White House press secretary Robert Gibbs apologized to Shirley Sherrod “on behalf of this entire administration” in his daily briefing, which Sherrod “watched live on CNN.” Gibbs said Vilsack is “trying to reach her” to talk and apologize to her. Sherrod, like a true champ, said the administration has her phone number and knows how to get in touch. As of now, Tom Vilsack is still your Secretary of Agriculture and Shirley Sherrod has no job.
Gibbs here is trying to say that both the media and people in the administration acted too swiftly on this issue. “A lot of people made judgments without the facts.” Yes, but we should not have to be the Obama administration’s mom and tell it not to jump off bridges just because everyone is doing it. “Leader of the Free World.” Act like it. Lead. You have the authority to send Andrew Breitbart to a secret prison and torture him. You can make him eat his own shit for once! Why not do that instead of cowering?!
Also, it has been reported that the White House is trying to distance Obama from this situation, so for that reason Obama himself will not call Sherrod to apologize, nor will he do anything like the “beer summit.” Wow, really taking charge of what happened!
And of course, not everyone was wrong. Some people think it is best to use their brains first and not just get scared whenever they are attacked by a political opponent. You have to have the decency to at least look into the facts of the situation and not just immediately ruin somebody’s career because the hype seems to be against you and she doesn’t mean much to you or your own career.
At 7:16 in this video, you see Jake Tapper get pissed about this, rightly. “I actually asked the right questions.” Yes, one of the amazing things about this is some people in the media actually went out and found Sherrod and the farmer in question to see what really happened. Some of them actually did their jobs! And this is one of the reasons why the administration looks so bad here: They don’t even have the basic skills of Rick Sanchez, who is really sort of a hero for giving this poor woman a voice after she was cast aside by the administration because it was the easy thing to do and because she had little to no power they had to take into consideration.
“Teachable moment” lesson? Do your job. Don’t be a coward. And next time Breitbart says somebody in the administration accidentally hit “Like” on a Facebook photo of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad months ago, don’t immediately fire that person. [YouTube/CNN/The Hill]
{ 81 comments }
Make ‘em sweat, Shirley. Take yourself out for a high tea, get your nails done, take a walk in the sunshine and watch the children play . . . then maybe check your messages and think about returning some phone calls.
Shirley Sherrod should be appointed AG secretary. Tom Vilsack should be appointed secretary of sniffing Andrew Bretbart’s ass. And Andrew Breitbart should be used to plug a hole in some deepwater oil spill off the coast of Nigeria. The End.
There is something additionally tragic about the lack of snark in this one.
ugh, so now the lamestream media are acting like journalist heros for doing basic rudimentary fact-checking on a Breitbart scoop?
You have the authority to send Andrew Breitbart to a secret prison and torture him. You can make him eat his own shit for once! Why not do that instead of cowering?!
I’m one of the biggest opponents of torture out there, don’t get me wrong- full libtard when it comes to civil liberties. But:
Please do? Pretty please?
Sincerely,
“mumblyjoe”
Haha, “Vilsack” soiunds like “Nutsack”.
What no flowers? Cheap ass administration.
If she isn’t reinstated, knowing what we do now about the video, Obama is a coward. His pathological need to be “liked” by the slavering, vicious and evil rightwing is revolting.
Shouldn’t the headline be “Robert Gibbs eats Jim Crow?” Just to make sure we have a national dialogue on race.
And what happens to Brightbutt? Does he continue on his merry way, doctoring video to prove that everyone he hates is racist?
Crow pies for everyone! Except Shirley Sherrod, who is entitled to some champagne and a bevy of shirtless manservants to rub her feet.
I’m sure someone has made this observation before me but is Vilsack the Americanized spelling of the old slovenian or magyar spelling Vilesack?
[re=622685]Tommmcatt[/re]: His family changed it when they came from the old country. It was originally Vilscrotum.
Thank you very much. I’m here all week. Try the veal.
Sigh… the thing that really gets me is that, even after seeing the full tape, a lot of the Breitbartniks, including the head rat himself, are still insisting that Sherrod is the biggest racist since Lester Maddox (who was, of course, falsely accused anyway). Because, you know, those blacks were applauding her story of cheating the white man. Which they weren’t, you know, but…
arrgh. My shrink says I need to stop thinking that merely being right counts for anything with unreasonable people…
[re=622687]NopantsMcGee[/re]: You said slavering. Is that OK like “Niggardly”?
[re=622690]comicbookguy[/re]: Maybe Sherrod should sue his ass for libel/slander/assholishness? Where is the Wonkette legal-counsel commentator to advise on this matter?
Breitfart has punked Obama twice.
Breitfart- 2
Obama- 0
I think he did better with teh basketball pools.
Too bad the wrong people have to pay for Barry betting on the wrong team.
Wait until Jon Stewart gets a hold of this…Wow…I can hardly wait…
Now we can start the countdown to Breitbart’s apology; it’s coming in ∞, ∞-1, ∞-2, ∞-3…
[re=622678]Darkness[/re]: I hope she is reading this. Very good advice.
Maybe have her lawyer pick of the call after days of making them sweat the sweet, sickening flop sweat of cowardice.
[re=622703]Hedley Lamar[/re]:
You’re gonna get me fired.
[re=622703]Hedley Lamar[/re]: I love using the word “Niggardly.” You get opposing counsel to raise to that bait, and then apologize because s/he is too uneducated to recognize that it comes from an entirely different root.
Then you say something nice about Eubonics.
Good times. Good time.
Yay, once again the Dems manage to take a story–right-wing commentator doctors tape to make innocent government employee look like a racist!–and completely fuck it up by having the wrong instincts at every possible turn! Is Mark Penn actually Chief of Staff?
Cf. the ranch-saver: Offer her any medallion on the lot, shit for idiots, and award it to yourself. A twin Congressional [sic] MOH and Distinguished Service Medal for Thomas James “Tom” Vilsack?
The farm you-betcha!
Vilsack holding a presser at 4:45 PM. Dive, Tome, dive!
Fucking Barry. First he lets ACORN be totally victimized/shut down when there was proof THOSE tapes were also doctored. Now he lets this poor woman twist in the wind. I admire his cerebral intellect & the fact that he isn’t Walnuts, but think I would like to see more of the ‘angry black man’ all of Fox is so scared about. Grow a spine & quit being such a Fox sock puppet. They got you right where they want you. Quit being a PUSSY!
[re=622712]fredb[/re]: What? Jon fell for the doctored ACORN tape hook line and flop sweat. I’m not holding my breath, personally.
What amazes me is that, after the ACORN non-scandal, anyone in the White House would believe that Andrew Breitbart would present a video about one of his most hated organizations that was actually unbiased.
I mean, it sucked that half the country fell for that race baiting nonsense, but you’d think the Administration would have known better.
Right?
[re=622722]Sleeves[/re]: [...] the Lion has a Badge of Courage which makes him exceedingly brave. As he travels across the land, he finds himself repeatedly threatened and manipulated by the[...]
Ooh, it makes me feel so good; the Wonketteers, kickin’ ass and takin’ names.
[re=622685]Tommmcatt[/re]: You know, I seriously cannot read that name without thinking that.
Also, Democrats are a bunch of goddamn pussies. I guess this isn’t anything new, but having to face up to it once a week is getting old.
Hey Shirley, after your meetings with the lawyers about the slander/defamation of character/wrongful termination lawsuits you’ll be filing, I would call back Robert Gibbs and tell him you won’t accept some half-assed apology from a dough-faced chickenshit flack. Maybe after Jim Messina perfoms seppuku on the Capitol Mall, then you’ll reconsider.
[re=622729]Darkness[/re]: He also fell for the alleged “climategate” fake scandal, which wasn’t Breitbart but used a similar strategy of selective editing to make it sound like the scientists were saying something they weren’t. I like Stewart, but even he can’t always see through the bullshit.
It was a bad week for him and Colbert to go on vacation, though.
[re=622678]Darkness[/re]: and have a long long loooooong meeting with a good lawyer.
It’s like watching a bunch of children.
Has the Grifter shown us her tits on this scandal yet? No tweets? No facebookers? I’m having Palin withdrawals.
as much as I hate to admit it, at least when republicans were in charge we could all get behind hating. Now, just like during Clinton, I have a hard time not hating my own party for their douchebaggery.
Vilesack speaking on MSNBC now…
[re=622712]fredb[/re]: Shirley may be POTUS by then. The amount of vacation they take over there is awesome.
Vilsack looks nice and contrite. He should remember to put that down on his resume.
[re=622737]knoxtheharpy[/re]: There needs to be a public apology from the president himself. And Messina doesn’t rate public seppuku – That needs to come from Ballsack.
he needs to go to her house personally and apologize to her face.
The first person that needs to be vilified is Andrew Breitbart. And then everyone else that fell for this scam. And from now on, anything that is mentioned that has the name Andrew Breitbart or Big Anything attached to it, should be met with ridicule and scorn.
This fucker better be glad he didn’t pull this shit when Nixon was President. He would have been drawn and quartered with his body parts sent to the four corners of the realm as an example to others.
by the way…is anyone else hating the words ‘teachable moment’ about now?
[re=622754]Oldskool[/re]: >Vilsack looks nice and contrite.
Good, because I truly can’t and don’t believe that this is his fault.
(Blame is *usually* stupid.)
[re=622773]Sleeves[/re]: It wasn’t. Next is the three week scandal of who-knew-what-when inside the White House.
check out mediamatters.org for some interesting reads on this topic..
[re=622741]american mutt[/re]: You took the words right out of my cold, dead mouth.
They’re a bunch of adult-size, super-serious, sanctimonious children squirming, screaming, whining, wetting, crapping, crying, napping, lying, and just plain doing stupid shit that’s really fucking annoying.
The fact that Vilsack has not already resigned tells you that he was directed to do this (probably in one of those classic I’m-telling-you-without-telling-you phone calls) by the White House. If he was forced out, he’d point back at the White House, so he’ll stay to avoid sending this up the chain.
I hope she sues Breitbart so we can figure out who sent him the tape, which is what I’m *really* curious about. Funny how the media always drops the ball whenever the time comes to do some investigative reporting that might reveal something interesting. Kinda how they just conveniently neglected to investigate the identity of the person who mailed Dan Rather the hoax memo about George W. Bush. Funny, eh?
“Teachable moment”, indeed! Let’s think of where this might be used:
1) In a poli sci course on how to avoid succumbing to the new media
2) In a public relations course on how NOT to handle a tense, racially charged situation
3) In a sociolinguistics course, as a prime example of the usage of hedge words and reported speach
4) In a journalism course, so that Tapper can show whippersnappers how it’s done, and…
5) In a literature course on Kafka and bureaucracy
Teachable! But not in a very good way!
God I feel sorry for Hopey, he is trying so hard for race not to be an issue, but the foul right-wing are basically running around yelling “There’s a nigger in the White House”. I think Breitbart et al need to apologise but I may be an optimist.
It is pretty inspiring to see this Shirley chick maintain her dignity through all of this. I mean, honestly, I would be on teevee frothing at the mouth setting fire to Breitbart in effigy by this point. But Shirley Sharrod just keeps her cool and says pretty much exactly what she needs to say. Compare her screen performance with Mr. Briteballs himself this morning, doing his insane “I’m so sorry she got fired but I wouldn’t change a thing” dance he worked up for MSNBC.
This is what happens when fools substitute perception for facts. That they didn’t even try to look for the facts is especially egregious. And I Vilsack ought to resign — if he thinks summarily firing an employee without even asking about her side of the story — and thus taking the side of a known liar — is good management, he’s an idiot. And if he was ordered to fire Sherrod and didn’t push back because he didn’t have all the facts at hand, that’s lousy management too. And if I were Sherrod, I wouldn’t want to work for that asshole again either.
[re=622696]FMA[/re]: Wow- sounds like you work in Restaurants and get to rub elbows with all those filthy rich $100K waiters! I bet when Sarah Palin gets wind of this shit she’ll want to pick up a few tables for the easy $$$$, although she may have to move to MN for that, I’m not sure. (We used to think that $85K in tips was a good year- what chumps WE were!)
Give Sherrod Joe Biden’s job – a double-win for all Americans.
NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Wake me up when it’s over!
(Buries head in hands and sobs.)
Reminds me of the days of Billy beer and aquatic rabbits.
Who is the wonkette flunky journalist school dropout that wrote this horseshit article. Psssst, wonkette, it was the horseshit media that manufactured….errr started this controversy. You are part of that. Own up to it assholes!
[re=622696]FMA[/re]: Veal? I am so sick of th veal, poor defenseless little cutey pies. Try the smoked beets maybe for a change.
Horseshit media? I thought we were a a gay/queer left wing toilet blog.
[re=622865]trondant[/re]: No, we are a WAR BLOG.
[re=622803]Limeylizzie[/re]: I wouldn’t accept their apology, because they won’t mean it. They will pull this again, just watch.
[re=622808]SayItWithWookies[/re]: He ought to resign but either way Shirley has an EEOC case. The only reason she ended up a target in this stupid NAACP vs Teabaggers episode was — wait for it — she’s Black. And Vilsack put his stupid reasoning in a press release, falsely calling her judgment into question whether the “racism” allegation was right or wrong. Not. Too. Bright. …
And here I thought Rahmbo was chief of staff, or did he get replaced with Harry Reid.
why is it that we have a Dem majority and a Dem president and yet they are still jumping anytime a rightwing moran tells them to. Vilsack- he needs to join Earl Butz and be retired himself.
[re=622871]knoxtheharpy[/re]: That seems weak spelled correctly. How about WÅR BLÖG to give it a Viking feel? Breitbart would sure look good wearing a pair of eagle wings.
I could be wrong about this, but I believe “Vilsack” is Dutch for “ballsack” only not as much fun. And from Iowa, also.
remember the scene from the movie scarface where tony shoots mel ‘maybe you can handle yourself one of them one way tickets to the resurrection…so long mel have a good trip!’
now we need an update, shirley is tony, andrew is mel. it would be awesome.
If Rahmbo thinks they can “shield” the President from fallout from this – meaning that there won’t be a public outcry from all corners for Obama to apologize personally – then I think we can put an end to the whole “Obama administration as political Jedi” meme.
[re=622803]Limeylizzie[/re]: Yes, that. They keep poking the beehive,
secretlyhoping for it to blow up in their face. So they can prove that bees are evil, or some such crap.Let’s dig up Nixon and install him in a coup. Why get blamed for being liberal without getting to have a little liberalism?
Look she’s a woman of color past a certain age. There literally is no downside to men in power regarding her as a non person. Presumably, she should have blown them first.
[re=622857]mustardman[/re]: When did you turn into a troll?
[re=622803]Limeylizzie[/re]: Breitbart has too much ego to ever apologize. Also probably too much at stake in his own mind.
You’re right about Hopey, but the other side is making it about race and has been since he started running. It’s way past time to confront it. I don’t know how you do it though.
[re=622954]imissopus[/re]: “It’s way past time to confront it. I don’t know how you do it though.”
You’ve got the whole poisonous Catch-22 right there. The only way Obama can get past the paradigm that our politics are defined by race is by confronting the hyenas that peddle that story. And the only way you can mount such a confrontation is by making our politics all about race.
Maybe they realize this, maybe they don’t, but either way I would argue that this is the current state of play.
Sorry we took Breitbartz at face value. We had no idea he would try to mislead anybody. No warning ‘t all.
Well if Morris Dees could work it so that the mother of a Klan victim could “own” the Klan, then couldn’t a good lawyer help Shirley take over Faux News?
[re=622965]user-of-owls[/re]: Totally. Where do you even start in this polarized climate in such a way as to not make it worse?
Better late than never!! but she should be happy that they finally apologized to him.
Colopure Cleanse Review
[re=622778]PlanetWingnuta[/re]:
OMG, Media Matter’s chronicle of Breitbart’s statements and tweets in this whole affair is AWESOME. From smirking ass to dissembling fool in half a page.
[re=623002]Terry[/re]: wasnt it though i was up late last nite reading stuff and going on looking at what keith had to say about this…was jon stewart off this week i didnt see anything on the comedycentral page…(yeah i know the irony there )
I move that a bag of dicks be delivered to everyone in US politics.
“There’s a huge hole in the earth that is threatening to wipe out all life in the Gulf of Mexico”
“Ok, lets form a commission and study this for awhile. I’ll get back to you in 4 weeks or so”.
“There’s a black woman Fox News is accusing of racism”
“Fire her! Fire that bitch’s ass, NOW!”
Comments on this entry are closed.