The Curious Case of Shirley Sherrod

Robert Gibbs was acting contrite today. This is kind of like saying Charlie Sheen was enjoying a soda and chef salad at the church fund raiser, or Whoopie Goldberg made a coherent and enlightening argument today. I don't get it. Gibbs was distancing the White House from Agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack, claiming there was no pressure from the Administration to fire Shirley Sherrod, the state director of rural development in Georgia. Sherrod was forced to resign after a video was released which at first, appeared to show her making racially charged remarks at a NAACP banquet.

Stanger still is that NAACP CEO, Benjamin Todd Jealous, also wanted her head on a platter claiming the group was "appalled by her actions." The NAACP'S initial reaction was curious in light of the fact that Mr. Jealous loves to play the race game himself. Why should the NAACP, the MSM, and the administration get themselves in a twist over comments from some obscure government bureaucrat when other higher profile officials have done or said things far worse?

Sherrod is claiming that the administration was spooked after hearing she was going to appear on Glenn Beck to clear her name - the full speech is actually quite moving as she speaks from the heart about how she, an African American, overcame her own personal prejudices towards white farmers and became a colorblind advocate for all those who toil the land.

So, Vilsack is falling on his sword claiming there was no contact with the White House, and the media has moved on to playing a disingenuous game of self flagellation - chattering about their "rush to judgement" and how this is "a teaching moment." We've seen this act before. Remember Dan Rather, the 2000 election, Richard Jewell...?

Something isn't sitting right, and I just can't put my finger on it. Gibbs was walking on egg shells over the whole affair, and Gibbs is usually a smug little jerk. I don't believe for a second that the administration was in the dark about this. It is impossible that as this story exploded in the media, the White House had absolutely no contact with the department. Gibbs was lying, and to quote a famous movie - "I can't think of one reason big enough for him to lie about, that's small enough not to matter."

Anyway, there's lots more stuff coming on deck so stay tuned to TSH and remember, we're on Facebook so join the fan club!

Cordially

Joe