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In the WH and at USDA thought the story was true when they acted on it. The question becomes, "Why did they think it was true?"
A couple of answers:
1. Vilsack thought it was true because he didn't give it time and because it goes directly to an issue that's probably the biggest annoyance of his life: the discrimination settlement issues at USDA. He was off on a trip, and received a transcript, probably alongside a panicked email from undersecretary. It was, to his mind, and for the probably 5 minutes that he dealt with it, vouched for by the undersecretary. The 2.5 minutes are themselves damning. Just as an example of how minor things can fuck up organizational processes, consider Vilsack's story of the bad email address. Sherrod had a heads up that this would hit the news last Thursday. She sought to email Vilsack the full transcript in an attempt to head off the whole issue, but apparently spelled his email address incorrectly! Or maybe she used commas instead of semicolons, or vice versa. Who knows! But for a missing comma...
Should Vilsack have spent more than five minutes and investigated the matter fully? Of course he should have.
2. Undersecretary is the key point of the problem, in my view. She thinks the story is true because she's looking at the video and hearing the comments, and she just flips. Why? Because shit travels downhill, and she knows that her boss (that is, Big V) does nothing but complain about the discrimination shit and how much time it takes up. Ouch! This goes directly to the discrimination stuff. Fuck! We have to get ahead of this, plus it'll make me look like I'm taking the initiative! Faster. Faster. And so it goes.
3. White House Contact Person for USDA - Why does he or she believe it? It almost doesn't matter. She calls USDA for general updates, and this comes up. Yeah, I saw something about that. What're y'all doing on this thing. She sounds crazy! Oh, yah, says the undersecretary. Already all over it it. Ah, good, says WH stooge. So, why does WH stooge think it's true? Because he or she didn't give it much thought at all. Thoughtless. WEhy not check out the story? Why should he or she? USDA's already handling this shit, and it's one less thing for me to worry about. I can also go to communications people and have an answer for them on this issue. Finis! Booyakasha - I'm hitting that Georgetown bar tonight!
They all thought it was true. Why? Is it because they implicitly believe 'right wing slurs' or because they're scared of right wing media? No. It's because they didn't devote enough time to something, and because they were operating on local conditions and personal goals, and probably because they had other shit to do and the thing seems clear cut at first glance. When are we fooled by first glance? When we don't have time or energy to make a second. Let's remember that Sherrod was a political appointee, not a lifelong federal employee. Process can go out the windopw in such cases, and it did here, for sure. It should not happen again, like, ever, but I think many people are making excessive claims about motivation and strategy, when the things was probably a series of small fuck-ups that cascaded.
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