mission. Now if you say there are people in the NAACP and the Tea Party that are racist then you would be correct.

To claim that the responsible "media" ( Not Fox or MSNBC) clams anything to the contrary of what I just said is a total distortion of the facts. I have no problem with the head of the NAACP asking the Tea Party to refute any members with racist ideology. Instead of the Tea Party denying that it existed at all they should have came out and said they would and encouraged the NAACP to do the same.

That would have been the high road and right thing to do. Instead they chose to fabricate a story the resulted in a innocent women losing her job.

Who is this "they" you are accusing of fabricating a story?

And by the way, the NAACP did not say there were racists within the Tea Party movement, they said the Tea Party tolerates racism. That is an overt lie refuted many times by the Tea Party groups. It was the NAACP who played the race card (again) on this issue, and continues to stand by what they said. If we truly want to become a post-racial country as Obama was supposed to represent -- then groups like the NAACP need to go away...permanently.
Jul 22, 2010 5:38pm
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Bigdogg

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Jul 22, 2010 6:29 PM
Writerbuckeye;430098 wrote:Who is this "they" you are accusing of fabricating a story?

So now you are saying Andrew Breitbart and Fox News did not purposply distort the story?
Writerbuckeye;430098 wrote:And by the way, the NAACP did not say there were racists within the Tea Party movement, they said the Tea Party tolerates racism. That is an overt lie refuted many times by the Tea Party groups. It was the NAACP who played the race card (again) on this issue, and continues to stand by what they said. If we truly want to become a post-racial country as Obama was supposed to represent -- then groups like the NAACP need to go away...permanently.
Here is the press release from the NAACP website. Once again you failed to check the facts.

http://www.naacp.org/press/entry/naacp-delegates-unanimously-pass-tea-party-amendment/

NATION’S OLDEST AND LARGEST CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS ASK TEA PARTY TO REPUDIATE RACIST FACTIONS

(KANSAS CITY, MO) – Over 2,000 NAACP delegates today unanimously passed a resolution—as amended—called “The Tea Party Movement,” asking for the repudiation of racist Tea Party leaders.

The resolution condemns the bigoted elements within the Tea Party and asks for them to be repudiated. The NAACP delegates presented this resolution for debate and passage after a year of vitriolic Tea Party demonstrations during which participants used racial slurs and images. In March, members of the Congressional Black Caucus were accosted by Tea Party demonstrators and called racial epithets. Civil rights icon John Lewis was spit on, while Congressman Emanuel Cleaver was called the “N” word and openly gay Congressman Barney Frank was called an ugly anti-gay slur.

“We take no issue with the Tea Party movement. We believe in freedom of assembly and people raising their voices in a democracy. What we take issue with is the Tea Party’s continued tolerance for bigotry and bigoted statements. The time has come for them to accept the responsibility that comes with influence and make clear there is no place for racism & anti-Semitism, homophobia and other forms of bigotry in their movement,” stated NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous. “Last night after my speech, I was approached by an African American member of the NAACP and the Tea Party. He thanked me for speaking out because he has begun to feel uncomfortable in the Tea Party and wants to ensure there will always be space for him in both organizations. I assured him there will always be a place for him in the NAACP. Dick Armey and the leadership of the Tea Party need to do the same.”

The resolution was amended during the debate to specifically ask the Tea Party itself to repudiate the racist elements and activities of the Tea Party. It comes on the heels of NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous’ announcement of the “One Nation, Working Together” Movement culminating with a national march on Washington on 10-2-10.

The resolution will now go to the NAACP National Board of Directors for a full vote when they meet in October 2010 in Baltimore, MD. A formal copy of the resolution will be released at that time
Jul 22, 2010 6:29pm