Shirley Sherrod and the right’s new weapon
Soon, we will forget about Shirley Sherrod. But not the fallout from her smearing.
Sherrod might go back to USDA. She may give more speeches. But, while she has handled herself with aplomb, one could hardly blame her if she’s ready to step out of the Klieg lights.
As for us, we’ll promise not to rush to judgment next time, and to finally have that National Conversation about race. Maybe the president will even convene a Race Summit. Maybe, having already hosted last summer’s Beer Summit to atone for another hasty racial conclusion, he’ll seek the learning end of this Teachable Moment.
But one thing has changed.
Our politics increasingly resembles a cold civil war, and the Sherrod story was like the right’s first successful A-bomb test. Accusations of racism have long been the left’s, and only the left’s, most explosive weapon. No more.
I don’t make this observation with admiration or pride. I understand that this could turn out badly.
It’s not as if the right had unilaterally disarmed when it comes to political attacks. Far from it. But until now, charges of racism detonated only when dropped on the right.
George Allen’s “macaca” moment cost him re-election to the Senate. Trent Lott’s praise for Strom Thurmond cost him leadership of the Senate. Fabricated quotes, approving of slavery, pinned on Rush Limbaugh cost him a chance at partially owning the NFL’s St. Louis Rams.
Joe Biden called Barack Obama “the first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy”; he became vice president. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid theorized that Americans accepted Obama because he was “light-skinned” and spoke “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one”; he kept his job.
A real National Conversation about race would acknowledge that humans often say things that later make them wince, or worse, and that liberals like Biden and Reid aren’t the only ones who deserve the benefit of the doubt, of context, of grace.
In fact, I suspect most of us already reached that conclusion, or would have if not for the political point-scorers.
But there are points to score. And while I don’t condone what he did, I believe right-wing provocateur Andrew Breitbart when he says he posted the video of Sherrod to make a point about the NAACP, which days earlier condemned tea party groups for their “racist elements,” and that the effect on Sherrod was essentially collateral damage.
Breitbart is clear about his desire to turn the tables on liberal media and activist groups. That’s why he went after ACORN, and why it makes sense that he’d set his sights higher than an obscure bureaucrat.
It worked. Some of the people quickest to denounce others as bigoted, as we saw, do so a little too quickly.
But besides haste, we can detect some defensiveness. Did the administration’s rash reaction betray worries that it’s become vulnerable to charges of reverse racism? That when Obama presumes a white cop “acted stupidly” in arresting a black Harvard professor, and his Justice Department handles the New Black Panther Party with kid gloves, it undermines his post-racial appeals?
In any event, it’s clear that the left’s monopoly on these most powerful attacks is over. Perhaps, instead of retaliations that ensnare more Shirley Sherrods, we’ll recognize our mutually assured destruction. Perhaps we’ll pull back from the brink and let relations thaw.
Perhaps.
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284 comments Add your comment
Gary D
July 25th, 2010
10:16 pm
This is unbelievably idiotic. For months many dozens of pictures of racist signs at tea party gatherings have been available. Conversations with many tea party members have revealed a majority of racists. But now the Right gets to level the charge that the “uppity” NAACP is racist for asking the tea party to do something about this? I call BS.
fistbiscuit
July 25th, 2010
10:18 pm
“For months many dozens of pictures of racist signs at tea party gatherings have been available.”
Well, then you’ll have no problem posting a link to confirm what you just alleged.
Thanks
Thinking Beyond
July 25th, 2010
10:21 pm
A powerful black president threw a lowly black employee under the bus to protect himself. When will you people get a clue? It’s not about US, it’s about government circling the wagons to protect THEIR power.
GM
July 25th, 2010
10:24 pm
Breitbart is only doing what journalists used to do. Don’t worry they will return again when a conservative is again back in the WH and BO is utterly refudiated.
Dusty
July 25th, 2010
10:46 pm
DearKikn @8:45
Congrats on your achievements. Sounds good to me. Why aren’t you happy? All you need is a bit of an attitude adjustment. Try it. You might like it..
setnaffa
July 25th, 2010
10:50 pm
It has been so funny to watch the leftwits twist and squirm trying to figure out how to blame Bush/Cheney/Halliburton for the kneejerk reactionary racism from the White House, the USDA, the NAACP, and Sherrod herself.
Granted, Democrats in the past treated blacks badly (as slave owners, KKK, etc.); but trying to blame Fox news for something they reported on after it happened is ludicrous.
And so it seems they insist on making Breitbart look like he’s either 100% correct about their racism–or enough smarter than Obams/Vilsack/NAACP/Sherrod to compel them to act like morons…
Jan
July 25th, 2010
11:48 pm
Mr Attitude
Your comments are all about “attitude,” and misinformation.
Breitbart got only a clip of Sherrod’s speech, not the complete speech. I have heard many times that he posted it to show the laughter in the audience, when Sherrod first started her story, about her racist attitude — before she cleaned it up because of a reappraisal of her own “racist” beliefs. The people in the NAACP showed open racial glee in her opening comments, something “whites” would have been condemned for if the reverse had happened in a “white” crowd, denigrating a black person, at first.
As for Fox’s part in it, they did not report the story until after the WH had done it’s knee-jerk firing of Sherrod. All the way around, the adverse racial tones are owned by the NAACP and Obama and his incompetent administration/advisors.
Get real and honest, Attitude!
Karen
July 25th, 2010
11:50 pm
Thanks CJ for posting quotes from the Breitbart blog response. This shows how dangerous the consequences are when information is manipulated for a desired effect.
Grand Forks, you are just the kind of person I referred to earlier; one who spews vitriol to fan flames. It’s amazing what the anonymity of the internet allows people to write. Your anger precludes any meaningful and prodcutive discussion of anything. Your anger and bitterness will consume you and your ilk.
ghostwriter
July 26th, 2010
7:09 am
Kyle,
You must be young. The right doesn’t have a history of exploiting race? Huh? Are you familiar with Strom Thurman, Jesse Helms, Southern Strategy? Who exactly tried to use race against John McCain in the 2000 South Carolina primary?
Nice try anyway.
Bill Johnson
July 26th, 2010
7:10 am
When it’s your side doing it, not a word from you. When it’s your side losingit, it’s suddenly time to step back?
Good try. We’re not stepping back until we destroy utterly the weapons you use to advance your cause.
You, sir, are a racist. Yes, you are. Cause I said so. Cause your momma. Damn, those liberal arguments feel good on the tongue. Get ready – the storm’s a-coming, and you deserve it.
No More Progressives!
July 26th, 2010
7:25 am
Karen
July 25th, 2010
11:50 pm
Thanks CJ for posting quotes from the Breitbart blog response. This shows how dangerous the consequences are when information is manipulated for a desired effect.
Rachel Maddow: “Fox News ‘ginned up’ these events……”
……..when information is manipulated……..quite right.
No More Progressives!
July 26th, 2010
7:28 am
ghostwriter
July 26th, 2010
7:09 am
Kyle,
You must be young. The right doesn’t have a history of exploiting race? Huh? Are you familiar with Strom Thurman, Jesse Helms, Southern Strategy? Who exactly tried to use race against John McCain in the 2000 South Carolina primary?
Nice try anyway.
Really? Who tied GWB to the Texas dragging death of a man in Jasper, TX in 1999?
No More Progressives!
July 26th, 2010
7:36 am
VIETNAM VET
July 25th, 2010
7:28 pm
Statement and question to those who look for AND ACCUSE BLACKS OF reverse racism. It is a proven fact fact that the AG DEPT has for YEARS DISCRIMINATED against BLACKS. Question: HOW MANY WHITE PEOPLE AT THE AG DEPT WHO DISCRIMINATED AGAINST HAVE BEEN FIRED?
Proven by who?
Show us the proof that you and only you know of.
Karen
July 26th, 2010
8:55 am
No More Progressives!,
I’ve never watched Madow’s show….not a fan of MSNBC. You’re making assumptions, which is what created fodder for this blog.
Grand Forks
July 26th, 2010
9:25 am
“Grand Forks, you are just the kind of person I referred to earlier; one who spews vitriol to fan flames. It’s amazing what the anonymity of the internet allows people to write. Your anger precludes any meaningful and prodcutive discussion of anything. Your anger and bitterness will consume you and your ilk.”
Karen, I just like to point out and make fun of left wingers like you. No anger here, ma’am. In fact, people like you like to play the “holier than thou” card all while repeating the same old Kieth Olbermann BS.
Like I tell other left wingers, go sell stupid somewhere else.
Grand Forks
July 26th, 2010
9:26 am
“This shows how dangerous the consequences are when information is manipulated for a desired effect. ”
Are you insane? Breibart didn’t do anything wrong. Obama fired her.
Grand Forks
July 26th, 2010
9:27 am
“Are you familiar with Strom Thurman, Jesse Helms, Southern Strategy?”
Ever heard of Robert Byrd?
Grand Forks
July 26th, 2010
9:45 am
Hey everybody, Obama is going on The View! WOOOOOOOOOOW
Maybe he will explain to the fat ladies of The View about how he created 2 million jobs!
Grand Forks
July 26th, 2010
9:49 am
The DNC has absolutely no idea what it’s doing.
Dean: Fox News “racist”
http://www.politico.com/blogs/politicolive/0710/Dean_Fox_News_racist.html?showall#
No More Progressives!
July 26th, 2010
10:03 am
Karen
July 26th, 2010
8:55 am
No More Progressives!,
I’ve never watched Madow’s show….not a fan of MSNBC. You’re making assumptions, which is what created fodder for this blog.
Well, I did watch her show, and I heard her say it live on the air. It is not an assumption that she “manipulated the information.”
HDB
July 26th, 2010
10:30 am
As has been mentioned before. too many on the right do not desire to remember their historical perspectives with race. The right fails to remember that the GOP was co-founded byu black people received the preponderance of the black vote until Barry Goldwater, the Dixiecrat migration into the GOP..and the generation of racist elements into the party in 1964. Few wish to remember the Nixon “Southern Strategy” in 1968….designed to marginalize the black vote in the South to create a monolithic white voting bloc for the GOP; few wish to remember Ronald Reagan’s support for “states’ rights” in Philadelphia, MS, Reagan’s record in dismantling the Civil Rights Division, his denigration of black women by calling them “welfare queens”; many wish to forget George W. Bush’s Justice Department ignoring numerous civil rights violations. In North Carolina, many remember Jesse Helm’s racist campaign against Harvey Gantt; many remember how Bush41 used WIllie Horton to scare white people!! MAny people also remember how Jesse Helms, John McCain and Ronald Reagan led the opposition against the MLK Holiday; few have forgotten how John McCain spearheaded keeping the MLK Holiday from being observed in Arizona…but when threatened by the NFL by moving the Super Bowl, the state acquiesed. Many remember how GWB aslo slighted black people by not addressing the NAACP Conventions for several years!!
Many here will bring up the fact of Robert Byrd’s being a member of the KKK as evidence of the left’s hypocracy; granted, race has been used as an issue on BOTH sides….but the racial animus from the right is a more RECENT occurrance. Many see how the black conservative is being used by white conservatives as a wedge in the black community, in that when black conservatives parrot white conservatives while allowing racist sentiments from Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Matt Drudge, Michael Savage, et. al., not to be challenged!!
SInce this is RECENT history….within the past 50 years, it has a much stronger bearing upon attitudes. Each side attempts to uise race to its advantage…but conservative/Republican idioms use race moreso than not to fracture Americans rather than to solidify the nation.
Grand Forks
July 26th, 2010
10:42 am
“Many here will bring up the fact of Robert Byrd’s being a member of the KKK as evidence of the left’s hypocracy; granted, race has been used as an issue on BOTH sides….but the racial animus from the right is a more RECENT occurrance. ”
Byrd died three weeks ago, HDB. Is that not “current” enough for you?
Name one GOPer that was in the KKK. One.
Grand Forks
July 26th, 2010
10:43 am
“while allowing racist sentiments from Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Matt Drudge, Michael Savage, et. al., not to be challenged!!”
State ONE racist statement from the people you listed above. One.
No More Progressives!
July 26th, 2010
10:45 am
Here’s another thing for you to cogitate over, Karen.
Mike Wallace interviewed Howard Dean this weekend. You remember Howard; he’s the unemployed proctologist from Vermont that Lefties hold so much stake in.
He told Mike Wallace that “Fox news was clearly racist………..” and that Fox News was reporting on “…..all that Black Panther crap.”
Since you didn’t hear it, does that mean the information wasn’t manipulated?
Grand Forks
July 26th, 2010
10:48 am
No More Progressives!
I posted the Dean comment above. Truly astounding how ignorant left wingers are.
Grand Forks
July 26th, 2010
10:50 am
“Many see how the black conservative is being used by white conservatives as a wedge in the black community,”
No, the black racists like HDB, Jesse, Al, Obama, Farrakhan and many others hate the fact that black people don’t need them anymore.
Remember, MLK didn’t like Jesse Jackson.
Oh, and HDB, people like Herman Cain, Thomas Sowell and Clarence Thomas are 100% smarter than you and everyone of your race baiting buddies.
Have a nice day, ma’am.
No More Progressives!
July 26th, 2010
10:53 am
………..but the racial animus from the right is a more RECENT occurrance. Many see how the black conservative is being used by white conservatives as a wedge in the black community, in that when black conservatives parrot white conservatives while allowing racist sentiments from Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Matt Drudge, Michael Savage, et. al., not to be challenged!!
Put the crack pipe down, HDB. You have absolutley nothing of substance (hyperbole, yes) to offer, as usual.
No More Progressives!
July 26th, 2010
10:53 am
Missed it in my haste, GF.
Bobby from Texas
July 26th, 2010
11:00 am
These tactics are not new. They are the same tactics used by the Klan during Jim Crow and the civil rights movement. Deception, lies and smears against those who challenge their warped thinking. The National Enquirer, which has been sued successfully one time in it’s history, would be out of business if it reported like Fox Media (I refuse to call it news anymore).
No More Progressives!
July 26th, 2010
11:07 am
Bobby from Texas
July 26th, 2010
11:00 am
These tactics are not new. They are the same tactics used by the Klan during Jim Crow and the civil rights movement. Deception, lies and smears against those who challenge their warped thinking. The National Enquirer, which has been sued successfully one time in it’s history, would be out of business if it reported like Fox Media (I refuse to call it news anymore).
Well, that begs an obvious question: why do you watch it?
You sound like a typical Rush/Beck/Hannity critic; you’ve never once listened to their shows, but yet you know they’re wrong.
Peter
July 26th, 2010
11:17 am
Weapon Kyle…….what are you saying here ?
ghostwriter
July 26th, 2010
11:33 am
Grand Forks,
You made my point for me. Robert Byrd was also part of the Southern “right”. Notice in my earlier comments that I did differentiate between Dem or Repub.
ghostwriter
July 26th, 2010
11:34 am
Sorry,
That should read that I did not differentiate …
HDB
July 26th, 2010
11:44 am
No More Progressives! July 26th, 2010
10:53 am
!) Don’t smoke!
2) Note this from Sophia Nelson….a black conservative:
“Most black conservative commentators are largely viewed by blacks as opportunistic, attack dogs for the white conservative establishment. This perception is entirely unhelpful in a community that understands that its core interests are in equal access and opportunity, health care and community redevelopment.
In short, black conservatives often can’t get a hearing on important issues among blacks because they have positioned themselves as hostile to the interests of black people.
Ward Connerly, who describes himself as “one-quarter black, the rest a mixture of Irish, French and Choctaw,” may be the most despised. Connerly became a wealthy and influential man in California and then used his influence to attack such programs. He is the mastermind behind Proposition 209 and is the founder of the American Civil Rights Institute(which is opposed to so-called race and gender preferences).
Bill Cosby, on the other hand, can be viewed as a “populist conservative,” if you will, and he is generally respected by blacks, even if he has taken heat for some of his more controversial public statements. President Obama has preached very conservative family values—and the need for our black men to become responsible fathers and partners. The reason these two men and others can go into the pulpit or stand on a national platform and command respect on these sensitive issues is because they have proven their connectedness to the community.”
Grand Forks July 26th, 2010
10:43 am
As you’ve requested – racist statements from Rush Limbaugh:
1. “Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?”
2. “Right. So you go into Darfur and you go into South Africa, you get rid of the white government there. You put sanctions on them. You stand behind Nelson Mandela — who was bankrolled by communists for a time, had the support of certain communist leaders. You go to Ethiopia. You do the same thing.”
3.. “The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies.”
4, “Take that bone out of your nose and call me back.”
5. “We need segregated buses… This is Obama’s America.”
Will find more when asked…….
ghostwriter
July 26th, 2010
11:53 am
Good job HDB! Remember Rush is an political consultant who hides behind the “entertainer” label when he is called out. Also a person who holds up a picture of 12 year old girl (Chelsea Clinton) and calls her the new White House dog has issues with their own self esteem. After all, 3 ex-wives can’t all be wrong.
HDB
July 26th, 2010
12:04 pm
……and for NMP and Grand Forks who feel that I am the only one who feels as they do about black conservatives (and I think I can hold my own with any of them!)…..
http://www.alternet.org/story/33493/
…..and to further clarify my point: ” Ironically, John L. Wilks, a black Republican who served in the Nixon and Ford administrations,dismisses the idea that black conservative gains derive principally from merit: “They merely say they’re conservative, say they’re opposed to affirmative action and are immediately picked up by a right-wing white sponsor,” he was quoted in the New York Times (12/22/91).” Reference: http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/241.html
Grand Forks
July 26th, 2010
12:11 pm
“You made my point for me. Robert Byrd was also part of the Southern “right”. ”
ROBERT BYRD WAS A DEMOCRAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Geez, you left wingers are RETARDED.
Grand Forks
July 26th, 2010
12:13 pm
1. “Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?”
How’s that racist?
2. “Right. So you go into Darfur and you go into South Africa, you get rid of the white government there. You put sanctions on them. You stand behind Nelson Mandela — who was bankrolled by communists for a time, had the support of certain communist leaders. You go to Ethiopia. You do the same thing.”
How’s that racist?
3.. “The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies.”
How’s that racist?
4, “Take that bone out of your nose and call me back.”
5. “We need segregated buses… This is Obama’s America.”
You don’t get sarcasm, do you race baiter?
Grand Forks
July 26th, 2010
12:14 pm
“……and for NMP and Grand Forks who feel that I am the only one who feels as they do about black conservatives (and I think I can hold my own with any of them!)…..”
You must suck at reading, HDB. I said LEFT WINGERS say crap like that. Geez dude, don’t let reading get in the way of your “facts.”
Grand Forks
July 26th, 2010
12:15 pm
“Also a person who holds up a picture of 12 year old girl (Chelsea Clinton) and calls her the new White House dog has issues with their own self esteem.”
As opposed to Kieth Olbermann making fun of Palin’s special needs kid? Or how about David Letterman saying that Palin’s daughter should be gang banged by the NY Yankees?
Grand Forks
July 26th, 2010
12:19 pm
HDB,
I’ve moved on to the next blog but in case you come back here: You don’t know what the word racism means. To you, all white people who don’t vote democrat are racist. To you, all white people who don’t approve of affirmative action are racist.
Bottom line: Grow up and try gaining some self-esteem.
ghostwriter
July 26th, 2010
12:26 pm
Grand Forks,
Again you make my point. The right, whether Dem or Repub has a long history of making race an issue.
Grand Forks
July 26th, 2010
12:30 pm
“The right, whether Dem or Repub has a long history of making race an issue.”
Huh?
HDB
July 26th, 2010
12:31 pm
Grand Forks July 26th, 2010
12:19 pm
Falso….A person who feels that white people are superior to anyone else is a racist; a person who feels that slavery did not exist and the preponderance of black people are lazy is a racist! Those who feel that remedies are not needed to promote equality can be racist….but are primarily bigoted and classist!
…..and you failed to notice that I brought forth a quote from Sophia Nelson, a black CONSERVATIVE about the problems that black conservatives have!!
Check the prescription on your glasses; mine are fine…and my self-esteem is not an issue in ANY case!!
Limbaugh isn’t sarcastic…he’s a racist!! To isnult a caller by telling her to take the bone out of your nose…is pure racist at the core…….
Grand Forks
July 26th, 2010
12:41 pm
“Falso….A person who feels that white people are superior to anyone else is a racist; a person who feels that slavery did not exist and the preponderance of black people are lazy is a racist! Those who feel that remedies are not needed to promote equality can be racist….but are primarily bigoted and classist!”
Not sure what that has to do with Rush Limbaugh.
“…..and you failed to notice that I brought forth a quote from Sophia Nelson, a black CONSERVATIVE about the problems that black conservatives have!!”
Huh?
“Check the prescription on your glasses; mine are fine…and my self-esteem is not an issue in ANY case!!”
I don’t wear glasses, ma’am.
“Limbaugh isn’t sarcastic…he’s a racist!!’
HDB, you’re a racist. You talk about it everyday on every single blog by every single columnists. You are a racist.
“To isnult a caller by telling her to take the bone out of your nose…is pure racist at the core…”
Not sure what “isnult” is. Is that new ebonics?
Grand Forks
July 26th, 2010
12:42 pm
HDB
I noticed that all of your Rush quotes came from Media Matters.
Do us all a favor and post what he REALLY said!!!!!
Retard much?
HDB
July 26th, 2010
12:43 pm
Grand Forks July 26th, 2010
12:13 pm
1) To say that all composites pictures of criminals look like Jesse Jackson is basically calling him a criminal!! Limbaugh looks like John Wayne Gacy…..and has NO earthly resemblance to Rev. Jackson\
2) Associating black politicians to communists is a racist tactic that J. Edgar Hoover used with MLK in the Nixon Administration……a revamp of that strategy plays here…..
3) Would Limbaugh have said this: “The GOP should have Klan meetings; let them take over country clubs and recruit!” Similar vein…….
Racism by any name still stinks like a skunk!!
HDB
July 26th, 2010
12:45 pm
Grand Forks July 26th, 2010
12:42 pm
Didn’t go to Media Matters; went to NewsOne for Black America…….
Grand Forks
July 26th, 2010
12:47 pm
“Didn’t go to Media Matters; went to NewsOne for Black America…….”
Like I said, you’re a racist.
Grand Forks
July 26th, 2010
12:47 pm
HDB @ 12:43 pm
Post the full transcript, please. Not just cut and paste from a racist “black” website. Thanks