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...

It's obvious that the administration got snookered in this episode, just as the NAACP was snookered; in fact, the firing of Ms. Sherrod may have been influenced by the NAACP's condemnation of her. It wasn't only pressure on the right that influenced them. Regardless, they made a mistake, and they are trying to correct it. There are more important issues here than the mistakes -- for example, one side of this story didn't make any mistakes. They accomplished what they wanted to accomplish: they got a conversation going about race.

I think it's possible that the brains behind these strategies aren't even genuinely racist beyond the degree to which they're indifferent to its existence; they're just cynical to a breathtaking degree. They aren't riling up racial animosity for its own sake or to achieve any racial priority; it's just a tool they use because their analytical calculus is that it will work for them politically. They don't care that all decent people think they are despicable. They're looking at differential turnout models; they like it when some Tea Partier shows up with a newsworthy racist placard, not because they agree with the sentiment, but because it makes us all talk about race again. We talk about race, and they call us race-baiters and accuse us of just looking out for the black man.

I think they're trying to provoke the president into responding, and they see that as the greatest possible victory. The president is so determined not to take the bait that he becomes a poor steward of people's rights.

They've exposed a weakness, no doubt about it. They're good at that.

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...

Still, you just have to back up from that and realize that as disappointing as Tom Vilsack's first crack at this was, the idea that he or Obama is the bad guy in this story is not only preposterous but verging on obscene. ...

Let's review what happened here. And for the sake of conversation, let's assume that Breitbart and his crew didn't edit this thing and hadn't seen any of the rest of the highly exculpatory video. ... That's by far the most innocent explanation, and that means that Breitbart got a piece of video he knew nothing about and published it with a central claim (that it was about Sherrod's tenure at the USDA) that he either made up or made no attempt to verify. No vetting, no calls, no due diligence, not the slightest concern to confirm anything or find out what was true. Even setting aside the fact that, as Josh Green ably notes, most of Breitbart's scoops center on race and/or race-baiting, for anyone else practicing anything even vaguely resembling journalism, demonstrated recklessness and/or dishonesty on that scale would be a shattering if not necessarily fatal blow to reputation and credibility.

Yet most of the coverage has been along the lines of Breitbart sparks debate about racism or White House pratfall on prematurely canning Shirley Sherrod. ...

Or what about the Fox News? To use the terminology of infectious disease, Fox was the primary vector of this story. And to the best of my knowledge, there's been not only no disciplining of anyone in the news room but as far as I can see no retraction, apology (with the exception of a semi-retraction, on a personal basis, from Bill O'Reilly) or even discussion of their primary role in an obvious smear. ...

For that matter, you simply can't discuss Fox's role in the Sherrod episode without referencing their constant harping on the sham story about the Obama DOJ's allegedly going soft on freak show black radicals intimidating voters back in 2008 -- a story cooked up by one of the right-wing activist plants burrowed into the DOJ during the US Attorney firing era. Fox has become the primary purveyor of race-baiting attacks aimed at discrediting President Obama, a fact apparently too substantive and ugly to be a fit topic for 'press criticism' or 'media reporting', which apparently must focus on journalists considered "controversial" despite not being able to point to any actual wrongdoing on their part. That amounts to saying that virtually all of what goes under the name of 'media reporting' these days is a crock.

...

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Does Sherrod have a case against Breitbart...? I hope so.

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For the record, there's a distinct difference between being asked for one's resignation, which is how Sherrod came to be outta a job for 48 hours, and being fired, which Sherrod wasn't.

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Shirley Sherrod was terminated

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who was fired

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fired the woman

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Vilsack made the quick decision Monday to dismiss Sherrod.

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decision to fire Sherrod

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White House role in the firing

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Obama had been briefed on the matter Tuesday morning before it was released and voiced support for the firing.

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They asked Vilsack to review the firing,

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And Lynn Dee's right... there's no "due process" issue here; they who are appointed serve at the will of those who appointed them. Mostly.

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A former Agriculture Department employee

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WASHINGTON – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Wednesday he has apologized to ousted employee Shirley Sherrod

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oust a black Agriculture Department employee

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Fact: Shirley Sherrod was fired! Now don’t you feel silly?

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Fact: Shirley Sherrod was an employee and comes under every Fed rule and regulation just like every other Fed employees! Example: Postal workers.

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Here is another one.
Here it is right from Shirley Sherrod’s own mouth”"... Why did they hire me in the first place if they didn't believe in what I had done up to this point?"

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Any thoughts regarding their shameful and shameless behavior?

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Hey, what’s good for the goose, is good for the goosee!
Or what goes around, comes around!
Boy it’s good to see you LIBs beat at your own game!
And not only were you beaten on this one, you were also exposed for the racist you really are.
This should cost you at least a few black votes.
Nice job Breitbart.

Re:
[quote]Or do you just want to deflect attention to other possible smears against the Obama administration?

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NUTS stock reaches an all time high. Of $158. / share today.
Pres. Almonds stated “ we could not have reached this position without the “Obama bumber sticker removal kit”.

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Sometimes to win it becomes necessary to fight fire with fire.
I just love it when a plan comes together!

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You're getting this stuff from Fox Noise, aren't you?

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No as a matter of fact I don‘t believe any were from Fox, if you bothered to look, you would see the two main sources were: 1. The LA Times and 2. CNN. Hardly what I would call a right leaning source.

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Sometimes to win it becomes necessary to fight fire with fire.
I just love it when a plan comes together!

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How's your research going into whether Shirley Sherrod could be terminated without cause?

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...

... as disappointing as Tom Vilsack’s first crack at this was, the idea that he or Obama is the bad guy in this story is not only preposterous but verging on obscene. It’s like the NYPD as the bad guy in the Son of Sam saga because they didn’t catch David Berkowitz fast enough. Or perhaps that the real moral of the story is that the woman with the stalker should have been more focused on personal data security. Not for some time has something so captured the essential corruption of a big chunk of what passes as ‘right wing media’ (not all, by any means, but a sizable chunk along the Breitbart/Fox/Hannity continuum) and the corruption of the mainstream media itself as this episode.

...

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At approximately 17 minutes into the now-released full video of the event, Sherrod can be heard relaying a tale from her past in which she initially failed to help a white farmer with the full effort she would reserve for a black farmer.

The assembled crowd of card-carrying members of the NAACP took great pleasure in that, their laughter was not nervous at all. That is a contemporaneous expression of racism by today’s politically correct standards, not racism from some 40 years ago. [...]

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The assembled crowd of card-carrying members of the NAACP took great pleasure in that, their laughter was not nervous at all. That is a contemporaneous expression of racism by today’s politically correct standards, not racism from some 40 years ago. [...]

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Breitbart is toast.

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Whether she was fired or not doesn't make that much difference in terms of her damages.

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The real damage was the damage to her reputation and emotional damages.

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If she is smart, Ms. Sherrod will file suit in Washington D.C. and demand a jury trial.

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Because the venue would be Washington D.C. most of the jury would consist of African American Democrats. Breitbart is toast.

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Originally posted by Lynn Dee:
Oh look. Pawn's gonna educate Gus on legal matters. <guffaw>

Take your seats, everybody! The show's about to begin.

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MRT
Member #416757, posted 03-11-03 11:48 AM
<>>Hundreds of law professors signed a petition protesting Bush vs. Gore.<<
Well that is idiotic on the face of it, there was no such case. . . Go through the cases filed in the aftermath of the '00 election. This "case" you speak of is an urban legend. If not, post it and correct me.


MRT
Member #417609, posted 03-14-03 12:58 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Florida ruling.... that the Supreme Court Reviewed at the Request of Bush, was not based on a motion by Gore, the Florida Court moved on its own motion, but, apparently it made it on behalf of Gore.
Normally Gore would file this motion. In this case he did not, the Florida Court took the bit in its teeth so to speak.

>>Rules fixed before the election cannot later be changed so as to affect the outcome of the election.<<
Yes the case was named Bush v Gore. Gore didn't actually file the motion that the Supreme Court overturned.
The Florida Supreme Court acted on its own motion, over the protests of the Chief Justice of the Fl Supreme Court who described it as a "runaway court".
Apparently though they ruled on their own motion, they must have named Gore as the petitioner.
So technically you are right in the name, though I would respectfully disagree on the final issue.
Rules fixed before the election cannot later be changed so as to affect the outcome of the election.

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RDLN Graduate and Board Vice Chair Shirley Sherrod was appointed Georgia Director for Rural Development by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack on July 25. Only days earlier, she learned that New Communities, a group she founded with her husband and other families (see below) has won a thirteen million dollar settlement in the minority farmers law suit Pigford vs Vilsack.

In announcing the appointment of Shirley and other new officials, Secretary Vilsack said that "These individuals will be important advocates on behalf of rural communities in states throughout the country and help administer the valuable programs and services provided by the USDA that can enhance their economic success."

Shirley is a graduate in the first group of RDLN Leaders and serves as Vice Chair of our Board of Directors. She earned her master's degree from Antioch through RDLN, has helped orient every group of RDLN participants, and has taken leadership in many other ways. She serves as Georgia lead for both the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund and the Southern Rural Black Women's Initiative (SRBWI).

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Sherrod says she submitted her resignation under pressure from the White House; the USDA said seeking the resignation was Vilsack's decision alone.

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Why doesn't anyone get the FACTs about the legalities before posting about the legalities? It's not so hard.

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If's Pawn's gonna educate me in legal matters, he needs a little help from his legal genius sidekick, zorro.