Ms. Sherrod and who let her down....

[phkrause]

I second WayneV's strong vote to take this thread to the Politics forum.

Well I guess Neil's wish will come true. I think he was hoping/praying that it wouldn't get like this. But I think he knew better.

But it is amazing that we can't get any threads to just discuss the situation or problem without jumping on the democrats or republicans, who had nothing to do with it, until FoxNews, whom claims that they investigate every story that comes in. The only anchor that had a problem with this story was O'Reilly and he was the first to apologize.

[Woody]

Quote:

But it is amazing that we can't get any threads to just discuss the situation or problem without jumping on the democrats or republicans, who had nothing to do with it

I would agree with you on this pk. It never was about the Republicans as it has been made out to be here. It was simply a hiring practice gone haywire in the Obama Administration.

[Woody]

May I draw your attention to the episode when Obama stated that the police acted "stupidly".

This was not the fault of Fox or the Republicans. This was the fault of BO and his jumping to conclusions before he knew the facts. If he had stuck to the facts ... he would not have had to have the beer conference and apology session.

The same thing happened here with Sherrod. Obama jumped to conclusions. It does not matter what Fox News or anyone else reports. What matters is that the President of the United States ... obtain the facts before he acts.

I fear for the nations safety in the hands of someone like this. What if he 'hears' there's been an attack on some nation or people .... and he starts a war before he knows the facts?

This is scary.

[phkrause]

May I draw your attention to the episode when Obama stated that the police acted "stupidly".

This was no the fault of Fox or the Republicans. This was the fault of BO and his jumping to conclusions before he knew the facts. If he had stuck to the facts ... he would not have had to have the beer conference and apology session.

The same thing happened here with Sherrod. Obama jumped to conclusions. It does not matter what Fox News or anyone else reports. What matters is that the President of the United States ... obtain the facts before he acts.

I fear for the nations safety in the hands of someone like this. What if he 'hears' there's been an attack on some nation or people .... and he starts a war before he knows the facts?

This is scary.

Did he jump to conclusions? or Did her boss, the guy incharge of the USDA, jump to conclusions? Cause actually have not heard anywhere that Obama was aware of this until yesterday.

[Woody]

I think that Obama made it clear when he apologized. Also, Sherrod herself stated the phone call was from the White House and they were directly expressing the wishes of the President.

[phkrause]

I think that Obama made it clear when he apologized. Also, Sherrod herself stated the phone call was from the White House and they were directly expressing the wishes of the President.

Ahh, I watched her interview and there was no mention that it came from Obama. She did say that she thought the phone call came from the white house. Besides many people work in the WH! Besides the lady that called and asked for her to resign was calling in behalf of the guy that is in charge of the USDA. Again I have not read any reports from any newspaper or media that Obama was involved until after the fact. Of course he apologized for his staff, which the guy in charge of the USDA is.

And don't you think that if Obama was at all the person that asked for her to be fired, that Fnews would be all over that?????? I've watched most of the day or at least my wife has, and she would've told me if they had even mentioned this. She usually watches between Fox and CNN and a few others and none of them have reported this. Until I hear this from an actual news report I don't buy it.

[GreatLakesGramma]

Considering the fact that that man condemned ALL right-wing news stations, and not just Fox, it was definitely political. The liberal media does the exact same thing, but I didn't hear him say anything in condemnation of them except that they enabled the right.

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

Sonny and Cher. I always did like their music.

[Kyran]

Left wing media calls elements of the right wing racist. Right wing media denies accusations of racism from the left wing media.

Right wing media calls elements of the left wing racist. Left wing media denies accusations of racism from the right wing media.

Rinse and repeat.

EDIT: Okay, I just got back from the Town Hall and discovered a thread called Fox News Fails. It's features the same Keith Olbermann quote in this thread and a few links to the MSMBC website. My beef with it is that it says that what "you see on Fox News, what you read on Right Wing websites, is the utter and complete perversion of journalism, and it can have no place in a civilized society" is the only bit "legitimate news commentary" the Town Hall needs, and the thread is locked so there can be no discussion. I'm sure there are plenty of sources that say the same thing about MSNBC and the various Left Wing websites. Translation: The Left is totally right and the Right is totally wrong, no discussion! Disgusting.

[Tom Wetmore]

After this thread went throught the wash and had all the partisan politcal poo rinsed out of it and placed here, that was all that was left of the original topic that was acceptable in the political-free zone.

You are free here in the politcal poo pile to post all those "sources that say the same thing about MSNBC and the various Left Wing websites" that will help balance out the piles of poo on either side of the great political divide.

[Dr. Shane]

People that enjoy following and discussing politics should not be insulted by calling their thoughts poo. I think that kind of language will be censored here in the future. Please try to find other terms less offensive.

[bonnie]

After this thread went throught the wash and had all the partisan politcal poo rinsed out of it and placed here, that was all that was left of the original topic that was acceptable in the political-free zone.

You are free here in the politcal poo pile to post all those "sources that say the same thing about MSNBC and the various Left Wing websites" that will help balance out the piles of poo on either side of the great political divide.

Have to wonder if Keith Olberman went thru the same rantings when Dan Rather did his inaccurate piece of George Bush?

Wonder if Sherrod is as upset as poor Keith is.She seems to be making the circuit on TV,even Martha Stewart.Obviously more stroking than most in her job position would get

[Dr. Shane]

MSNBC caters to a liberal audience. FOXNews caters to a conservative audience. The news business is all about getting the story first and beating eveyonelse to the punch. Liberals will always hate FOXNews because FOXNews caters to the conservatives. Conservatives will always hate MSNBC because MSNBC caters to the liberals.

When a news agency reports something falsely they need to retract it. That happens in the news business. I am sure FOXNews has been fed bad information just as other news networks have been. Just because a network got some bad information isn't a reason to say everything they have ever reported is bad. Now if the network is knowingly airing false stories, that is different. That is what tabloids do.

[Dr. Shane]

Keith Olberman is an ideologue just like Rush Limbaugh is. They both rant on and on too. They both think way too much of their own opinions. They both like the sound of their voice. Too much for me. I would rather get news from someone much more balanced.

[Kyran]

After this thread went throught the wash and had all the partisan politcal poo rinsed out of it and placed here, that was all that was left of the original topic that was acceptable in the political-free zone.

[John317]

The president himself is saying that the mistake for Sherrod's firing belongs to his administration. That was before anything was said on Foxnews. The NAACP had the original video and therefore they had no excuse for not knowing what was on it before they supported Sherrod's dismissal.

ALBANY, Ga. – Former Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod, who was forced to resign after a blogger posted comments she made to an NAACP audience about race, is unsure about returning to a government job, she said Friday.

President Barack Obama told Sherrod he regretted her forced resignation and asked her to consider coming back. He also said in a nationally broadcast network interview he believes Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack "jumped the gun" in sacking her after just a few months with the USDA.

The rest of the story:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100724/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_usda_racism_resignation

[Tom Wetmore]

People that enjoy following and discussing politics should not be insulted by calling their thoughts poo. I think that kind of language will be censored here in the future. Please try to find other terms less offensive.

No problem. I can happily substitute your term, "political puke."

[Dr. Shane]

It's nothing but a rant about how dodgy Right Wing news sources are. How about we get a rant from someone from Fox News about how dodgy Left Wing news sources are in a locked thread in Town Hall? Equal opportunities, hey?

When I have encouraged other church members to come to Club Adventist, they have often told me the site is too liberal for them to waste their time. Allowing rants against FOXNews in Townhall only reinforces that preception.

[Dr. Shane]

No problem. I can happily substitute your term, "political puke."

Which also describes Keith Olberman's rant. I see the big picture. MSNBC caters to liberal viewers. Keith Olberman throws those viewers red meat and they go crazy over it. In this case, one of them brought it into an Adventist forum and posted it here. It is all about ratings. Sean Hannity and Glen Beck throw their conservative viewers red meat over at FOXNews all the time. It is all about ratings and advertising revenue.

[bonnie]

Should Shirley Sherrod get her job back?

posted at 11:30 am on July 21, 2010 by Ed Morrissey

It certainly looks as though the White House is having second thoughts about pushing Shirley Sherrod out of the USDA after Andrew Breitbart’s video clip of her speech at an NAACP banquet last year. Multiple media outlets are reporting that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is “reconsidering” her resignation after the full video showed a different context for her remarks:

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Wednesday that he will reconsider the abrupt firing of Shirley Sherrod, a Georgia-based Agriculture Department official who was the victim of a media frenzy over comments that turned out to have been distorted by video editing.

“I am of course willing and will conduct a thorough review and consider additional facts to ensure to the American people we are providing services in a fair and equitable manner,” Vilsack said in a statement e-mailed by USDA at 2:07 a.m.

A White House official said: “Not sure what the ultimate result will be, but it’s clear that with new information through the full speech, a longer look needed to be taken. The White House contacted the Department last night about the case and agreed, based on new evidence, that it should be reviewed.”

Not that Sherrod is anxious to return:

The woman at the center of a racially tinged firestorm involving the Obama administration and the NAACP said Wednesday she doesn’t know if she’d return to her job at the Agriculture Department, even if asked.

“I am just not sure how I would be treated there,” Shirley Sherrod said in a nationally broadcast interview. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Wednesday he would reconsider the department’s decision to oust Sherrod over her comments that she didn’t give a white farmer as much help as she could have 24 years ago.

She said later in a broadcast interview that she might consider returning if she had the chance, saying she’s received encouraging calls, including one from the NAACP.

Sherrod increasingly looks like the person caught in the middle as everyone, well, acted stupidly. The NAACP started this rockfight by loudly proclaiming its intent to declare the Tea Party movement racist on the basis of fringe elements that have been repeatedly and loudly repudiated by Tea Party activists. They eventually retreated somewhat from that position, but set into motion the natural rebuttals that flow from such inflammatory accusations.

Andrew Breitbart then posted the entirety of two clips he had acquired from Sherrod’s speech, not so much to note Sherrod’s claims of having initially discriminated against a farmer on the basis of his race, but to point to the positive reaction this generated at the NAACP dinner at which she appeared. Breitbart told me on the Hugh Hewitt show that he had posted everything he had and wanted to get the entire speech video, but wasn’t sure it existed. Even Ben Jealous, president of the NAACP, acknowledged Breitbart’s argument as reasonable in his initial statement:

We are appalled by her actions, just as we are with abuses of power against farmers of color and female farmers.

Her actions were shameful. While she went on to explain in the story that she ultimately realized her mistake, as well as the common predicament of working people of all races, she gave no indication she had attempted to right the wrong she had done to this man.

The reaction from many in the audience is disturbing. We will be looking into the behavior of NAACP representatives at this local event and take any appropriate action.

Interestingly, the audience apparently included Jealous himself, who later claimed to have been “snookered” by Breitbart. Sherrod acknowledges the presence of “the president” in the beginning of the speech. It seems that Jealous, in his haste to distance himself from a situation his organization created in the first place, either didn’t recall the speech or didn’t bother to check for himself whether the NAACP had the full speech in its archives. That pressure to act quickly wouldn’t have existed, either, had the NAACP refrained from attacking the Tea Party’s motivations rather than its arguments.

The White House, in its haste to get out of a rapidly-expanding rockfight over racism, did the politically expedient thing: it demanded Sherrod’s resignation. Conservatives looking to play hardball with the NAACP leapt into the fight and made Sherrod the target — and I include myself in that group — without waiting for further context (with some notable exceptions, including my coblogger). As it turns out, the context shows that Sherrod got treated unfairly by just about everyone involved, as her anecdote actually did have a message of redemption from focus on racial identity … ironically enough.

I owe Shirley Sherrod an apology, and I do apologize for leaping to my conclusion from the edited clip. I believe that Sherrod should at least be offered her job back, and not because I support her politics (I don’t) or think she should have been appointed to the position in the first place (that’s the prerogative of the White House). She lost her job because of a controversy in which she had no role to begin with and didn’t participate in, and regardless of any other considerations, that’s just not right.

[phkrause]

The president himself is saying that the mistake for Sherrod's firing belongs to his administration. That was before anything was said on Foxnews. The NAACP had the original video and therefore they had no excuse for not knowing what was on it before they supported Sherrod's dismissal.

ALBANY, Ga. – Former Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod, who was forced to resign after a blogger posted comments she made to an NAACP audience about race, is unsure about returning to a government job, she said Friday.

President Barack Obama told Sherrod he regretted her forced resignation and asked her to consider coming back. He also said in a nationally broadcast network interview he believes Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack "jumped the gun" in sacking her after just a few months with the USDA.

The rest of the story:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100724/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_usda_racism_resignation

Great post John, and this is exactly what should have been done and it was. As soon as the truth was brought forth the WH took care of it.

[phkrause]

Which also describes Keith Olberman's rant. I see the big picture. MSNBC caters to liberal viewers. Keith Olberman throws those viewers red meat and they go crazy over it. In this case, one of them brought it into an Adventist forum and posted it here. It is all about ratings. Sean Hannity and Glen Beck throw their conservative viewers red meat over at FOXNews all the time. It is all about ratings and advertising revenue.

I agree, and as I've said many times hindsite is 20/20 (vision). Olberman's rant and rave came after the truth came out. Where were all the news agencies before that, asking for someone to actually check this story out first before airing it. As a matter of fact most didn't even say much about it. Fox which according to O'Reilly was not going to report this but they finally did and didn't really check it out. Only O'Reilly on his show actually said, according to my wife, he wondered how acurate this report was. So even though he did bring it up was still had the mind to not play it up like the rest of his buddies.

[Tom Wetmore]

...MSNBC caters to liberal viewers...

Perhaps you haven't watched Morning Joe on MSNBC - hardly a liberal morning talk show.

And on the Sherrod fiasco, you might consider visiting the Morning Joe site and viewing their commentary from July 21-23 about it - http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036789/ns/msnbc_tv-morning_joe

[bonnie]

Originally Posted By: Shane

...MSNBC caters to liberal viewers...

Perhaps you haven't watched Morning Joe on MSNBC - hardly a liberal morning talk show.

And on the Sherrod fiasco, you might consider visiting the Morning Joe site and viewing their commentary from July 21-23 about it - http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036789/ns/msnbc_tv-morning_joe

Just have to ask,is this seeming concern over this incomplete video a new thing or was this same type of concern shown over Dan Rather's show little stunt concerning George Bush?

You can't really believe it was deliberate against this woman,a complete unknown.Right or wrong it was meant to show the two faced racism of the NAACP.

She deserves a apology no doubt about it. But how long will this be milked?

[Tom Wetmore]

I think there was a serious backlash against Dan Rather. Don't forget that he soon "retired". He lost his coveted evening news anchor slot. CBS Evening News has never recovered from that. It lost its historic credibility and gravitas of the Cronkite era and is at the bottom of the evening news heap.