White House Does Quick 180 With Sherrod

I must admit that I was a little slow to this story surrounding Shirley Sherrod. Only last night did I tune in to Anderson Cooper of all people to watch the infamous video clip....and the entire video that gives us the real story that was parsed for the benefit of right wing hacks like Andrew Breitbart.

It wasn't upsetting that Breitbart manipulated the video of Sherrod's speech about the history of racism in our country and how her personal story led her to realize that people must be helped no matter what color their skin may be; what infuriated me is that Obama's Administration and the NAACP fell hook, line and sinker for this Fox News-driven story (Fox News' participation in this was so abhorrent, even their own Shep Smith went off on his network).

So Obama's U.S.D.A. man Tom Vilsack came out today and apologized, offering Ms. Sherrod her job back (NYT):

“Without a doubt, Ms. Sherrod is owed an apology,” the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, said Wednesday in his daily briefing, referring to Shirley Sherrod, who until Monday was the rural development director for the Agriculture Department’s state office in Georgia. “I will do so certainly on behalf of this administration.”

The apology capped what had been a humiliating and fast-paced turn of events for the White House, the national media and the N.A.A.C.P., all of whom, Mr. Gibbs said, overreacted to a video that appeared to show Ms. Sherrod saying that she had discriminated against a white farmer. The remarks were taken out of context from a longer speech in which she said she learned to overcome her own biases.

Later, Mr. Vilsack held his own news briefing to say that he had called Ms. Sherrod to apologize and had offered her a new position with the agency.

"She was extraordinarily gracious," he said.

Sherrod was used here by Breitbart, as only people like Andrew Breitbart would do. Using the topic of race in America the way he did was atrocious. Breitbart will go down as one of the scummier right-wing smear merchants in the early 21st century. Unfortunately, that is what we expect from those who are involved in conservative politics these days. Ignoring the Breitbarts, Bachmanns and Palins is what we must do. Ignoring them will reduce their power in our country. What the NAACP and the Obama Administration did was exactly the opposite, and encourages these spiteful and nasty people to continue their dastardly acts.

Rand Paul Said What??

Ron Paul may have faded from the political limelight since his Presidential quest went down in flames but his son's star is on the up and up. Rand Paul is now the Republican nominee for the Senate seat in Kentucky, besting the local party's pick to replace Senator Jim Bunning. Paul's victory is a testament to the nascent power the teabaggers are beginning to hold in various conservative strongholds around the country. However, his views and recent statements are showing the mainstream just how far out there Paul and others like him are.

From Crooks and Liars:

Presidential bashing of corporate crime, corruption and greed is as American as apple pie. While Republican Teddy Roosevelt decried "malefactors of great wealth," his distant Democratic cousin FDR announced, "I welcome their hatred." But now just days after insisting the federal government had no right to bar racial discrimination in public accommodations, Kentucky Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul again reversed victim and villain in calling President Obama's criticism of BP, "un-American."

In the face of the environmental catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, Paul rushed to the defense of BP on Good Morning America. When George Stephanopolous asked, "But you don't want to get rid of the EPA?" Dr. Paul's diagnosis was that the Obama administration was persecuting the oil giant and the American free enterprise system. Accidents, he insisted, "happen".

Paul's assertions may reside upon libertarian values, but they certainly are not American values. Accidents do not always just "happen," oil spills like that of which we are dealing with now must have consequences when the companies at fault did not take adequate precautions to prevent millions of barrels of oil from polluting the Gulf of Mexico. The same goes for enforcing anti-discrimination laws so that commercial establishments do not keep black people from sitting at the lunch counter as Woolworth's did not fifty years ago.

Mr. Paul, we have government for a reason, and that is to make people behave civilly and to respect each other's liberties. BP does not have the liberty to destroy an ecosystem that millions of people depend upon, let alone the myriad species that live in the waters and surrounding shorelines. The fact that someone with such horrifying views has made it a general election is both shocking and depressing. This year, it is the responsibility of the Kentucky Democratic party to take this seat back not only for politics, but for the common good.

Vito Strikes Back!

In New York we certainly have our fair share of politicians who have fallen from grace due to their loins, though very few ever come back. Even those that do don't really come back all the way. Former Congressman Vito Fossella however, is looking to break through that mold (created from the scummy, hiding-a-second-family-on-the-side plaster). His friends over on Staten Island went to bat for him in a big way last night and Vito is looking for a grand re-entrance.

From Staten Island Live:

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. --- In a bombshell announcement, the Staten Island Republican Party executive committee last night endorsed former GOP Rep. Vito Fossella to run against Rep. Michael McMahon (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn) this fall.[...]

Party chairman John Friscia said Fossella was the best candidate to beat McMahon. However, he acknowledged that he has no information Fossella would run.

"It is my firm belief that he [Fossella] is the strongest candidate we can field," Friscia said after the executive committee interviewed candidates for Congress and other races at the Road House in Sunnyside.

If Friscia has the opinion that a two-timing, DUI-collecting ex-Congressman is the best candidate to take back the Staten Island seat, their chances of success are rather grim to say the least. While this news isn't exactly out of left field, it has to be troubling for the folks at the NRCC who are looking to win seats this fall. As for my opinion, I have to defer to NY Dems Executive Director Charlie King, who facetiously called on Vito to go all the way and run for governor.

Bush Wants To 12-Step Wall Street

Wow, just wow:



How much longer is this moron going to be around?