Actual unedited video.
The NAACP has retracted its original statement condemning comments made by a former Agriculture Department official who resigned after a video clip surfaced of her discussing a white farmer…
“Having reviewed the full tape by Shirley Sherrod, who is the woman who was fired by the Department of Agriculture, and most importantly heard the testimony of the white farmers mentioned in this story, we now believe that the organization that edited the documents did so with the intention of deceiving millions of Americans,” the statement from NAACP President Benjamin Jealous said.
Jealous later posted on his Twitter account that he “Spoke to Ms. Sherrod earlier today and personally apologized. Plan to meet with her face-to-face the next time I’m in Georgia.”
The organization also urged Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to reconsider Sherrod’s resignation from her post as the department’s director of rural development for Georgia.
Breitbart originally posted the video, which was quickly picked up by Fox News…
Sherrod defended herself in a number of interviews Tuesday, saying her controversial comments were taken out of context. She had, she said, used a personal experience from nearly a quarter century ago in which she confronted her own racism and learned to move beyond it…
White House cowardice in the face of loudmouthed blather from right-wing nutballs is not justification for terminating someone fighting on behalf of poor people.
UPDATE: Tom Vilsack has apologized and offered Mrs. Sherrod a job back with the USDA.
#80
Derp durp duuuuuuuh.
By listening to No Agenda in the morning. Smarten up tough guy!
The problem here is people generally take what they are told as the truth. Finding out we were lied to is always a big disappointment as our trust has been broken.
Breitbart manipulated, or had someone else do it, the video. He boldly promoted it to discredit Sherrod, posting how she oversees a billion in Federal money (she didn’t, but that is another lie). He was happy when she was forced to resign. He even tweeted he hoped the DOJ would investigate her for “promoting racial discrimination.”
Breitbart lied to us. Other news agencies took it at face value and reported it, most though just let it slide. It was only later that Sherrod came back and challenged the doctored video. Then the truth came out.
Vilsack was wrong to rush to judgment. He too went with what he was told and believed it without giving Sherrod a chance to rebut the charge. Such is the power of a lie.
The best outcome would be for Obama to invite her to the WH and offer her her job back. He should apologize for the government’s hasty and wrong reaction. Then the President can slam the whole racist, anti American, violent, right wing for their deliberate, planned ruining of America. While Obama might be a fair target, people like Sherrod, just trying to do their jobs, shouldn’t be. The whole tea bagger movement needs the light of day shone on it.
EVERYONE with a modicum of common sense and humanity has apologized by now – excepting blowhard Breitbart.
Perfectly accurate depiction of the difference between people who support or (perish the thought) fight for civil rights – and phonies who pat themselves on the back for some ivory tower ideology.
You see it in the comments on this page – rationales excusing the attack.
Why is that blog still in existence? All it does is distort the truth and pander to right-wing racists and neo-fascists.
Cranky: This is not about Breitbart who is doing the job “legitimate” journalists won’t and challenging baseless accusations.
I’d suggest looking up this guy’s history of political shenanigans. He’s a liar and a fraud, a well-paid tool of the right-wing. He should be in jail for the ACORN take down; he broke far more laws than they ever did. Seriously…the guy is a plague on polite political discourse.
Rick Cain said,
Obama should know better than to listen to anything Breitbard and Little Green Footballs says.
Actually Little Green Footballs has mostly switched sides. The guy that runs it seems to hate Breitbard. Of course that isn’t to say that the site is any more honest than when it was on the other side.
So either they were dumb enough to fire her without any real investigation (which wouldn’t surprise me at all now) or they’re reinstating her to avoid public backlash.
What a pathetic government office the USDA is. And everyone here keeps barking at the wrong tree. Amazing.
To jbenson2 in reference to post #17 and anyone else here who thinks or claims that Fox News had nothing to do with this story blowing up the way it did, watch this: http://bit.ly/9Vy4ao
If you want to get to the actual proof in question, start watching at 1:40.
What pisses me off the most here is the fact that NO ONE did any real investigative journalism and checked the tape before airing it. If anyone had they would have see the fact that it was edited out of context and had come from someone with a history of manipulation and lies to push an anti Democrat agenda.
Shame on Fox News (and CNN for their part) and SHAME on our administration and the AACP for having so backbone and reacting to this story without actually checking the facts.
Pedro,the real story is the lying liars. Or do you feel what Breitbart did was appropriate?
In the end, Fox “News” gets the black eye…nothing they say should be trusted at this point.
Has anyone pointed out BB just found this video edited on youtube and reposted it? NAACP is the only one that had the unedited version and they still wanted her fired before they even looked at the tape.
the bigger problem was the audience who was laughing and clapping while she described her racism.
She not going to take the job back, she’s gonna sue and get some money.
She already sued the D of Ag once and got $300k for “pain and suffering” and when asked if she’d sue this time she said “yes i probably will”
BTW why does this say attack by TEA party in the headline. The Tea party had nothing to do with this, not Fox news. Fox didn’t air anything about it until after she had already been fired.
Breitbart is the one at fault for running the tape. The other weird thing though is that the NAACP had the FULL tape themselves and still condemned the lady…….
jman….Fox was all over this story Monday, before she resigned. It was a hot exclusive for them all day.
What’s a neo-fascist?
#91 wildcatbn said “Has anyone pointed out BB just found this video edited on youtube and reposted it?”
In Breitbart original post, it sounded like he had the full video….
“We are in possession of a video from in which Shirley Sherrod, USDA Georgia Director of Rural Development, speaks at the NAACP Freedom Fund dinner in Georgia. In her meandering speech to what appears to be an all-black audience, this federally appointed executive bureaucrat lays out in stark detail, that her federal duties are managed through the prism of race and class distinctions.”
http://biggovernment.com/abreitbart/2010/07/19/video-proof-the-naacp-awards-racism2010/
Only later he acknowledged a source only sent him those clips. More to the point, how can you trust anything he says? And where are the conservative saying this is wrong?
But facts? Phsst! What do they have to do with anything?
Fox is not “news”. It’s a radical right attack tool masquerading as news.
Hmm I don’t trust what anyone says but if there is video you got to take it at face value until someone can prove or disprove it.
Bottom line she probably isn’t a nice person and still has racist views but she shouldn’t have been fired for what she did 20 years ago.
wildcat===you read any part of this thread, even if limited to only the header and update, and you conclude exactly the wrong thing huh?
I see I’ll have to amend my nickname again: “bobbo, the theater of the absurd hooman tragedy continues unphased by facts or experience.” Watch for it in your local blogosphere.
And sadly, since I do think you will miss the point: No, you should not accept videos at face value.
What a dolt.
#90 Then you’re completely wrong and out of touch with reality. What a tv channel presents has absolutely no weight whatsoever without further proof. And people making decisions on that are just morons, plain and simple.
Then again, you seem to believe everything that goes out on tv, specially if it’s lefty oriented.
What exactly was Fox’ involvement before the woman was fired? And how does the NAACP get snookered by a video of an appearance at their own group?