The BEST speech Barack Obama gave today on the verdict from the shooting of Travyon Martin, MUST SEE

And the "Stupid Crown" goes to...

The Obama Administration.

The Maureen Dowd op-ed and the Frank Rich op-ed has hit this Shirley Sherrod fiasco out of the park.

The White House continue to straddle the fence by having totally insensitive individuals making decisions that continues to make this administration look like jackasses.

If Barack Obama does not change, do you think people will continue to support him?

That is the real question here. And we need to look at it totally.

I was at the beauty salon on Friday and all the African American women were talking about how the Obama Administration just threw Shirley Sherrod under the bus without any investigation based on FOX NEWS, which the African American Community do NOT LIKE.

Also, many stated that he does need more Black People in his administration. I don't know about that, but he does need some people in that administration that know how to use GOOGLE, because the name Sherrod is legendary in the Civil Rights History.

The West Wing white guys who pushed to ditch Shirley Sherrod before Glenn Beck could pounce not only didn’t bother to Google, they weren’t familiar enough with civil rights history to recognize the name Sherrod. And they didn’t return the calls and e-mail of prominent blacks who tried to alert them that something was wrong.

Charles Sherrod, Shirley’s husband, was a Freedom Rider who, along with the civil rights hero John Lewis, was a key member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee of the ‘60s.

As Lewis, the longtime Georgia congressman, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he knew immediately that something was amiss with the distorted video clip of Sherrod talking to the N.A.A.C.P.

The sad thing about this is that many prominent BLACK FOLK in the KNOW on Civil Rights history did call this White House and they like Sherrod was tossed aside.

And who ended up with egg on its face?

Many on this site has tried to say this is not Obama's fault, but when many look at this it is his fault, along with others to eat crow. Why? He put former Governor Vilsack of Iowa in charge, he hired him. Vilsack nor the White House did not even view the clip before the truck marks was on the back of Shirley Sherrod. How dumb is that one? And then we have Jim Messina from the White House, ELATED for a job well done in throwing Shirley Sherrod over the bus, only to have that bus come back to haunt him.

But three Democratic sources said deputy chief of staff Jim Messina singled out the White House's initial response to the incident for praise in the regular 8:30 a.m. staff meeting Tuesday morning. The sources differed on the substance of Messina's praise, but concurred that he had praised the speed of White House communications in response to the flap, which was driven by a misleadingly edited video posted to Andrew Breitbart's Big Government website.

One source, who is unhappy with the administration's handling of the incident, paraphrased Messina's remarks: "We could have waited all day — we could have had a media circus — but we took decisive action, and it’s a good example of how to respond in this atmosphere."

I have worked on quite a few projects and held a few jobs, but never have I witnessed someone being fired on "hearsay", without a proper investigation. And for the Obama White House, this is what African Americans are mad about.

Shirley Sherrod could have been my mother, your mother, your grandmother. A woman who never asked for anything, worked hard through college, graduate school who decided to make a difference for her community by coming back to live there and be part of it. She could have gone anywhere in this country, but decided to come back home, even after all that has happened to her.

Lastly, Congressman Jim Clyburn is right here:

“I don’t think a single black person was consulted before Shirley Sherrod was fired — I mean c’mon, “ said Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina, a black lawmaker so temperate that he agreed with an op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal on Friday by Senator James Webb of Virginia, which urged that “government-directed diversity programs should end.”

“The president’s getting hurt real bad,” Clyburn told me. “He needs some black people around him.” He said Obama’s inner circle keeps “screwing up” on race: “Some people over there are not sensitive at all about race. They really feel that the extent to which he allows himself to talk about race would tend to pigeonhole him or cost him support, when a lot of people saw his election as a way to get the issue behind us. I don’t think people elected him to disengage on race. Just the opposite.”

Again, I don't know if he needs more Black People, but he needs cooler heads over there who are not afraid because FOX NEWS comes calling. And there are people in that White House who are not sensitive about race, they have shown that card repeatedly and continues to get burned.

I hope Shirley Sherrod thanks the Obama Administration for a job offer and passes. She should not be used as a token for all the problems the USDA has on discrimination, that is not what she wants. She loved her job that she had with staff, budget and outreach. That was taken away from her. And though she clearly respects the President, she strongly believes that it was pressure from the White House to toss her and most Americans believe that too. For that, thanks but no thanks to the USDA job.

Cross posted @ Daily Kos

Home Page

Barack Obama when are you going to WAKE UP....

Listen to Keith Olbermann. Obama White House, FOX NEWS ain't into you, will never be into you, and you continue to fall for their bullshit. When are you going to get it, understand it, and FIGHT IT.....not run away from it by throwing folks under the bus...that tact is MASSIVE FAIL....



Home Page

Shirley Sherrod wants a talk with Barack Obama

First off, she does not want an apology, she wants a conversation.

She deserves it. If you know anything about the Civil Rights Movement, you will know the name, "Sherrod" is legacy in the South. Which is a travesty on the failure of the NAACP and the Obama White House. And a note, when the NAACP found out about Shirley Sherrod and found the WHOLE VIDEO they were quick to apologize and hit the news waves. For that, I am appreciative but their initial reaction to a far right wing blogger, Andrew Breitbart should have been a light bulb for ALL parties involved.

Next, the white farmers who came to Sherrod's defense shut this story down from the FOX perspective, put egg on USDA's face and made the Obama Administration look totally ineffective.

I don't blame Sherrod for not wanting to take a job from the Obama Administration, in fact I hope she sue all parties involved and she does have a valid law suit. As we see Braitbart is starting to change his story and FOX NEWS is now taking a totally different attack on this story.

Lastly, The White House has massive explaining to do, not to us, but to HER. And Barack Obama, step it up because you and your team look like colossal jackasses right now.

Shirley Sherrod from The Today Show:



From morning joe:



Willie Nelson's Op-Ed on his friendship with Shirley Sherrod, he is founder of FARM AID

Full story on Shirley Sherrod, here.

L.A. Times Timeline on the Sherrod Controversy

New York Times

July 21, 2010 White House Press Briefing all about Shirley

Home Page

Obama White House, "Stop believing the RIGHT WING media" (Maddow video)

I waited for the full story on the firing of USDA Shirley Sherrod because I BELIEVED that the Shirley Sherrod story was not accurate.

This is a grave reminder to not believe what the conservative media states. A reminder that you must always read between the lines and get to the solid truth.

But this goes even deeper....

The media, reporters, in print and video have repeatedly reported the WRONG STORY or evidence of many stories. This also proves that these organizations don't even do the basic of tasks, as in, picking up a fucking phone to perform basic FACT CHECK. This continues because the public does not demand the full facts and are trained to the "sound bite". That is our fault for not demanding the truth.

This is the continuous problem with both sides of the media, conservative or progressive. It also shows how these outlets who are in the "NEWS BUSINESS" have cut costs drastically, go along with "rumor to make fact" and continues to get the story WRONG.

Shirley Sherrod was just on Anderson Cooper and said the forced resignation was at the behest of the White House. And on Anderson Cooper the White House is blasted for rush to judgment, without looking at the evidence. Shameful.

THIS SHIT NEEDS TO STOP.

We saw what happened in the Van Jones incident. What Jones said about Glenn Beck was not only accurate but TRUE. But because of the pressure by FOX NEWS, we saw Jones tossed.

The White House knows that FOX NEWS is full of shit, skews the actual news and doctor video clips. They do that shit 24/7, why the WH would BELIEVE what FOX NEWS put up in a very heavy, edited video should have put them on pause. The Andrew Braitbart video totally took the speech of what Shirley Sherrod said out of full context. Obama White House stop running scared of the conservative media, because by jumping the gun that is what you look like.

Lastly, Sherrod needs to be reinstated. Listening to this woman puts FOX NEWS and the White House in the column of WRONG. Stop jumping the gun just because it is fired. In the end, the target hit is not always the correct one.

This is a hard lesson for us all.

More information on Shirley Sherrod in this diary. Worth a read.

Rachel Maddow takes it to the White House:



Full video of Shirley Sherrod's speech:



NAACP President Ben Jealous on Rachel Maddow:



Update [2010-7-21 0:49:5 by icebergslim]:

She insisted she "went all out" to help the man keep his farm and said she resigned only under pressure from the Obama administration, telling CNN she received four phone calls Monday telling her the White House wanted her to step down.

"They asked me to resign, and in fact they harassed me as I was driving back to the state office from West Point, Georgia, yesterday," she said. The last call "asked me to pull to the side of the road and do it [resign]," she said.

For those who insist the White House had nothing to do with this, think again. This is politics. Let's be REAL HERE and live in reality. The most basic of questions is this, "Why would Shirley Sherrod LIE?" She is trying to clear her reputation, lying about all this at this point would not help her. And if you were the White House, of course the words as usual is DENY, DENY, DENY. And Sherrod sticks to her story that the White House wanted her gone. CNN, video in the link.

No one writes it like The Field Negro:

And, speaking of fire, the story of how this poor woman got fired is unbelievable. Because the administration was afraid that her story was going to be on Captain Jack's show? (You might have to think about that one for a minute, but it will come to you) Shame!

"Sherrod said she first heard of the possible controversy when someone e-mailed her Thursday to taunt her about her comments. She immediately forwarded the e-mail to the USDA so the agency would be aware. She was told that someone would look into it.

She said it wasn't until Monday that she heard back, and by then, she was being asked for her resignation.

Class Act....

And Oliver Willis: President Obama: Time To Man-Up & Rehire Shirley Sherrod. And Apologize.

Mr. President,

You screwed up. Secretary Vilsack may have been the one who executed the decision, but the buck stops at your desk. Cabinet secretaries don’t work in a vacuum. Even if you were never consulted on a decision, the decisions shirley sherrodthey make are done with the full imprint of your office. The decision to fire Shirley Sherrod was a mistake, and it happened with your authority.

The clear mistake made was believing the lies and presentation of serial liar Andrew Breitbart and his allies at Fox News Channel. Bluntly, this was stupid. You should know better. The right wing is built on a foundation of lies and deception. If a figure on the right is speaking, it’s safe to assume that they are not telling the truth. I understand your belief in bipartisanship and reaching across the aisle, and I even support it (within reason) but especially when it comes to right-wing media figures, it is a fools errand of the worst sort for you or your cabinet to have invested anything in their words.

This was wrong, sir. This video and your actions smeared a public servant’s name. Shirley Sherrod is the kind of person whose service deserves reward, not to have her name dragged through the right wing mud with the aid of the highest office in the land.

On that note, AMEN and Good Night....

[UPDATE]

Final update, USDA reconsidering ousting Sherrod. That did not take long, it should not take long and this story needs to move off the radar.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said early Wednesday that his department will reconsider the ouster of an employee who resigned over alleged race comments.

His statement came after civil rights leaders said they were "snookered" into believing a conservative website's charges of racism against employee Shirley Sherrod were true.

Vilsack said that he will "conduct a thorough review and consider additional facts" about his decision to ask Sherrod to resign.

In the end, this is about a White House, Secretary Vilsack, USDA running scared because of a heavy edited video clip using reverse racism which was going to be shown on the Glenn Beck Show. These actions have given more props to FOX NEWS and have diminished the strength of this White House, especially when President Obama constantly states he does not respond to cable news and this is just what the White House did, panicked and responded by firing Shirley Sherrod without having all the facts.

Throwing people under the bus: Van Jones, ACORN, Shirley Sherrod...who is next? Priceless.

Cross-posted @ Daily Kos

Home Page

Keith Olbermann Special Comment on the Tea Party and Race (Video)

Home Page

Racism alive and well, case and point, former Congressman Tom Tancredo (Video)

Has anyone ever questioned why the Tea Party movement has no persons of color? NONE. It is stuff like this that is so wrong on many levels, that idiots like Tancredo are not called out on it. It is also stuff like this that is a total turnoff to most Americans.



And it took Meghan McCain on The View to totally go off on the Tea Party movement and Tancredo:



Home Page

Michael Steele, Please Kiss My @$$

For real.

Everyone is up in arms over what former President Jimmy Carter said, or in faux rage because most people I have spoken with said, "It is true", anyway I am not in a rage. No one can consciously sit by night after night and watch many racist WHITE AMERICANS, yes, I typed it, continue on the path of President Obama is the Joker, Hitler, Stalin, a maxist, a communist, a socialist, and then go over board and caricature our president to a monkey. Then to continue to use the health care platform to vent their racist rants. Please, that shit is RACIST and folks that see this on the regular, it is a damn turn off, whether you voted for Obama or not.

So, now enters the RNC Chairman, Michael Steele. Michael, bro, token bro, please don't get out of pocket and say that President Obama should repudiate something that former President Jimmy Carter said. Obama did not say it, nor did his White House. Don't play the straw man card here, bro, you are not good at it. We KNOW what you are about and it definitely does not say much about your character, but if you don't like what Carter said, call him up and tell HIM SO.

“Characterizing Americans’ disapproval of President Obama’s policies as being based on race is an outrage and a troubling sign about the lengths Democrats will go to disparage all who disagree with them. Playing the race card shows that Democrats are willing to deal from the bottom of the deck. Our political system has no place for this type of rhetoric.

“As the leader of the Democratic Party President Obama should flatly reject efforts by those in his Party…to inject race into our civil discourse in ways that divide, not unite, Americans.”

Michael Steele is a fucking joke. Where were you when your boy, Glenn Beck called President Obama a "racist"? Where were you? Did you ask Beck to apologize? Did you do anything? No, you did not. Now you want the President of the United States to repudiate something that someone else said? Please, take this bullshit somewhere ELSE. You did not say anything, knowing that you would be CHECKED by your boys at the RNC. Steele, you are the worst of the worst, a weak ass brother, period.

And of course, the lazy assed media, when they don't want to do real work, keeps faux controversies GOING. Folks, nothing new here.

Home Page

Michael Eric Dyson straightens out the morning joe team on RACE (Video)

Again, Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski need to have Barack Obama make a statement or answer to President Jimmy Carter's statements on race? How stupid is this? And again, race is a problem here and morning joke show is behind the eight ball here. Again, TOTALLY CLUELESS. And Joe Scarborough stop making EXCUSES for your GOP friends? Give this one to Michael Eric Dyson.

Home Page

Former President Jimmy Carter calls out the "racism" towards President Barack Obama (Video)

Again, Jimmy Carter don't hold back.

Home Page

This is what REALLY happened to the African American woman at Senator Claire McCaskill's town hall meeting (Video)

The audacity of that man to just come up to someone snatch the poster and rip it up? WTF? Where is the justice? And Lady Claire, I like you and supported you, but you were WRONG on this on.



Home Page

Is this what health care is about? (Video)

A daily dose of racism? Makes everyone wonder the real ploy here.

Home Page

Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), "...I don't see racism in the Republican Party" (Video)

Wow.

Really?

You don't see it in your own party?

The very same party that has called Judge Sonia Sotomayor every name in the book but the Mother of God?

The very same party that has called our own, President Barack Obama EVERY NAME in the book?

Damn, you have a very narrow scope or vision, Senator DeMint.



But why should he see it any other way?

He is a white male that has had it pretty well and easy his entire life.

But, he is also a man that must face the facts. This country is changing and the minority will be someone like HIM in the next few years down the road. He did NOTHING to help any discourse in the Sotomayor confirmation hearing, in fact he did everything but to help his party bring back the Latino vote they drastically lost in 2008.

As we saw in the video above, DeMint is in leadership role but took NO LEADERSHIP in denouncing the derogatory statements by the likes of Rush Limbaugh or even the idiot, Glenn Beck.

The town hall chaos has many reading about it, in shock and many are alarmed, and they should be. We should be able to go into the library, park, high school gym, sit, muster, collaborate, discuss and disagree all the issues with our state representatives. We should not be exposed to what is going on around this country at primarily DEMOCRATIC town hall meetings, not with these lunatics. It is disgraceful and dangerous.

Finally, Rachel Maddow was in rare form again, tonight she interviewed one of the main persons behind all the chaos we are reading about and seeing on television, Tim Phillips. This man is President of Americans for Prosperity, A.K.A., Lobbyists to keep Corporations Prosperous.



All of this should be an eyeopener and a definite call to action, for each and everyone of us.

Home Page

Glenn Beck's advertisers are backing away -- help us increase the pressure

Last week, after Glenn Beck called President Obama a "racist" who has a "deep-seated hatred for white people," we asked ColorOfChange members to call on Beck's advertisers to pull their funding from his show. More than 50,000 people have already joined the call, and today we have great news to report -- advertisers are starting to listen:

Three companies who run ads during Glenn Beck -- NexisLexis-owned Lawyers.com, Procter & Gamble and Progressive Insurance -- today distanced themselves from Beck. LexisNexis has pulled its advertising from Beck and says it has no plans to advertise on the program in the future. Both Procter & Gamble and Progressive Insurance called the Beck advertising placements an error that they would correct.

Since we released our statement announcing the news this morning, another company, S.C. Johnson (Pledge, Ziplock, Off!) told us that it was a mistake for their ads to be running on Beck's show, and that they'd make sure it wouldn't happen again in the future. (UPDATE: Our contact at S.C. Johnson wanted us to clarify that they have had no knowledge of their ad running on the Glenn Beck show (they wanted to verify this for themselves), and if it did happen, it was not something they requested.)

This is great progress, and it shows how effective it can be when thousands of people tell advertisers not to support this kind of hateful rhetoric. Now we need to step up the pressure on Beck's other advertisers. While Lawyers.com, Procter & Gamble and Progressive Insurance were quick to respond, many others have avoided answering us, or refused to budge. We're currently in conversations with advertisers, and the more people they see joining this campaign, the more reason they'll have to listen.

If you haven't done so already, please sign our petition to Beck's advertisers, and ask your friends and family to do the same. Moving forward, we'll keep you informed about effective ways you can pressure the advertisers to withdraw their support from Beck's show.



Here's what Lawyers.com, Procter & Gamble, and Progressive Insurance told us this week:

"Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention," said John Michaels, Senior Communications Manager at LexisNexis in an email to ColorOfChange.org. "We have suspended further advertising during Mr. Beck's program."

"We have no plans to continue advertising on Mr. Beck's show," Michaels continued in another email.

When executives at Procter & Gamble were contacted by ColorOfChange.org, they said that any ads run during Glenn Beck were run by mistake, and that they would correct the problem going forward.

"No P&G ads should have appeared on this program in the first place," said Martha Depenbrock, Brand Building Stakeholder Relations for Procter & Gamble in an email. "To be clear, if any of our advertising appeared on the Glenn Beck show, it was in error and we appreciate you bringing this matter to our attention. We will do what we can to see that it doesn't happen again."

Since we released our statement announcing the news this morning, another company, S.C. Johnson (Pledge, Ziplock, Off!) told us that it was a mistake for their ads to be running on Beck's show, and that they'd make sure it wouldn't happen again in the future.

This is great progress, and it shows how effective it can be when thousands of people tell advertisers not to support this kind of hateful rhetoric. Now we need to step up the pressure on Beck's other advertisers. While Lawyers.com, Procter & Gamble and Progressive Insurance were quick to respond, many others have avoided answering us, or refused to budge. We're currently in conversations with advertisers, and the more people they see joining this campaign, the more reason they'll have to listen.

If you haven't done so already, please sign our petition to Beck's advertisers, and ask your friends and family to do the same. Moving forward, we'll keep you informed about effective ways you can pressure the advertisers to withdraw their support from Beck's show.

Progressive Insurance said any ads running during Glenn Beck were a mistake by Fox News Channel -- a mistake they have asked the network to fix immediately.

"Our (advertising) order specifies no Glenn Beck," said Linda J. Harris, Media Director at Progressive Insurance in an email to ColorOfChange.org. "We have confirmed with the network that our spots should not be running there," Harris said in a later email.

The decision by these three advertisers to distance themselves from Beck should help increase the pressure on others. The writing is on the wall -- Beck should not have the backing of mainstream advertisers. If we keep the pressure on, we believe we can seriously threaten his platform.

Please join us.

Cross-posted @ Huffington Post, Daily Kos, jack and jill politics, and Firedoglake

••

Read all about it, here

Home Page

And the beat goes on...Michelle Malkin, "Obama is a racial opportunist" (Video)

Home Page

Glenn Beck must be DRINKING again....Unbelievable (Video)

h/t jed @ Daily Kos

Glen Beck from Fox and Friends

BECK: This president, I think, has exposed himself as a guy -- over and over again -- who has a deep-seeded hatred for white people, or the white culture. I don't know what it is.

BECK: What kind of president of the United States immediately jumps on the police?

BECK: Now they're going to have a beer? That's obscene.

KILMEADE: But listen, you can’t say he doesn’t like white people. David Axelrod’s white, Rahm Emanuel’s his chief of staff, this, I think 70 percent of the people we see everyday are white. Robert Gibbs is white.

BECK: I’m not saying that he doesn’t like white people. I’m saying he has a problem. He has a, this guy is, I believe, a racist.

MSNBC

Home Page

Rachel Maddow picks apart Pat Buchanan's argument, point by point (Video)

One thing about Rachel Maddow, that can not be disputed is that she is one of the smartest and intelligent journalists on television right now. She allowed Pat Buchanan to literally hang himself with his racist diatribe when he appeared on her show last week. Tonight she picked him apart point-by-point with FACT. And MSNBC, yes, you do have a resident racist on your network, next what are you going to do about "Uncle Pat"?

youtube

Home Page

Rachel Maddow challenges Pat Buchanan on race (Video)

Pat Buchanan wears his racist views well. Unbelievable.

Home Page

MSNBC's resident racist Pat Buchanan continues his racist rhetoric against Judge Sonia Sotomayor (Video)

He is not helping the GOP, at all. Believe me, he is not. The Latino community is listening very closely and will voice their opinions at the ballot boxes in 2010.



Home Page

Rachel Maddow calls Pat Buchanan out for his racial rhetoric (Video)

NOTE: Buchanan will be on Rachel's show tonight. 9PM EST, MSNBC



Home Page