Shirley Sherrod is offered a new job

[YumYum]

It's terrible what they put this decent woman through. Rachael Maddow did a great expose on how Fox News started this mess (O'Reilly immediately demanded her resignation).

She showed how on the next day when the truth came out about what she really was trying to say, Fox News criticized the White House for acting so rash, while not accepting any responsibility for the damage that Fox News and all their pundits had done to this innocent woman.

Fired Ag worker mulls job offer after WH apology

By MARY CLARE JALONICK and BEN EVANS, Associated Press Writers Mary Clare Jalonick And Ben Evans, Associated Press Writers

– Wed Jul 21, 7:37 pm ET

WASHINGTON – The White House did a sudden about-face Wednesday and begged for forgiveness from the black Agriculture Department employee whose ouster ignited an embarrassing political firestorm over race. She was offered a "unique opportunity" for a new job and said she was thinking it over.

With lightning speed, the controversy moved from Monday's forced resignation of a minor U.S. Ag official in Georgia to Tuesday's urgent discussions at the White House amid a rising public outcry and then to Wednesday's repeated apologies and pleas for Shirley Sherrod to come back.

Sherrod said she resigned under White House pressure after the airing of a video of racial remarks she made at an NAACP gathering. But Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said repeatedly on Wednesday that the decision had been his alone.

"I asked for Shirley's forgiveness and she was gracious enough to extend it to me," he said after reaching her by telephone.

Sherrod, in a phone interview with The Associated Press, said, "They did make an offer. I just told him I need to think about it."

The controversy threatened to grow into more than a three-day distraction for Obama's administration, with important midterm congressional elections nearing and partisan feelings already running high. President Barack Obama said nothing publicly about the developments while administration officials tried to simultaneously show his concern and to distance him from the original ousting.

It all began with the airing of a video on a conservative website of Sherrod's remarks about not doing all she could to help a white farmer two decades ago. After she was told to resign — with the NAACP declaring its approval — the situation grew more complicated when the rest of the edited video was released by the NAACP and Sherrod insisted her remarks were about reconciliation, not the stoking of racism.

By Wednesday afternoon, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was apologizing to Sherrod "for the entire administration" and saying that officials did not know all the facts when she was fired. He said he didn't know if the president would talk to Sherrod himself.

read more...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100721/...sm_resignation

[bobbyw24]

House Minority Leader John Boehner on Wednesday criticized the decision by conservative media personality Andrew Breitbart to air only a small portion of the video showing USDA official Shirley Sherrod making racially charged remarks earlier this year, which led to her firing.

“It’s unfortunate that whoever laid this out there didn’t lay out the whole story, as opposed to a part of it,” said Boehner, an Ohio Republican, at a lunch with journalists in Washington.

“They only put a little piece of the story out there and people make judgments and they rush and they make bad decisions. They make rash decisions. I don’t want to say bad because I haven’t seen all of this,” he said.

Boehner did not mention Breitbart by name, and Breitbart did not immediately return a call to his cell phone. But the founder of BigGovernment.com has said in TV interviews with CNN and Fox News that he was sent only the two small portions of the video by someone in Georgia, where the remarks were made. He told CNN he did subsequently receive the full portion of the tape and would post it online “if I get the OK from the people who have the rights to the video.”

The White House, interestingly, focused its public comments on the response to the videos rather than on the purveyor.

“Members of this administration, members of the media, members of different political factions on both sides of this, have all made determinations and judgments without a full set of facts,” said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2010/07/21/go...#ixzz0uPSgI81i

[Cowlesy]

If Maddow is trying to pin this on O'Reilly, then she is propagating a falsehood. Sherrod had resigned before O'Reilly even aired. O'Reilly pre-tapes between approximately 5:30-7:00pm. In fact, when O'Reilly called for Sherrod's resignation, Fox News had to run a banner across the bottom of the screen indicating she had already resigned, and O'Reilly's show was already dated because it was taped.

This is all on Andrew Breitbart.

[YumYum]

If Maddow is trying to pin this on O'Reilly, then she is propagating a falsehood. Sherrod had resigned before O'Reilly even aired. O'Reilly pre-tapes between approximately 5:30-7:00pm. In fact, when O'Reilly called for Sherrod's resignation, Fox News had to run a banner across the bottom of the screen indicating she had already resigned, and O'Reilly's show was already dated because it was taped.

This is all on Andrew Breitbart.

I don't think that the majority of Americans know who Andrew Breitbart is. Fox News was the first major cable news outlet to break the news.

What Maddow was showing was the hypocrisy of Fox News. At first, Fox News called for this woman's resignation and criticized the White House for allowing this woman to keep her job, and then the next day Fox News criticized the White House for firing the woman without first having all the facts.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_654134.html

[Austrian Econ Disciple]

My recommendation is to fire everyone at the USDA because the USDA is a plague on the market, on wealth, and on businesses. So I say fire' em all!

[YumYum]

My recommendation is to fire everyone at the USDA because the USDA is a plague on the market, on wealth, and on businesses. So I say fire' em all!

Not until I can get my farm loan from them at 0% interest!

[silus]

A $#@! load of people here were jumping on the bandwagon when this story came out. Where are they now? A lot of people on RonPaulforums owe this woman an apology.

[YumYum]

A $#@! load of people here were jumping on the bandwagon when this story came out. Where are they now? A lot of people on RonPaulforums owe this woman an apology.

I too am guilty, not in this specif incident, but in other cases of having my button pushed by the main stream media before having all the facts. Every media outlet has a bias, even the indies. That is what was so extra kool about this forum. Something would be in the underground news that was bogus (I'm not even talking about the mainstream media, I'm talking about some the forum member's favorite blogs) and this forum would have it dissected and exposed for being bull$#@! by the end of the day.

One of my favorites was when Black Terrel smelled a rat on Drudge about the private company that was going to buy a jail in Montana and you guys exposed it before the mainstream media did for being a big fraudulent hoax.

We weren't so quick to jump to conclusions back then.

[jmdrake]

Yeah. We do sometimes police our own, but we do have our own double standards. When Rand threw a member of his own campaign under the bus over bogus racism charges nobody was like "How terrible that he didn't fully investigate this". And I understand the difference. The NAACP isn't in political race. But I fully appreciate the catch 22 they were put in. React slowly and you're accused of tolerating bigotry. React too quickly, and if it turns out you were wrong you're accused of putting your institutional interests above the people you claim to serve. It's a lose - lose proposition. The only thing that's "just" about what happened is that it gave the left an example of the dangers of randomly throwing out charges of racism without fully knowing the facts. Rather than using this as a chance to "demonize" the NAACP (which has done its share of stupid things and then some), this should become a "teachable moment". In fact I think I'll use it the next time someone comes to me with some "How can you support the Pauls when they are associated with those racist tea partiers".

[Romulus]

I think that her stepping down admitted some guilt (even if there was none) on her part.

She should have stuck to her guns..

What a huge cluster on everyones part.

The good: That what was highlighted is correct. It is not a left/right black/white issue... its up vs down.

Hopefully more people will catch onto that.

[michaelwise]

What Are the Race Baiters Trying to Prevent? More Race Crimes?

How would more race crimes be possible? We have many laws on the books making race crimes illegal. What are we going to do, repeal the race crime laws? What is the possibility of that happening? Zero percent?

The race baiting card is the only thing the administration has left. I wouldn't be surprised if the firing of that woman was planned to get more race baiting in the news to distract from the real issues.

I don't believe there is more racism in America. I believe there is less and less. There are no police reports to prove out more racism.

Where are the police reports of burning crosses on lawns and lynchings in America? There are none. They are making a huge issue out of nothing to waste TV news time on talking about a human interest story, a non issue.

Human interest stories have no direct affect on you. They are a complete distraction. Human interest stories are designed to destroy you.

[YumYum]

What Are the Race Baiters Trying to Prevent? More Race Crimes?

How would more race crimes be possible? We have many laws on the books making race crimes illegal. What are we going to do, repeal the race crime laws? What is the possibility of that happening? Zero percent?

The race baiting card is the only thing the administration has left. I wouldn't be surprised if the firing of that woman was planned to get more race baiting in the news to distract from the real issues.

I don't believe there is more racism in America. I believe there is less and less. There are no police reports to prove out more racism.

Where are the police reports of burning crosses on lawns and lynchings in America? There are none. They are making a huge issue out of nothing to waste TV news time on talking about a human interest story, a non issue.

Human interest stories have no direct affect on you. They are a complete distraction. Human interest stories are designed to destroy you.

At the Tea Parties there are photos of Obama as a cannibal witch doctor with bones through his nose. There is a video of a woman carrying a monkey that represents Obama. Comparing a black person to an Unga Bunga from Africa or a monkey is racist.

Besides, Shirely Sherrod has nothing to do with the race baiters. She is an innocent victim of the actions on both sides.

[Valli6]

I've been following the way this story has played out since Breitbart first posted the video on Monday morning and the spinning hasn't stopped yet! I am NOT a fan of FOX news or Breitbart (I don't recall him ever saying anything kind about Ron Paul during the campaign), but think again - they are ALL still pressing buttons!

The original video is not spliced together - it's simply a 2 minute excerpt from a 40 minute speech. In fact, the original snippet DOES includes the part where Sherrod says:

"That is when it was revealed to me that it was about poor versus those who have, and not so much about white - it IS about white and black, but it's no, you know it opened my eyes. Because I took him to one of his own"

See this at 1:43 YouTube - NAACP Bigotry in their ranks


The full video gives Sherrod a chance to explain how her life's experience and her father's murder by a white man, affected her perception of whites and makes her feelings completely understandable. Does this prove this women is not a racist? I think it proves she now strives not to be, but her unexplained claims that "he wanted to show he was superior to me", and her use of the phrase "one of his own" and "it IS about white and black" indicates she hasn't been 100% successful - So? She's human. Still, the approval from the audience at certain parts of the speech (before her eyes were opened) betray an "us against them" attitude which bothers me. In his original statement, Ben Jealous referred to this also - now it doesn't matter because "it's FOX's fault."

I find it ridiculous that many are claiming this is all FOX's Fault - or even Breitbart's! I clicked all around the TV "newz" channels throughout Monday and this story never aired on any of them including FOX! (Granted, I'm never able to stay on any one for very long). Finally, towards the end of his show O'reilly spoke of it briefly - literally for about a minute, and said they would have to fire her. There was no panel of pundits screaming about it, no back to back coverage, or repetitive airing of the video (as I had expected)! It turns out, she was never mentioned on Glenn Beck that day, although she was told this would be happening. I understand that, following o'Reily's show Hannity spoke of it, and some women talked about it. I didn't see this so don't know how they covered it. By Tuesday afternoon FOX was defending Sherrod. Oddly, on Wednesday Shepard Smith was stating he hadn't aired the story because "we" know Breitbart is an "unreliable" source. To prove this, he played - believe it or not! - an EDITED clip of Breitbart's clip! He showed a clip without the whole, "that's when it was revealed to me… it opened my eyes…" part, and claimed THIS is what Breitbart posted! (FALSE!) Then he said, "but here's what he left out!" and then played the "That's when it was revealed to me… etc." part! ? Apparently Shepard Smith dislikes breitbart, or was told to discredit him and create more distance between Breitbart and FOX.

The Whitehouse and the NAACP have long expressed that they don't consider FOX a real news source, so how can they claim that a story on FOX influenced them in their treatment of this woman? It's childish for the NAACP to claim FOX made them do what they did! I'm guessing the Whitehouse was in contact with the NAACP and may have made their decision based on input from them! (Come'on, just last week Michelle was rallying the NAACP against the "racists".)

Breitbart clearly stated that he was playing a "race card" with this story as evidenced by the picture of a card with the word "RACE" on it, where he posted it!
http:// biggovernment .com/abreitbart/2010/07/19/video-proof-the-naacp-awards-racism2010/
He also made clear that it was a response to the "race card" played by the NAACP last week. Get it? He's playing "the game"! He put the card down, just like the progressives have done so many times before, and sat back. The media waited to see how the hand would be played out before responding. The NAACP responded by condemning her. The Whitehouse responded by firing her. Everyone jumped to "prove" they weren't the racist one! No one digged deeper - They never have before, have they?!

Maybe some of the players will learn how perverse it is to constantly make accusations of racism. I saw Sherrod's first interview on CNN and at that time, she stated that this all happened because the NAACP "had a fight with the tea party". She seemed to mostly blame the NAACP. I also see the NAACP as largely responsible here. As always, they were worried about winning "the game" and not the human who's life was being affected by it. It would be nice now, if Sherrod would stand up for others that've been accused of racism without evidence.

[michaelwise]

At the Tea Parties there are photos of Obama as a cannibal witch doctor with bones through his nose. There is a video of a woman carrying a monkey that represents Obama. Comparing a black person to an Unga Bunga from Africa or a monkey is racist.

Besides, Shirely Sherrod has nothing to do with the race baiters. She is an innocent victim of the actions on both sides.

I wouldn't insult witch doctors and monkeys like that. Africans, monkeys, and witch doctors are not racist symbols.

[Romulus]

I wouldn't insult witch doctors and monkeys like that. Africans, monkeys, and witch doctors are not racist symbols.

In our popular culture they are. They have been adopted as such. Liberty folks ought to be better than that, to use or claim innocence about symbols who's juxtaposition are widely adopted as a smear.

BTW, YumYum, I would have to see images of folks at Tea Party's using that... I've only seen Obama/hitler mustache and the Joker Obama.. nothing to sort of what you mentioned.

[michaelwise]

In our popular culture they are. They have been adopted as such. Liberty folks ought to be better than that, to use or claim innocence about symbols who's juxtaposition are widely adopted as a smear.

The lets un-adopt them taking away the ammunition. I like monkeys, witch doctors, and Africans. So does National Geographic.

[jmdrake]

In our popular culture they are. They have been adopted as such. Liberty folks ought to be better than that, to use or claim innocence about symbols who's juxtaposition are widely adopted as a smear.

BTW, YumYum, I would have to see images of folks at Tea Party's using that... I've only seen Obama/hitler mustache and the Joker Obama.. nothing to sort of what you mentioned.

[jmdrake]

@ Valli6: Is it possible, just possible, that the farmer in question might have carried on in a way that Ms. Sherrod justifiably misinterpreted as "acting superior"? After all, he was someone who was probably upset and frustrated at the prospect of losing his farm and all of the red tape he had to cut through. And some of that frustration may have come through. Based on Ms. Sherrod's past experiences with racism she could have misread that. That's one of the reasons the race issue becomes so sticking. Most blacks (my age at least) can point to specific instances in their lives where they definitely experienced racism. (For me it was being a quiet black kid in a majority white high school and hearing white people say racist things when they forgot I was around only to apologize profusely once the realized what they'd done.) And I'm sure most white people can point to at least one time when they've been wrongly accused of being racist either through mistake or malice. Neither side is willing to acknowledge the legitimate hurt of the other side and so there's never any healing. At least that's the way I see it.

[Koz]

[QUOTE=Romulus;2804753]I think that her stepping down admitted some guilt (even if there was none) on her part.

She should have stuck to her guns..

QUOTE]

DING! DING! DING! We have a winner! I'm sure she's flabberghasted that one of 'her kind' would throw her under the bus. If whe wasn't guilty of something she would not have resigned.

If my boss called me and told me to resign on the phone because Fox was doing a story about me I would tell them to shove it up thier asses. You'll have to fire me.

[jmdrake]

DING! DING! DING! We have a winner! I'm sure she's flabberghasted that one of 'her kind' would throw her under the bus. If whe wasn't guilty of something she would not have resigned.

If my boss called me and told me to resign on the phone because Fox was doing a story about me I would tell them to shove it up thier asses. You'll have to fire me.

As I pointed out earlier in the thread, one of Rand's campaign staff resigned over racism charges. He wasn't racist. I'm personally sure of that. Sometimes people choose to fall on their swords.

[Soca Taliban]

At the Tea Parties there are photos of Obama as a cannibal witch doctor with bones through his nose. There is a video of a woman carrying a monkey that represents Obama. Comparing a black person to an Unga Bunga from Africa or a monkey is racist.

Besides, Shirely Sherrod has nothing to do with the race baiters. She is an innocent victim of the actions on both sides.

This is stupid. So which animal could Obama be compared to that would make the poster non-racist? And would a "black" person carrying the same poster be considered racist? And since when are witch doctors limited to a certain skin tone?

Shirley Sherrod's actions at the time were foolish and she should have been fired from her job then. Did she see the "light"? It may appear so, but who knows.

[jmdrake]

This is stupid. So which animal could Obama be compared to that would make the poster non-racist? And would a "black" person carrying the same poster be considered racist? And since when are witch doctors limited to a certain skin tone?

Shirley Sherrod's actions at the time were foolish and she should have been fired from her job then. Did she see the "light"? It may appear so, but who knows.

Deciding to ignore what she (wrongly?) perceived to be insults and helping the white farmer save his farm was "foolish"? Regardless of whether it was or not, that has no bearing on what she may or may not have been doing at the AG department a quarter of a century later. I guess the "foolish" thing was thinking she could use a personal story from 25 years before in a conversation on a heated topic like race and not face repercussions. Word to the wise. Next time you have a personal story about transcending race, begin it with saying "I have this friend who told me...."

[Valli6]

@ Valli6: Is it possible, just possible, that the farmer in question might have carried on in a way that Ms. Sherrod justifiably misinterpreted as "acting superior"? After all, he was someone who was probably upset and frustrated at the prospect of losing his farm and all of the red tape he had to cut through. And some of that frustration may have come through. Based on Ms. Sherrod's past experiences with racism she could have misread that. That's one of the reasons the race issue becomes so sticking.

Yes, absolutely. Worried people can definitely be unpleasant. It stuck out for me, because I can't tell from the statement, just which type of behavior comes off as offensive, so am not sure how to take it - whether it's real or imagined. Also, I suspect that the majority of the time people can be annoying or obnoxious without race ever playing a role in their thoughts - yet if the 2 people involved are strangers of different races, they are likely to consider that as part of the equation.

[Romulus]

Sorry, but that's either an agent or a big idiot holding that sign. Why else would want to discredit a movement with such obvious imagery to incite race hatred?



Look at it this way.... the "right" setup Sherrod. The WH took the bait exposing themselves and the NAACP did the same....

Where does that leave the black community? Hopefully in OUR corner, against the establishment.

[michaelwise]

The tea parties are not Anti-Africanites. They are not Anti-Mexicanites, They are not Anti-Latinoites. They are not Anti-Semites. They do not spew Anti-Africanism. They do not spew Anti-Mexicanism. They do not spew Anti-Latinoism. They do not spew Anti-Semitism. They do not make Anti-Africanic statements. They do not make Anti-Maxicanic statements. They do not make Anti-Latinoic statements. They do not make Anti-Semitic statements. "Racism" is the term that puts all of this stuff under one roof. Smart people can understand this. They can tell with proof when a specific group is being discriminated against. Most people can't.

The Tea parties promote Constitutional liberty and the rule of law.
Political cartoons are perfectly acceptable bashing a single person or group of people for their destructive ways.
The only obvious racist symbol I know is the KKK robe, because they made it so.

Make a list of racist symbols that are not acceptable so people will know not to use them. Here I'll start you out;

1) KKK Robe.

[jmdrake]

Sorry, but that's either an agent or a big idiot holding that sign. Why else would want to discredit a movement with such obvious imagery to incite race hatred?



Look at it this way.... the "right" setup Sherrod. The WH took the bait exposing themselves and the NAACP did the same....

Where does that leave the black community? Hopefully in OUR corner, against the establishment.

It could be an agent or an idiot. I don't know. I just googled "Obama, Witch Doctor, Tea Party" knowing in advance that I'd get a hit. Maybe the tea parties will need to self police just like the RP movement did in telling members in advance of rallies "Don't hold up 9/11 was an inside job" signs. (I know that happened locally).

As for how to win over the black community, the only way to do it is to hold up signs like this:





Seriously, the chief complaint from blacks about the tea parties is "They weren't complaining when Bush was violating the constitution". And that's a very valid argument. Yes I know the "real tea parties" started while Bush was president, and I've pointed that out every chance we get. But we (as in the Ron Paul movement) have allowed them to morph into "Bush good - Obama bad" pep rallies. We do that because we don't want to alienate the "teo-cons". Folks on the outside can see right through the hypocrisy.

[Soca Taliban]

Deciding to ignore what she (wrongly?) perceived to be insults and helping the white farmer save his farm was "foolish"? Regardless of whether it was or not, that has no bearing on what she may or may not have been doing at the AG department a quarter of a century later. I guess the "foolish" thing was thinking she could use a personal story from 25 years before in a conversation on a heated topic like race and not face repercussions. Word to the wise. Next time you have a personal story about transcending race, begin it with saying "I have this friend who told me...."

She didn't ignore them, because as she stated, she didn't do ALL that was in her power to do from the jump. Whether or not that made her second efforts all the more difficult is a matter of speculation. I also never stated that her job at USDA should have been in danger.

[jmdrake]

The tea parties are not Anti-Africanites. They are not Anti-Mexicanites, They are not Anti-Latinoites. They are not Anti-Semites. They do not spew Anti-Africanism. They do not spew Anti-Mexicanism. They do not spew Anti-Latinoism. They do not spew Anti-Semitism. They do not make Anti-Africanic statements. They do not make Anti-Maxicanic statements. They do not make Anti-Latinoic statements. They do not make Anti-Semitic statements. "Racism" is the term that puts all of this stuff under one roof. Smart people can understand this. They can tell with proof when a specific group is being discriminated against. Most people can't.

The Tea parties promote Constitutional liberty and the rule of law.
Political cartoons are perfectly acceptable bashing a single person or group of people for their destructive ways.
The only obvious racist symbol I know is the KKK robe, because they made it so.

Make a list of racist symbols that are not acceptable so people will know not to use them. Here I'll start you out;

1) KKK Robe.

I never said the tea parties were racist. Romulus said he hadn't seen any "Obama witchdoctor" posters so I showed him one. He apparently agrees with YumYum that this is a racially offensive image since he said the person holding the sign had to be an "agent or an idiot". Take it up with them. And of course this shows the fallacy of trying to create such a "list" if even someone who agrees with you that the tea parties aren't racist thinks the Obama - witchdoctor poster is at least "questionable".

Rather than argue over which anti Obama signs are "acceptable", why not carry signs that bash both Obama and Bush? That would be closer to the Ron Paul message. And it would be impossible to call such a sign "racist".

[puppetmaster]

people get fired all the time for wrong reasons.....blah blah.

[jmdrake]

She didn't ignore them, because as she stated, she didn't do ALL that was in her power to do from the jump. Whether or not that made her second efforts all the more difficult is a matter of speculation. I also never stated that her job at USDA should have been in danger.

What is not up for "speculation" is that she helped the white farmer keep his farm. She could have given him the complete run around and sent him from one worthless attorney to another. Instead she took him to an attorney that actually gave him some help. The only thing left for speculation what was her motivation for helping him. Was she doing it reluctantly or because she had a change of heart? The first clip suggested the former. The full clip suggested the latter. Also we know from hindsight that the white farmer did keep his farm. That's all he was asking for, so whether she did it with "full force" or "gusto" or whatever, she accomplished her job. Speculating on what should have happened 25 years ago is to venture into the realm of "thought crime".