400-408 – (:56) Gibbs on Sherrod 1. (White House Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, responds to questions about Sherrod from reporter Jake Tapper at the White House @ 7/21/2010)
Who made mistakes in this? Who should be apologizing and for what? Who do you blame?
Monday 818am (Eastern) – Breitbart posts the videos.
Mid Afternoon – Cook calls and tells Sherrod the White House wants her to resign immediately because "you're going to be on Glenn Beck tonight." She resigns.
500pm – Glenn Beck show does not mention Sherrod at all.
[We played the video on our show at 500pm Pacific, 800pm Eastern.]
700pm – Fox News prime time covers the story.
1155pm – NAACP cheers Sherrod getting fired, saying "her actions were shameful. While she went on to explain in the story that she ultimately realized her mistake, as well as the common predicaments working with people of all races, she gave no indication she had attempted to right the wrong she had done to this man."
The NAACP claims they were "snookered" by Fox News, but she was fired BEFORE Fox even mentioned it!
Andrew Breitbart? But he says he posted the full version he was given – he didn't edit the video to make Shirley Sherrod sound racist. I would like to think he wouldn't have posted it had he seen the entire video in context.
NAACP President Ben Jealous for condemning Shirley Sherrod for comments she made at his event on March 27, 2010, without even talking to her about it or without even watching the whole video?
Or Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, or Cheryl Cook for calling Shirley on the phone three times to say the White House wants her resignation immediately, that she should pull over "right now" and submit her resignation on her Blackberry? The White House denies they were involved with the decision to fire her, Vilsack owns it and agrees with them that it was his call, but the White House did back the decision after Vilsack fired her – again, without talking to her or watching the whole tape. Then last night, the White House ordered Vilsack to apologize and give her another job.
Vilsack just finished a press conference on this about 230pm Pacific, he says this is a "teachable moment for me," and he accepts full responsibility for firing her, and says the White House wasn't involved in the decision. He's apologized to Shirley Sherrod, she's accepted it, and he's offered her another job, not her old job, and she said she's "considering it."
Vilsack says that Sherrod had sent he and Cheryl Cook an email on Thursday morning about the video that might be coming out – no doubt to forewarn them – but they never got the email because their email addresses were wrong, though they did get it afterwards.
Sherrod won a $13 million race suit against the USDA last year in the Pigford Case, and she and her husband got $150,000 each for pain and suffering. She said today, "I would love to sue, and I'm going to think about it." Imagine how much her settlement will be the upcoming lawsuit?
• Fox News (7/20/2010) Official Ousted From Agriculture Department Had Taken USDA to Court, Won.
But it's not the first time Sherrod faced off against the federal government. Days before she was appointed to the USDA post last year, her group reportedly won a $13 million settlement in a longstanding discrimination suit against the USDA known commonly as the Pigford case.
The Rural Development Leadership Network announced last summer that New Communities Inc. -- a group Sherrod formed with husband Charles, who is a civil rights activist, and with other black farmers -- had reached the agreement. The RDLN said the USDA had "refused" to offer new loans or restructure old loans to members of New Communities, leading to the discrimination claim.
The announcement said that in addition to the $13 million to New Communities, Shirley and Charles Sherrod would each get $150,000 for "pain and suffering."
• Politico (7/21/2010) USDA will reconsider firing.
• Yahoo News (7/21/2010) White House apologizes to ousted USDA worker.
• NAACP, VIDEO: WATCH THE SHIRLEY SHERROD SPEECH IN FULL.
• Media Matters (7/21/2010) Sherrod: I'm a Victim of Breitbart, Fox 'Racism'.
She also said Fox News never checked the facts with her before posting a story and the video clip.
"Not before they reported it," she said of Fox's negligence. "They have called me today and initially I had said yes (to an interview), but I thought about it and I did not think they intended to be fair in their reporting. They are going to say what they want to say regardless of what I say."
She said Fox showed no professionalism in continuing to bother her for an interview, but failing to correct their coverage.
"I think they should but they won't. They intended exactly what they did. They were looking for the result they got yesterday," she said of Fox. "I am just a pawn. I was just here. They are after a bigger thing, they would love to take us back to where we were many years ago. Back to where black people were looking down, not looking white folks in the face, not being able to compete for a job out there and not be a whole person."
// Sherrod said she is considering legal action, perhaps against Breitbart, Fox or the federal government:
"I don't know enough to know. I wish I did. I would love to sue. I am going to talk about it. I have been getting calls from all over the country. I don't want to leave one stone unturned."
413-423 – Calls (Martin from APU re Arizona and illegal immigration)
428-437 – Calls
443-452 – Phil Aguilar (philaguilar.com) founder of Set Free Ministry (setfree.org) and the Set Free Soldiers and author of the brand new book Forgive Me Father: For I Have Sinned. Charges were filed against Set Free stemming from a bar fight with the Hells Angels in July 2008 in which there were two stabbings and one man pelted with a billiard ball. There was a pre-dawn raid on their houses in August 2008. All charges against Phil were dropped since they didn't find anything, other than a single bullet for which he agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of having one bullet in his house since he is a convicted felon.
• LA Now (5/18/2010) No jail sentence for founder of Christian motorcycle club accused in Newport Beach brawl with Hells Angels.
458-508 – Grant Horner, one of the most-popular professors up at the Master's College (masters.edu), and world-class mountaineer, and author of the brand new Meaning at the Movies: Becoming a Discerning Viewer. He also teaches at Trinity Classical Academy (trinityclassicalacademy.com). Today we talk about how we should be watching movies.
512-523 – Grant Horner
528-538 – Dave & Jan Dravecky, he was a major league pitcher for 8 years with the Padres and the Giants, but lost his career to cancer after the 1989 season, and then lost his arm – literally – to cancer when on June 18, 1991 his left arm was amputated. Today, he and his wife Jan run a ministry called Endurance (endurance.org) that serves those suffering from divorce, depression, loss, be it relational or financial, and especially ministers to those fighting cancer and dealing with amputation. If you contact them through the website, they'll send you an Encouragement Basket with three items: An Encouragement Bible, their book When You Can't Come Back, and the devotional, Do Not Lose Heart. Three other excellent resources they recommend are: Philip Yancey's two books Where is God When It Hurts?, and Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?, and Jerry Sittser's Grace Disguised. Dave's written several books including Comeback, then When You Can't Come Back, followed by Called Up: Stories of Life and Faith from the Great Game of Baseball.
544-554 – Dave & Jan Dravecky
558-608 – Wendel Deyo, Founder and President of Kings Domain (kingsdomain.org) – a camp and conference center in southwest Ohio, and the guy who lead me to the Lord in September 1984. Wendel was on staff with Campus Crusade for 32 years, 28 of those with Athletes in Action, where he was president from 1989-2000. He then went on to become the #2 guy with Crusade in the US, as Associate US Director, for 3.5 years before leaving staff in 2003 to become the primary care-giver for his wife Cindy who has MS. We talk a little about my "atheist" days and him leading me to the Lord, before turning to talk about the manifest sovereignty of God through some of trials they have endured as a family – not only Cindy's advancing MS, but his son Adam's serious facial injury, and the near-fatal trauma of his grandson Judah being born 4.5 months early. Judah is now 3, and one of 10 grandsons they enjoy along with their granddaughter.
612-623 – Wendel Deyo
628-638 – Wendel Deyo
644-654 – Wendel Deyo
(4:26) Sherrod in context. (NNAACP has posted the whole speech in context here. Dinner was @ 3/27/2010 in Georgia).
(:34) Sherrod on TODAY. (Shirley Sherrod is interviewed by Matt Lauer on TODAY NBC @ 7/21/2010.)
(3:10) Gibbs on Sherrod 2.
