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crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters
As fast as they issued mea culpas because of the treatment of Shirley Sherrod, some members of the right are now seemingly taking back those mea culpas and are attempting to make Sherrod into Madame Defarge while at the same time trying to make Andrew Breitbart into a victim.
My guess is that in the next few days you will be hearing about this interview with Anderson Cooper in right-wing circles:
The portion of the interview which will probably be focused on is at 2:30 when Sherrod says she thinks Breitbart would like to get African-Americans “stuck back in the times of slavery.” She later says that she thinks he is a racist. Both of these statements came from her responding to a comment Breitbart made in Politico, another online site.
Did I say will be focused on? I meant to say is now being focused on.
BigGovernment.com, one of Breitbart's websites, now contains a listing of links from conservatives who on Friday said that Sherrod owes Breitbart an apology:
Goldberg: Sherrod Owes Breitbart an Apology
Riehl: Sherrod owes Breitbart an apology
Ponnuru: Sherrod owes Breitbart an apology
This also includes a listing of other right-wing pieces demonizing Sherrod:
Now in all fairness, there are pieces listed praising Sherrod or focusing objectively on her story.
I say don't you dare apologize, Ms. Sherrod. I fail to see how anyone can make Breitbart the victim in this situation when he was the one who tried to ruin your career and name as part of a vindictive attack on the NAACP, which he has YET to apologize for.
And don't be fooled by the “we were in Ms. Sherrod's corner until she started spouting nonsense” that's most likely sure to come.
According to Media Matters, members of the right were making this turn as early as Thursday when some were claiming that the White House orchestrated the entire situation.
I guess we will know by Monday whether or not the right will return to their regularly scheduled program of the “Obama Administration don't like white people” but this time featuring Ms. Sherrod as the star.
Related post:
Circling the wagons: Right-wing media figures rush to defend Breitbart
Andrew Breitbart – the NAACP's best friend and the Tea Party Movement's worst enemy
23 Comments
And you’re surprised by this? it’s Boilerpalte with these creepsNot only is Andrew Breitbart a racist, hsi pal James O’Keefe is a member of the White Citizens Council.
The “Mainstream” media won’t touch this fact at all.
There was, hoeever, a very good profile of Shirley Sherrod and her family on CNN last night by Don Lemmon. His star is rising as fast as Closet Case Cooper’s is falling.
Breitbart is a racist. But black women aren’t allowed to criticize white men.I hope that she sues him for everything he’s got.
Breitbart is a racist. But black women aren’t allowed to criticize white men.I hope that she sues him for everything he’s got.
It’s the new fad…A bigot calling his targets bigots.
And the circle of the bigot is completeBreitbart: This woman is a racist! See! I have a heavily doctored video! She used her position as a fed in the USDA to discriminate against white people!
Wingnut Noise Machine: ALERT! ALERT! UPPITY BLACK PERSON ADMITS TO HATING WHITEY!
The Media: Ooooh! Quick, let’s panic like a pack of four year olds upon seeing their first big spider. She is! She is! She weally is a wacist! Fire her ass.
The Administration: Aaaaaaaaaah! Fire her! Fire her now! Quickly! She’s toxic and Glenn Beck is gonna do a story on her. Panic!
Responsible people: Like hell. Look at the rest of the video. First of all, this was like 30 years ago; secondly, she was working for a non-profit organization, not the government, and thirdly, Sherrod’s anecdote was all about her realizing she had the wrong attitude, that she should stand for ALL poor people, regardless of their color or origin.
The Media: Er, um… No way we were snookered that badly. Must be something wrong with her.
The Administration: Uh oh. Activate ostrich mode!
Wingnut Noise Machine: ALERT! Those white people she helped — they’re fakes! They don’t exist!
Responsible people: Afraid she’s not a racist, and those farmers are totally legit. Oh, and by the way — her father was murdered by racist bigots during the civil rights era.
The Media and the Administration: Oh crap. We gotta make this right.
Breitbart: No no — it wasn’t about HER. I was pointing out the racism of the entire NAACP. See, they were hooting and hollering at her anecdote like a bunch of… well, you know.
Wingnut Noise Machine: ALERT! NAACP — are they total racists? Also, did they collude with the Obama Administration to destroy this woman’s career? It would be irresponsible not to speculate…for hours and hours.
Responsible people: Give Sherrod her damned job back. Better still, make it a promotion. And we want to hear some apologies. After this ridiculous lynching, there better be a POTUS call, too.
The Media and the Administration (scuffing the dirt): All right… Sorry.
Sherrod is interviewed. She’s kinda p.o’d at having been railroaded like she was, and for no good reason than the perfidy of the bigots and the cowardice of her supposed employers and friends. She rightly calls Breitbart on his shit, calls him a racist and someone who’d probably like to see African Americans reduced to slavery again.
Wingnut Noise Machine: ALERT! Sherrod must apologize abjectly to Breitbart! She’s evil again! Black woman disrespecting white guy who nearly got away with ruining her career! Release the hounds!
Unfortunately, it’s not new at all.White racists claiming to be victims of blacks dates back as far as Reconstruction, if not a lot farther. The specific language they’re using is an interesting tweak on the old meme, but the basic story is nearly as old as the United States. From the canard of virginal Southern white girls being raped by evil freed slaves to Breitbart being “victimized” by evil bigot Shirley Sherrod is no more than a jump cut. As a friend of mine described it last night, it’s just the latest remake of The Birth of a Nation.
It’s called ‘projection’…and they have it down to an art.
The minister who screams “pervert” at gays and lesbians…often is a pervert.
The wingnut who screams “Nazi!” and “Communist!” at progressives and liberals actually pines for strict police-state authoritarian rule.
The loonies most loudly demanding a constitutional amendment to protect the American flag are the ones most likely to be found wearing it in some garish and disrespectful way.
Those decrying “activist judges” want an activist judge to overturn every piece of legislation they don’t like (that is, insufficiently adherent to wingnut ideology).
And we have the cognitively dissonant who, after declaring progressives and liberals to be traitors and unAmerican, are the first to announce they want to launch a second war of secession and dissolve America entirely.
New? Have you never heard of Karl Rove?
Dag, that was good!Technowitch, you gotta let me steal this for my blog. That was TRULY AWESOME!
…exactlyThose most prone to calling themselves patriots and protectors of the UNITED States of America are the ones who most frequently demand that the states be allowed to act completely independent from one another…
Even futherIt goes back to the very beginning of slavery here and was often used as an ‘excuse’ for keeping blacks in chains. Not dissimilar to the scare tactics used against queers, actually. It was/is also used against Native Americans.
Huzzah!Excellent post, my dear!! ***** out of ****!
This guy is such pond scum….
…that, with real no “official” stature like an elected official, his behavior should be “modified” by harassment; maybe knocking him on his ass. [I know. I know.]
What pissed me off even more than he did, himself, is the way the pathetic train wreck that Nightline now is [can't Ted Koppell sue?] treated him. They did a feature on him the other night and acted as if it was just some kind of benign lark ,like toilet-papering a house at Halloween….with absolutely NO criticism of the havoc and harm to people he’d created.
WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO OUR SOCIETY in which the Right Wing gets away with political murder, and their targets are afraid to call bullshit on them, call them bigots [yes, paid Pollyanna marriage equality advocates, I'm talking about you], denounce their reprehensible behavior?
Once again I quote the line from Camelot:
Feel free.My own blog is at http://www.rebeccamorn.com/mind. Appreciate a link, if you don’t mind?
Breitbart should remember…
An incendiary approach may result in fire.
Those who craft media should exercise due diligence, at least some thoughtfulness, and perhaps a smidgen of humanity.
Done and doneIt’s on my blog. I let the words speak for themselves – http://holybulliesandheadlessm…
Thanks!You’re most kind.
A was calling it a fad…In that everyone is doing it now in all kinds of areas…see Technowitch’s explanation, she nailed it. It is no longer just the tool of power hungry politicians (and their lackeys) and traditional racists.
Dirt is usefulThe meek will only inherit the poisonous slag left behind after the christo-corporatist oligarchy runs what remains of this country through its dollar distillery and runs off with the last of our economic wealth.
It is time…It is time for Alan Grayson to do a seminar on what every progressive should know. You can not make nice with irrational enemies who want the worst for you. Indeed, you need to take a two by four with you and hit them upside the head rather than extend a hand to compromise. The radical right, led by Fox News, doesn’t want a civil discussion they want to UTTERLY DESTROY us. The sooner we learn this… the better.
Observe how it is done:
https://secure.mydccc.org/o/30…
Screw ‘em if they claim Ms. Sherrod or Obama are “angry blacks.” As far as I’m concerned, I WANT to see me some angry black leaders get in their fascist faces and call them on their ridiculous crap. In fact, African Americans are very good at it when unleashed and it is probably why the right wing has sold the meme no one wants to see it. Yes we do. It would be quite gratifying.
Not going to see the anger you are looking for…I watched the video of Alan Grayson you linked to, cowboyneok, and he is the FIRST elected official I ever remember seeing who said the following simple truth: The Republicans want us to starve. They want us all to be so desperate, that we will work for next to nothing, which is one of their actual goals.
Fox News aims for nothing less than a takeover by a right-wing dictatorship, which is the easiest way to enforce our desperation and the Republicans’ total, permanent, and unchallengeable power.
I don’t believe the Democrats, and Obama in particular, are spineless. They aren’t not fighting against Fox News because they are frightened of Fox. They aren’t fighting Fox because they are not on our side.
If either the Democrats or the Republicans as we now know them remain in power, Fox News will eventually get its way. We will eventually be ruled by a right-wing evangelical Christian military dictator who is fronting for the arms manufacturers, the banks, the oil companies, the miners, big agro-business, and the medical industry. I can’t imagine enough Americans ever fighting against this to make a difference. Indeed, I believe when the day comes that they are desperate enough to fight, most Americans will fight to hasten a right-wing dictatorship, not against one.
They can deny and PROJECT all they want but truth is …Breitbart is a racist!
Breitbart is a racist!
Breitbart is a racist!
Breitbart is a racist!
Breitbart is a racist!
Breitbart is a racist!
Breitbart is a racist!
Breitbart is a racist!
Breitbart is a racist!
Breitbart is a racist!
The right thingThe right wing corperate media propoganda machine will not stop this repetitive character assasination until every last dime is sued from thier all important wallets. Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity, Breitbart and Fux News. This group wraps itelf in rightousness and self appointed defenders of “Christian” values – but oviously never heard “thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor”.
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