Breitbart’s defenders need a dictionary. Sherrod’s relative was lynched
While many conservatives rightly and promptly demanded that Andrew Breitbart apologize for his smear of Shirley Sherrod, some on the right have — inexplicably — kept up their crusade to prove that Mrs. Sherrod is, if not a racist, then a contemptible liar. It’s very odd and has had the effect of making conservative media outlets like The American Spectator appear unhinged.
In a piece on its Web site, the Specator comes to the conclusion that Sherrod told an outrageous lie in her NAACP speech when she said a relative had been lynched.
This is the Spectator’s proof, from Supreme Court documents:
The arrest was made late at night at Hall’s home on a warrant charging Hall with theft of a tire. Hall, a young negro about thirty years of age, was handcuffed and taken by car to the courthouse. As Hall alighted from the car at the courthouse square, the three petitioners began beating him with their fists and with a solid-bar blackjack about eight inches long and weighing two pounds. They claimed Hall had reached for a gun and had used insulting language as he alighted from the car. But after Hall, still handcuffed, had been knocked to the ground, they continued to beat him from fifteen to thirty minutes until he was unconscious. Hall was then dragged feet first through the courthouse yard into the jail and thrown upon the floor, dying. An ambulance was called, and Hall was removed to a hospital, where he died within the hour and without regaining consciousness. There was evidence that Screws held a grudge against Hall, and had threatened to “get” him.
So the Spectator apparently agrees that Hall was viciously beaten to death by law enforcement agents, including the sheriff. Still:
It’s also possible that she knew the truth and chose to embellish it, changing a brutal and fatal beating to a lynching. . ..The image stirred by the image of the noosed rope in the hands of a racist lynch mob was, to say the least, frighteningly chilling. Did Ms. Sherrod deliberately concoct this story in search of a piece of that ugly romance to add “glamour” to a family story that is gut-wrenchingly horrendous already?
I have no idea why the American Spectator would go to such lengths to prove that racist law enforcement officials actually beat a black man to death and were not forced to pay for his crime, in the service of attempting to make his distant relative, Sherrod, look bad.
It is certainly true that the widely perceived definition of “lynching” is to hang a person with a rope. Nevertheless, if this argument is really over semantics, here’s the definition of lynching, from The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: “To execute without due process of law, especially to hang.”
That’s especially, but not exclusively.
Geez.
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200 comments Add your comment
Jack
July 27th, 2010
8:29 am
Billybob, you get flogged pretty good by the blog’s owner for making up your own mind: Even though the flogging is at the hands of a biased liberal with absolutely no regard for race relations.
Jose
July 27th, 2010
8:32 am
What we have going on here with the democratic party is a well thought out plan of making the next two elections about race and not the issues. They have no choice, they are losing on the issues. So mouth pieces like Tuck will be spreading the word weekly that Fox News, the republican party, and the Tea Party are all racists devils. When it comes to debating the issues, you are either with Obama or you are a racist. That about sums up the liberal game plan for ‘10 & ‘12. All you have to do is listen to the likes of Howard Dean starting this past Sunday and you see it. Question is will this make independents vote democrat again like they did in ‘08. The dems can not win without the independent and the white vote that Obama received. Should be fun. Tuck, roll out your racist rants. We are expecting it.
Deal? Get real.
July 27th, 2010
8:35 am
I see the late risers have missed the facts of the story and continue their ignorant diatribes as if Breitbart’s original posting is all they have to go on.
Deal? Get real.
July 27th, 2010
8:40 am
Just like Sherrod, Obama is being linched daily by the right-wing smear machine, facts be damned.
Will Jones - Atlanta Jeffersonian Exegesis
July 27th, 2010
8:42 am
The Gay Old Perverts’ inviting the “made” traitor against Our Creed, pseudo-American Breitbart, to headline their “insider” fundraiser is the Roman Anti-Christ’s need to keep rolling on the American People.
Had Bush and Cheney not committed 9/11 there may have been progress toward the People’s bringing to justice Bush’s father’s and Cheney’s mentor, Nixon’s, assassination of John Kennedy to send us to die for the pope in Vietnam.
Veterans, patriots, Baptists and Freemasons take notice.
Jose
July 27th, 2010
8:46 am
Deal, get serious. Have you watched and LISTENED (key word there) to her whole speach? And by the way, if you call lynching the guy for his policies that are hurting and not helping, you have looked at the econmic numbers lately I assume, then you are no different then the other racists who call call it a lynching. By the way, his fellow dems are starting to “lynch” him as well. Oh mercy, what a mess.
Jose
July 27th, 2010
8:48 am
Will Jones, go back in your hole and put down your crack pipe. You are whacked! You can’t even be taken seriously.
ken R
July 27th, 2010
8:49 am
Sherrod did embelish the Lynching remark, just like you embelish most of the stuff that you write about.
For the 3rd time please update your picture, a 20 year old picture is just as false as your articles.
Jose
July 27th, 2010
8:52 am
Ken, I don’t think we want an updated picture of Tuck. Please let the 20 year one stand. Liberal women tend to get real ugly looking over time due to all the hate they have for the right and races. It wears on their faces and they can not bring themselves to smile. No thank you.
Upon Further Review
July 27th, 2010
9:14 am
Admit it: Liberals hate Andrew Breitbart because he trumps their Alinsky tactics with better Alinsky tactics.
His $100,000 reward for evidence that any Tea Party member yelled racial slurs against black Congressmen was a classic “put up or shut up” that worked to perfection.
Talk about taking the wind out of the Democrats’ sails! Suddenly, all of the supposed “victims” started clamming up and changing the subject.
Throwing the R-word at conservatives has become such a cliche that it’s losing its impact. You can only cry “Wolf!” so many times before people recognize your desperation.
mmm, mmm, mmm, Barack the LIAR Obama - BEND OVER, Here comes the CHANGE!
July 27th, 2010
9:22 am
Oh come on Cynthia…she DID say she’d rather deal with blacks over whites and that whites could take care of their own. If that’s NOT racists you don’t know what it is, PERIOD. End of story. GET OVER IT, she’s not uneployed except by her own doings. She was offered another job, maybe one she can keep her racists thoughts to her self.
And, BTW how’s that Afgan war going? Geeze if W was bumbling it like NObama, you’d be all over it.
TommyJack
July 27th, 2010
9:23 am
CT: Sincere apologies that the 60’s have passed. You must be miserable.
Williebkind
July 27th, 2010
9:51 am
Upon intense review, the conservatives have won this blog. The conservatives repeated their message of truth and the liberals repeated their message of racism. There was no racism except on the part of the 2nd party, the liberals. We need a new blog now please. You have lost again.
Usmc Dawg
July 27th, 2010
10:29 am
Cynthia, PRESIDENT OBAMA had the woman FIRED! Not Fox News.
We know you hate white people and feel inferior. We don’t hate you, just pity you and your racial hatred towards us. You are the loser. Your racial hatred of white people has been and will be your downfall. Let that hate in your heart go. The rest of us (black and white) have moved on.
phil
July 27th, 2010
10:33 am
There is NO proof of lynching and this black lady used the term, like many blacks often do, to illicit images in people’s minds that had nothing to do with the person she’s talking about. Sherrod should be criticized for “spinning” (really she lied, I’m just using a nice term) the story to try and win a political point.
phil
July 27th, 2010
10:34 am
And Cynthia- From now on every time a black person robs a white person and beats them up and steals their car, I’m going to call that crime “lynching.” How do you feel about that? That happens every day in Atlanta.
Joe in Decatur, GA
July 27th, 2010
10:36 am
Keep up the good fight, Cynthia. Reveal the liars.
Lester10
July 27th, 2010
10:36 am
Readers of this blog- If you weren’t already convinced that Cynthia is not capable of being an unbiased writer, let this post be your proof. If you need more proof- Go back and read what she wrote about the Black Panthers 2 weeks ago. In her story, she never condemned the Panther(s) for their actions, however she did criticize the white people who suggested that the Black Panthers had committed a crime. Folks, we know who Cynthia is and what her goals are. Keep that in mind as you’re reading her garbage on this blog.
Georgia Dawg
July 27th, 2010
10:40 am
Cynthia, your hometown heros ( Jackson & Franklin ) just lost a Federal Law suit over Hartsfield Airport bid rigging, your needed back here to defend them against the cruel white boy network.
Usmc Dawg
July 27th, 2010
10:42 am
Cynthia Tucker HATES white people. Therefore, Cynthia Tucker is a RACIST.
Mike B
July 27th, 2010
10:44 am
Upon Further Review………… Well done! This is a precise description of the times, Ms. Tucker has consistently chastised conservatives for communication methods owned/frequently used by the liberal left without any comment from her.
This is not acceptable, just as Mr. Breitbart’s tactics are unacceptable. Two peas in a pod with different agendas is all. What a shame that people will allow the one that furthers their viewpoint and lash out at the other, when both should be looked at with equal revulsion.
As a conservative I don’t particularly care for Sarah Palin, but that does not mean its open season to smear and take snippets out of context. Same with President Obama….. Don’t care for him either. But if we are spending more time ensuring literary and journalistic accuracy/integrity, then what is the real value of mainstream media??? What is the real value of Ms. Tucker if there is no balance to her discussion/opinion?
polly
July 27th, 2010
10:46 am
For white people- I suggest that you avoid interacting with illogical African Americans like Cynthia Tucker. Her goal is to divide by race by using embellishment and distortion. If you truly want racial reconciliation, spend your time having discussions with honest, truthful African-Americans who are as unbiased as you are. Those conversations are worth your time. Don’t waste your time with extremists like Cynthia.
Cynthia Tucker is a racist.
July 27th, 2010
11:01 am
You’re killing several birds with one stone in this one, Cynthia. You’re anti-right, anti-white and anti-Fox News. Guess what. You’re WORSE than Fox News. They are biased, but you’re flat-out racist.
An article on lynching? Really? People of all races and all societies throughout all of history have been treated poorly, tortured, murdered, exterminated, banished, exiled and wiped out altogether. The Irish, Jews, Australian Aboriginals, Native Americans… The list goes on. None of them cry as loudly or expect so much entitlement as the African American people. Stop complaining. You live in the best country in the world.
So, there were some unjust and down-right terrible things going on decades ago. Lynching is a horrible thing, but your example was so long ago, you can’t even pretend to have all of the facts on the matter. You’re certainly no subject matter expert. Printing quotes from other biased text proves absolutely nothing.
One fact that can’t be refuted is that my paychecks have been lynched my entire life paying reparations for the bad people who did wrong many years ago. That’s an unbiased fact.
J.R. Ewing
July 27th, 2010
11:02 am
Roy Barnes? Don’t ever trust a lawyer named Barnes !
NA
July 27th, 2010
11:06 am
Breibart was wrong to edit/ run/ show video that cast an illusion of wrong doing by Ms.Sherrod.
The NAACP was wrong for jumping before determining this video was inaccuarte.
The White House was wrong for jumping and firing this woman before investigating and determinning the truth.
Cynthia is wrong to make everything about race.
Ms. Sherrod should not only receive some apologies, she should be compensated in some way for smearing her name and causing her anquish over this.
What is gained by attacking someone who seems to have only been doing her job and helping people.
John
July 27th, 2010
11:23 am
Both sides are way to touchy. Let little things go. Jesus is watching.
Cynthia Tucker is a racist.
July 27th, 2010
11:24 am
publiusforum.com/2010/07/19/top-ten-most-left-biased-american-journalists-5-cynthia-tucker-atlanta-journal-constitution/
Swampdawg
July 27th, 2010
11:24 am
Roy Barnes reminds me of Boss Hog. What say you?
QueDawg12
July 27th, 2010
11:30 am
Is is me or did her boss vehemently say that it was him and all him that had her resign? Why are we blaming the White House? Whites are quick to tell us time and time again to let it go, it was so long ago, quit playing the race card. Well let me be the first to say it is easy to say when you have a people that has not had any type of persecution? Jews, Indians, Blacks, Latinos all have a right not to forget about it!!!!!
Swampdawg
July 27th, 2010
11:31 am
Mrs. Sherrod does have some liability in my opinion. She was acting as cheerleader to an audience with racist overtones on her commentary. As a Govt. Official she should not have displayed that role.
Cynthia Tucker is a racist.
July 27th, 2010
11:37 am
QueDawg12 –
How about the Puritans, Christians and Irish people? Remember that this country was founded by people who fled persecution in England. –> There’s the door. Feel free to leave any time.
lynn ehrlicher
July 27th, 2010
11:38 am
The big story here is how conservatives cut and paste videos to promote their lies about progressive groups. The fact that Sherrod was fired because people, including the President, were gullible to their mischief is a side story. Fox News and conservative bloggers are slimers and liars, and this story just illustrates that fact. The main stream media blames Obama for making a mistake here, when actually, the curtain has been pulled back and the wizard is exposed.
Usmc Dawg
July 27th, 2010
11:42 am
@QueDawg12:
There once was a man named Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Please learn to read so you can go to the library and read a book about him. Be on the lookout for a famous quote that goes something like,”Judge not by the color of one’s skin but by the content of one’s character.”
Once you let that HATE go that is boiling inside of you, you will feel much better and live a happier life. And please educate yourself. Your ignorance is what keeps perpetuating RACISM in the world today.
Swampdawg
July 27th, 2010
11:44 am
lynn ehrlicher.. you are full of crap! Obama’s MStream Media would not blame their annointed one! Fox News IS FAIR AND BALANCED! Get over it!
Your president is destroying our country. What has the Economy, Race Relations, Patiotism, etc, etc, etc done since he took office. Read the polls!
mmm, mmm, mmm, Barack the LIAR Obama - BEND OVER, Here comes the CHANGE!
July 27th, 2010
11:48 am
Usmc Dawg – Do you mean the MLK, Jr. that CHEATED on his wife? Good roll model.
Usmc Dawg
July 27th, 2010
11:49 am
Yeah, that one.
Cynthia Tucker is a racist.
July 27th, 2010
11:51 am
Anyone else in here need some fresh air? Check this out. I’m sure she’s aspiring to be #1.
publiusforum.com/2010/07/19/top-ten-most-left-biased-american-journalists-5-cynthia-tucker-atlanta-journal-constitution/
Swampdawg
July 27th, 2010
11:54 am
But Cynthia is soooo cute in that photo!
Upon Further Review
July 27th, 2010
12:00 pm
lynn ehrlicher wrote:
The big story here is how conservatives cut and paste videos to promote their lies about progressive groups.
________________________________________
*** You need to learn the difference between an excerpt and a “cut and paste video.”
The mainstream media use excerpts every day, both fairly and unfairly. Do you think the quotes contained in each news story were the only comments each person made, or do you understand that in almost every case, some reporter and/or editor subjectively chose what to put in and what to leave out?
Do you have any evidence that Breitbart had access to the entire speech and chose to show only the excerpt? No, you don’t. That may have been the only portion of the recording that he had.
You can argue that he shouldn’t have posted the excerpt without seeing the entire speech, but you also have to admit that if the White House and the NAACP hadn’t jumped when Breitbart said “Boo,” Sherrod never would have lost her job.
As it is, she’s hardly a major victim. Big deal — she’s out of a job for maybe a day, then gets offered a better job … and she’s still on tape admitting what a racist she was at one time. How many white farmers did she unfairly discriminate against during her racist years?
Upon Further Review
July 27th, 2010
12:10 pm
Mike B wrote:
But if we are spending more time ensuring literary and journalistic accuracy/integrity, then what is the real value of mainstream media??? What is the real value of Ms. Tucker if there is no balance to her discussion/opinion?
__________________________________________
*** Those are both good questions that I don’t have an easy answer for.
Having seen what liberal journalists say and do when they think they’re speaking to like-minded colleagues in private (i.e., on JournoList), I seriously question whether we have a real Fourth Estate anymore. How far has the profession sunk when we have supposed professional journalists shilling for a particular presidential candidate … discussing, coordinating and implementing ways of undermining a rival VP candidate … and plotting to downplay Obama’s Rev. Wright controversy by falsely accusing a conservative commentator of racism?
If there’s any difference between that and the behavior of a Democratic campaign worker, it’s too subtle to mention.
Unfortunately, the majority of Ms. Tucker’s columns fit the same predictable pattern: Butter up Democrats, tear down Republicans.
Here’s the real question: If Watergate happened today under this administration, do you seriously believe that Ms. Tucker, the Washington Post, the New York Times or any other card-carrying member of the dinosaur media would bother to reveal it?
Charles
July 27th, 2010
3:08 pm
What happens when there is more than one dictionary? Webster’s says: to put to death (as by hanging) by mob action without legal sanction. I might be the only black man that associates the term “lynched” with a mob seeking vengeance.
This does not excuse anyone! His death was horrible, but let’s not become hypocrites by excusing a racist even if they are black. What she said and what she did was in fact racist, but it does not mean that she stayed that way. This should be your story.
Moe
July 27th, 2010
4:24 pm
Fox News represents the views of RIGHT thinking FAIR minded GOD fearing Christian Americans. As Such, it is attacked constantly by the administration of Barak HUSSIEN Obama, a Kenyan born Muslim Communist. It is time to take back our WHITE House America, support Fox News and defend America. Lets get the military to remove HUSSIEN, or the Republicans can impeach him once they get control of Congress, then the Supreme Court can appoint Jeb Bush President circa 2000, and Mary Cheney his VP, where she can fight to keep gays out of the military. And don’t forget to call your congress man and get those Bush Tax Cuts for the Wealthy extended NOW! It’s that important!
Big Jim
July 27th, 2010
4:34 pm
What kind of “human being” would defend the barbarian
concept of lynching? Why would you string words to
take the side of people that have no regard for those
that are different. Why? Why say these things,strictly
racist comments,as if it makes you happy?
My answer,evil. No devil,vampires,werewolves,or mothmen.
Just evil human beings.Anonimity is one hell of a motivator.
The reaction by SOME,not all,is disturbing at best. At worst,
disgusting.Are people really “waiting” for the first opportunity
to point the finger at other races,even though there is enough
blame to go around.
This reminds me of the crowd,SOME of them,that will tell
a person to jump from a building.Some people are sickos.
Sorry to real sickos for associating you with the political
madmen that are willing to say anything while hiding behind
a keyboard.
Upon further review,among others,prove there is no God
watching us.Where’s the guilt,the contrition,the humility?
Doesn’t exist.
Cynthia,you’re stil sexy.Keep doing what you do.
Mike B
July 27th, 2010
5:57 pm
To Upon Further Review………….
It absolutely bends me that people here see their opposite party’s conspiracy as clear as day, but are as ignorant as they come to their party’s manipulative tactics. Same can be said of the journalists that feed at the trough of controversy when the inevitable collision of party’s occurs.
Politicians are supposed to have platforms and agenda’s….. Journalists are not………. Wondering when Journalists are going to recognize how much credibility they have lost with honest hardworking citizens, and take a stand against unbalanced argumentation and collusion as a component of reporting stories. Think about it…..
Moderate Line
July 27th, 2010
7:14 pm
ctucker
July 26th, 2010
6:08 pm
Moderate Line, I think by that time Mrs. Sherrod was thoroughly exasperated with Breitbart’s lies.( She certainly didn’t say that in the NAACP speech.) I’m willing to let her slide, and I guess Brazile was, too
++++++++++++++
I never said she did say it in the speech in fact I was very specific.
We are sometimes judge by who let slide and who we don’t let slide. I perfer not to let anyone slide.
Moderate Line
July 27th, 2010
7:23 pm
Mary Elizabeth
July 26th, 2010
7:26 pm
Cynthia, I sincerely appreciate your gracious words. I don’t blog often, but thank you.
Moderate Line, once when I was teaching in a high school, students
+++++++++++
I a disagree. I heard chuckles when you said she was deciding on how much help she was going to give them.
greg
July 28th, 2010
7:18 pm
Getting your butt stomped for being an idiot because you refuse to follow the rules is hardly a “lynching.”
WideAwake
July 30th, 2010
11:58 pm
I am glad Ms.Sherrod plans to sue breitliar my only hope is that faux news is also sued.
The minions have faux talking points to a tee–the audience clapped, hatch law, farmers lawsuit and what ever the spin zone will tell them. They will continue to justify this event and will even try to convince anyone it was someone else’s fault.
Mighty christian.
WideAwake
July 31st, 2010
12:03 am
Upon Further Review : Journalist 101 you are always suppose to check and verify the story before you post it or run with it. Period.
Brietliar also did this to ACORN with lies and spliced and diced video. Faux and Friends are not out for the truth but to smear.
What we should be talking about is that the majority of faux and friends are not journalist nor college educated thus that is the dilemma.
WideAwake
July 31st, 2010
12:09 am
Swampdawg: The country was already being destroyed by your President and the Dick.
I guess you are the new sleeping giant who slept through 8 years of destruction now crying about polls what was the polls when bushinator left?