Well, it looks like this is one of those times that Andrew Breitbart's nonsense is actually getting some push back from the Villagers and they're pointing out how ridiculous it was for the White House or Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack or whoever decided to push Shirley Sherrod out with this extreme rush to judgment before all of the facts were in. It's too bad they didn't act as diligently when Fox was attacking ACORN.
Earlier Chris Matthews was pretty harsh with the administration. Rachel Maddow tore into them for being silly enough to buy into Fox News' and the likes of Breitbart's attacks and now we have David Gergen and Professor Boyce Watkins saying what they did was ridiculous as well.
When CNN reporter Joe Johns gave Tom Vilsack's lame excuse for why Shirley Sherrod's forced resignation should stand, watch David Gergen's reaction right after this portion of the clip.
Cooper: Joe you've been chasing down the Department of Agriculture side of this story which is that the White House didn't make the call on this. Does that actually hold up though?
Johns: It does. I mean, frankly from what you can... I can tell in talking to various individuals inside the department and also on the record, it seems pretty clear that Sec. Vilsack looked at this thing and said it doesn't matter what she said in the portions of the tape that I'm not hearing.
What she said there... state of mind... is the kind of thing that affects a department that has had literally thousands of discrimination law suits. This department is notorious for that kind of problem and he's trying to clean it up. He says this doesn't help. This is going to affect her job. I don't think she's a racist but she's got to go because... ah... it's a problem. And that's what he did. Good or bad, right or wrong he got rid of her because it was an administrative decision.
David Gergen just physically demonstrated what it looks like when someone's head is literally spinning at the end of that statement.
I don't always agree with David Gergen and have had a lot of issues with some of his hackery on CNN. This wasn't one of those times. What he said during the segment about Sherrod is right. The White House should bring her back. Here's what he had to say about Sherrod and how the White House should handle it during the interview.
Cooper: Given what we now know, should Miss Sherrod have been forced to resign?
Gergen: Absolutely not... absolutely not. Anderson this is ripped away the veil and shown us all that is wrong with politics today. An ideologue injects poison into the Internet, other people rush to judgment on camera and then the administration gave its stamp to beat it and commits this travesty and injustice. What is needed now, the NAACP has at least had the courage to come back and say we were wrong and apologized. Now the administration needs to do the same thing.
I think the President tonight ought to order the Agriculture Department to reopen this case, give this woman a fair hearing and if the facts are as they seem, reinstate her with an apology indeed. I think she deserves a whole lot more than an apology. I think she deserves an honor for her attempts to bring people together.
[...]
Cooper: David, I mean is what we're seeing now, this war of words over racism between the Tea Party movement and the NAACP, is this a sign of more dangerous things to come?
Gergen: It could well be Anderson and we're in hard times and feelings get very raw when you're in hard times so that it's possible it's going to get worse, the Tea Party and the NAACP fight has been very unfortunate. We've had a lot of unfortunate things about President Obama.
Let me just say one more thing. The important thing about people in high positions in government is not whether they make mistakes. I made plenty of mistakes in government. One that to this day I regret is about race. The important thing is when you make a mistake, correct for it very quickly and that's what the White House needs to do now. They need to correct this injustice and let us move on because they cannot allow this woman to remain fired if these facts bear out.
I think the one bright spot we can take from this is that for once, Andrew Breitbart and Fox's attacks are getting some push back from other media outlets. It's about time. I hope to hell Sherrod has a right to sue him, but I'm not a lawyer, so I have no idea. I'd be shocked if she does not and hearing Boyce Watkins say he's going to be meeting with Civil Rights leaders and talking to them about this makes me think this issue is not going away any time soon if the administration does not rehire her like yesterday.
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