IF I could choose one good outcome from this whole Sherrod debacle, it would be that it finally puts to rest the idea that there is an all powerful liberal media in this country. Here's a good HuffPo editorial about it:
Fooled Again by Breitbart and the Wingnut Right
There's nothing shocking or surprising about the latest Andrew Breitbart scam in which he released selectively-edited video of an African American USDA worker, Shirley Sherrod, and accused her of racism against a white farmer couple, the Spooners. That's not to suggest we shouldn't be vigorously talking about it. We absolutely should be. But the most outrageous aspects of the story are fairly typical of everyone involved: Breitbart, the so-called "liberal" news media, Democrats, Fox News Channel and all points in between.
For background purposes, it's important to note that Andrew Breitbart is an attention-whore who is desperate to emulate his mentor, Matt Drudge, and this isn't the first time he's released misleading videotape "evidence" of African Americans behaving badly (or so he claims) in order to drive traffic to his various websites while augmenting his status as a player in the modern conservative movement. He previously engaged in the same chicanery when he released heavily edited and ultimately phony Jackass-style videos in which, he alleges, ACORN workers had given inappropriate advice to a (fake) pimp and a (fake) prostitute who were, among other things, seeking to engage in human trafficking. The videos turned out to be misleading at best, and the fake pimp character went on to plead guilty to charges of entering federal property under false pretense.
.....
Yesterday, on MSNBC's Morning Joe, Margaret Carlson, who is normally one of the more measured and smart analysts on MSNBC, was aghast at the edited video of Sherrod's speech. Carlson compared Sherrod to disgraced tea party leader Mark Williams and exclaimed, "It's every bit as hateful
. Look at that woman! I mean, aren't you ashamed?"
It's possible, however unlikely, that the Morning Joe crew and Carlson were unaware of who released the tape. But at some point, journalistic instincts and restraint ought to kick in when it comes to a random videotape excerpt from a previously unknown speaker. Instead, the panel, like the White House and the NAACP, were outraged by Sherrod's out of context remarks without bothering to investigate the source of the video and whether that source was credible. Today, on Morning Joe, Mark Whitaker and Mark Halperin were quick to indict the president while ignoring the initial media hysteria around the video. Halperin went so far as to warn the Democrats of repercussions in the midterms. Repercussions from whom? African Americans? It comes as no surprise that Halperin didn't warn of repercussions against either Breitbart or his co-conspirator Fox News Channel.
And this will all happen again. Why? Because the traditional news media and, to a certain extent, the Democrats including the president, are too easily cowed by right-wing freakouts.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/fooled-again-by-breitbart_b_654594.html
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