Blame Breitbart, sure -- but this was also the NAACP's and Administration's cock-up...

Listen, Breitbart and Fox did what Breitbart and Fox do. And, sadly, we've already come to expect the rest of the MSM to abdicate their duty to perform responsible journalism and, instead, race to the chum. What else is new?

That the NAACP and the USDA decided to respond in knee-jerk, Pavlovian fashion (or in the Administration's case, with fearful silence) in deference to known liars and propagandists - ESPECIALLY after the Van Jones and ACORN affairs - is what is really shameful.

That said, I don't want to see Benjamin Jealos resign, or Tom Vilsack resign, or anything like that - because then, the Rethug Noise Machine wins again. But, following Jealos' lead, President Obama and that magnificent moron Vilsack both owe Shirley Sherrod a full, public, prime-time apology, in front of the camera's and to her face, for their thoughtlessness and lack of faith, courage, pragmatism and leadership...and offer her a promotion. If she tells them to kiss her ass, they should thank her for the opportunity, and then pull out their Chap-Stik and knee pads.

Then, they should stand up, brush temselves off, call Breitbart out for the New-Reich Goebbels that he is, and get the f*ck back to work. We have serious problems to address.


(On edit: the addition of the rest of the media as culpable in this farce.)

and neither is the President (if he even knew this was going on),
and that's something we should have always known......

and now we understand even better that Fox and Breitbart
committed Fraud and opinion manipulation.

So my question is....what are we gonna do about Fox and Breitbart?
Cause seems like we have an awful lot of determination and anger
whenever the White House can be blamed for a mistake.
But what are we gonna do about the real culprits....
or is this someone else's job, and if so, whos?

I'm merely saying that the President and Tom Vilsack and Ben Jealos do not get a free pass. Jealos already prostrated himself on national TV in apology.

Back to your question: Breitbart is already on record for having lied and contradicted his own story over the past 48 hours about his knowledge of the unedited tape, and his intentions for showing the edited version and his interpretation of it. I think there may be grounds for charges of fraud, slander or defamation of character, and harassment. He better produce the asshole he alleges did the "actually editing," or expect to be held responsible for it himself. His clear intent was to cause harm with doctored, false evidence - whether the NAACP was his target and Sherrod merely his weapon of choice, is no matter.

I'll most definitely look forward to seeing how this pans out.

...its become the philosophy to jump on it quickly and squelch it. Maybe we should all reconsider that approach, having seen where it gets it when taken to the other extreme, as it has here.

As far as the NAACP goes though. People are missing the real story. The initial edited video that was put out there was done so as a way to try to call out the NAACP in retaliation for their very justified statement against the Tea Party's racist elements. Everyone needs to focus on who the real damn enemy is here.

...just growing sickened and weary of the enabling of that enemy by folks who should know better. My point is, if the Administration could not see another classic, Breitbart freight-train of fraud rolling down the tracks and recognize it for the set-up it was, then they need to man-up and accept their share of the blame, make quick and unequivocal restitution to the victim, and call the perps out for the propagandists and soulless goblins of hate that they are. And then, prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.

...and that Sharrod really was openly admitting to discriminating against white farmers and had Vilsack had NOT quickly had her fired, then today, you and the media and all the same critics would be yelling about the incompetence of the administration for not acting quickly to put a damper on racist employees.

Cmon, you know I'm right. The people yelling about an overreaction are overreacting more than Vilsack did.

...I have a mind and opinion of my own. Were you in my house yesterday morning when I first saw the jump-cut video, and heard my reaction to my wife, you wouldn't have said what you just did. And it didn't even take hearing the name "Andrew Breitbart" associated with it to know that the whole thing stunk of complete fabrication.

Are you defending her firing? Help me out, here. I'm just trying to get a handle on where you actually stand on this issue.

And based on the logic you have presented for directing your outrage at the entire administration over the management of a low key, state level official somewhere in Georgia, you leave yourself open to a lot of presumptions about what other crazy conclusions you might come to.

I'm not defending her firing. I think she should be offered a reinstatement or some really nice compensation if she doesn't feel comfortable being reinstated. I also think she should be given an official apology. But, I also believe that based on past experiences with this games of "soundbytes and racism", its no wonder the reaction was like it was. And had the reality been that the soundbyte accurately represented the facts, Vilsack would have been praised for "overreacting" the way he did. And had he not, he would have been slammed for not reacting in a timely fashion.

It's no secret that Breitbart or the hate merchants at Fox are always looking for any opening, or that they have both a penchant for and the desire to twist facts and fiction into any shape they need to suit their agenda, to wit: bringing down this Administration and/or anyone in it. This, based upon what you call "past experiences." A heavily-edited video, devoid of any context, pimped by Breitbart and played on Fox - at least to anyone who hasn't been in a coma these past couple of years - breathes "malicious intent." Reason #1 not to start firing bullets blindly.

Reason #2: the present climate, stirred by the very hyperbolic sound bytes and public proclamations of racism that you note, should have demanded at least momentary prudence and due diligence before leaping to a conclusion, especially given past precedent (read: ACORN and Van Jones). An hour's worth of descretion would have buried this as a story and focused blame and shame squarely on those who foisted this sham on the public. It didn't happen, because certain people panicked, or were simply concerned with keeping up appearances.

Finally, the order to terminate came from a top-level Cabinet secretary in DC, not some mid-level manager working out of a dank office in Savannah. You think Vilsack finds himself dropped into a hot LZ like this and makes a decision to frag one of his own in a ritualistic black sacrifice without at least checking in with Rahm first? Even if he did act on his own, which I doubt, it was nothing but a reflexive and indefensible act of cutting away a perceived political liability before the facts were in. And, in case you're not keeping up on current events, the White House quite possibly knew in advance of the firing, and at the very least, endorsed Vilsack's decision shortly after the fact...that is, of course, before they were enlightened and came out against it and found themselves frantically denying responsibility.

I don't have a problem with people making mistakes. What I find distasteful and frustrating is their inexplicable reluctance to learn from them, or their seeming inability to appreciate the difference.

Color me kooky if you will, but this doesn't speak well of anyone involved - with the sole exception of Shirley Sherrod.

story being told. Instantly, without knowing the source. It is obvious to me.

...in exercising caution and prudent restraint, apparently couldn't.

rather than suggest that we are to let them dictate what is "truth" going forward.

:toast:

What a joke the MSM is. It's not just Breitbart, Drudge, and Fox - no one acted like a journalist here. News organizations as we knew them are gone. They have bee replaced by entertainment divisions and news celebrities more interested in the next cocktail party than reporting the truth. If just one talking head had acted like a reporter and demanded two independent sources for this story it never would have seen the light of day.

It's true that no one exercised anything like due diligence here - but the "news media" acted as co-conspirators helping Breitbart, Fox, Drudge and their tea party pals stir up racial hatred in their conservative base.

...and I'm happy to add them to the shit list. Thanks for making that point.

and hope to God that the WH and Democrats in general learned something here. Like get a fricking backbone! Stand up and be a man Obama. Fight for this country and for us!

The left ALWAYS weakens its stance by being wishy washy about this stuff. Not setting your full sights on the people who perpetrate these lies is letting them off the hook. The WH looks extremely whimpy, but I'm not letting these right wing fools off the hook in any way, shape or manner.

I'm pissed as hell that the WH fell for this, but now that the story is backfiring on these fools the smart thing to do is to avoid muddying the waters by equalizing the blame. It's Breitbart and Fox News' fault and they deserve the full force of our ire and the absolute full blame.

Breitbart and Fox News need to feel the heat. They need to know it backfired on them. The more time we spend whining about the WH and NCAAP, the less time we spend fighting the real enemy. Breitbart, Fox, and the whole right wing propaganda apparatus is the enemy and this a war.