Shirley Sherrod News

Shirley Sherrod Sues Andrew Breitbart

11:41 pm EST February 13th, 2011 | Conservative | 66 Comments

Should be interesting.

Blogger Andrew Breitbart has been sued by former U.S. Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod who contends her reputation was damaged by Breitbart’s posting last year of an edited video. 

The New York Times reports today Breitbart was served with the lawsuit at CPAC Saturday. Sherrod contends in the suit that a video clip he posted last year “has damaged her reputation and prevented her from continuing her work.”

Breitbart, who first posted the clip on July 19, 2010, at his BigGovernment.com site, had been under scrutiny after it was revealed the clip misrepresented Sherrod’s message during a speech in March 2010 before a group of NAACP members.

Fox then posted an online article reporting on the clip, linking to Breitbart’s video. Breitbart did not seek comment from Sherrod prior to his report; Fox News also gave no indication that they had done so. She was forced to resign later that day.

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Shirley Sherrod Declines To Return To USDA

10:23 am EST August 24th, 2010 | News | Comments Off

In a press conference with Tom Vilsack, Shirley Sherrod has announced that she won’t return to the Department Of Agriculture. Can’t say I blame her. Better days ahead, no doubt.

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Shirley Sherrod To Meet Tom Vilsack Over Possible USDA Return

7:16 am EST August 24th, 2010 | News | Comments Off

Shirley Sherrod

Working on a post-Breitbart future…

The USDA employee who was pushed out of her job during a racial firestorm last month is set to meet with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to discuss coming back to work at the agency.

Shirley Sherrod has appeared reluctant to accept Vilsack’s offer of a new job and has kept quiet about her plans. They are to meet Tuesday.

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Shirley Sherrod Suing Andrew Breitbart

11:42 am EST July 29th, 2010 | Conservative, Media | 67 Comments

Breitbartocalypse now.

Ousted Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod says she will sue a conservative blogger who posted an edited video of her making racially tinged remarks last week.

Sherrod made the announcement Thursday in San Diego at the National Association of Black Journalists annual convention.

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VIDEO: Olbermann Special Comment On Shefford & The Smear Merchants Of The Right

11:48 pm EST July 21st, 2010 | Media | 50 Comments

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The White House Has Apologized To Shirley Sherrod

2:50 pm EST July 21st, 2010 | Politics | 39 Comments

In the press briefing, Robert Gibbs says that he – on behalf of the administration apologizes to Shirley Sherrod.

UPDATE: Secretary Vilsack has personally apologized to Ms. Sherrod and offered her a position.

LESSON: Do not believe right-wing nonsense.

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White House Deputy Chief Of Staff Apparently Praised Capitulation To Breitbart

12:06 pm EST July 21st, 2010 | Media | 22 Comments

MessinaBreitbart rules their world.

But three Democratic sources said Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina, singled the White House’s initial response to the incident out 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.’

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

11:45 pm EST July 20th, 2010 | Democrats | 45 Comments

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.

The only honorable thing for your administration to do is to offer Ms. Sherrod her job back (I doubt she would take it under the circumstances, but she deserves for an offer to be made) and an apology from Secretary Vilsack and yourself.

If these steps aren’t taken, at best we’ll have to assume that the right wing media is now the final voice on who can and cannot serve in our government, based on falsified evidence that smears their name. When we voted for you, it was most certainly not a vote to give Andrew Breitbart hiring and firing power in our government.

This mistake lies at your feet. Enemies of the presidency and the American government have been enabled, while faithful public servants have been attacked. Please remedy this problem, quickly.

Oliver Willis

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