An extraordinary story, this. It all happened quite quickly and - not being very fast - I'm only just catching up with it. A video clip of a Department of Agriculture official speaking in public about helping (or not helping) a white farmer exploded all over the conservative blogs and TV channels amidst much offence-taking, righteous anger about reverse racism and so on. The administration caved almost immediately; Sherrod was fired. At some point, somebody watched a video of the whole speech. It turns out to be have been a passionate and moving address about overcoming racism, on all sides, and it imbues the clip with a wholly different tenor.
Even conservatives agree this woman has been treated unfairly: even Glenn Beck (and Charles Krauthammer and the National Review). But she's fired now, and the Dept of Agriculture is "standing by its decision". I sense a presidential intervention, and another bloody "teachable moment" about race. Well, as long as the lady concerned is re-instated.
If any good does come of this it's that the 24-hour news media revises their indefensibly low standards of diligence and integrity. One or two blogs and TV stations with very pronounced political agendas unscrupulously distorted the truth of this woman's life - and the entire pack chased after them, tongues out, panting, desperate not to seem slower or less "outraged" than anyone else. As a result, a decent woman's livelihood was destroyed and she became nationally known as a racist. And all because not one news editor could be bothered to watch the whole tape. Or if they did, didn't have the balls to tell a different story from the one everyone else was telling. The same goes for the administration - and then some - including and especially White House officials, if they were involved in her sacking.
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