Shirley Sherrod

Way to go, Tea Partiers and Fox News. Boy, you pulled a fast one on the nation, didn't you? You found a video of a speech by Shirley Sherrod, an official in the Agriculture Department, in which she talked about her personal prejudices against whites. Then you raised holy hell about it, both on Fox and heavily in the right-wing blogs. Which caused the Administration and the NAACP to fire Ms. Sherrod, end her career with the government, and denounce her as racist.

Except, of course, it wasn't true. Once people viewed the entire video, not just the clips that the bloggers and Fox News broadcast, it turned out that she was a redemption story. Her speech was about her personal journey to overcoming her own racist prejudices, not a denunciation of whites. And, as it turns out, she was very successful in helping whites as well as blacks. Her story should be a example to all of what is possible.

Instead, you guys have successfully ruined the career of an inspirational and successful black administration official and thrown the Administration into a tizzy. Yes, you've certainly shown everybody that the Obama gang is racist and not to be trusted, haven't you? Who cares that you ruined somebody's reputation?

Well, the Administration does, if belatedly, as well as the NAACP. Both have offered their apologies to Sherrod. As they damn well should. When will the Tea Party and Fox News offer their apologies? So far, they haven't. Which says a helluva lot about both, doesn't it? Not just about the accuracy of their statements, but about their moral character.

Follow-up (Saturday, 24 July): Bill O'Reilly has apologized for his part in the Sherrod case. Good for him. Andrew Breitbart, the clown who first posted the video, is now saying that he's being unfairly vilified by liberal media. He has not apologized.