Does Breitbart, Vilsack or Obama look worst in Shirley Sherrod firing?

 
In a world where a Tweet can’t be longer than 140 characters, a video clip that’s 2 minutes and 38 seconds starts to look like War and Peace.
But in a world containing such complex issues as racism and forgiveness, a cut-to-the-Tweet mentality is bound to distort opinions and views. And in a world containing as much partisanship as this one, a willingness to lie and distort just makes things worse.
Nobody has experienced this more forcefully than Shirley Sherrod. Ms. Sherrod, who is black, recounted in a 43-minute speech at an NAACP banquet how she once she was called upon, as an employee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to help a white Southern farmer who was in danger of losing his farm.
Her speech dealt frankly with attitudes that contribute to racism. She said she debated how much help to give the man. She said she resented the fact so many black farmers had lost their land. “So I didn’t give him the full force of what I could do.”
That short quote got stuck into the 2 minute video that right wing blogger Andrew Breitbart posted on his website. After it went viral, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack demanded that Shirley Sherrod resign. She told reporters that the order to force her out had come from the White House. The NAACP supported the decision to get rid of her, and she was held up everywhere as an example of black racism.
It was only after all these bad things had happened that Ms. Sherrod’s entire 43 minute speech was posted and people understood her remarks in context. It was a speech about reconciliation and overcoming racist attitudes.
The farmer who had been a central figure in the story said charges that Ms. Sherrod was a racist were “a bunch of hogwash.” He and his wife said Ms. Sherrod had saved his farm.
Within days Secretary Vilsack had offered her a new job and President Obama had called to personally apologize and urge her to take it.
The blogger, Breitbart, obviously looks terrible for posting the video. Vilsack looks bad for failing to dig out the whole story before firing an employee. And although Vilsack claims it was his decision alone, it’s hard to believe President Obama didn’t approve the firing.
At least President Obama and Secretary Vilsack apologized once they understood the whole story. Mr. Breitbart claimed the controversy was manufactured to smear him.