I screwed up

I've screwed up. 
A couple of posts ago, I linked a video of Shirley Sherrod, an African-American employee of the Department Of Agriculture, speaking to an NAACP gathering. 
I usually don't worry about taking quotes out of context.  That's why they're called quotes.  By their very definition, they're out of context.  But in this case, Shirley Sherrod was explaining how she overcame anti-white bias.  The latter half of her story, the redemptive part, is not included in the video clip that I posted. 

The video, by not including the complete story, gives the wrong impression of Shirley Sherrod and the point that she was trying to make at the NAACP gathering. 
Talk radio has been pretty lively this morning, pointing out how Sherrod's audience was apparently delighted in her power over the white farmer, the Department of Agriculture shouldn't have forced her to resign, the White House shouldn't have pressured the Department of Kickpacks to force her to resign, Andrew Breitbart should have checked out the context before releasing the video, and on and on and on. 

But enough about them.   I screwed up by posting the video.  (And my post and commentary has already been linked by a couple of Big Deal blogs in Europe, BTW.) 

It's atonement time. 
I don't think Shirley Sherrod is going to put her mailing address online any time soon. 
I ain't about to write a "I'm sorry" check to the Department Of Agriculture. 
I might write a check to the NAACP, along with some kind of apology letter.
I'm open to suggestions. 

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa 

Shirley Sherrod, the NAACP, and racism within The Tea Party The NAACP

Here's the Tea Party's first counter-offensive against its recent critics.  (You remember the Tea Party?  The organization with all the racists in its ranks?)


From Ed Driscoll:

The Agriculture Department announced Monday, shortly after FoxNews.com published its initial report on the video, that Sherrod had resigned.



“There is zero tolerance for discrimination at USDA, and I strongly condemn any act of discrimination against any person,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a written statement. “We have been working hard through the past 18 months to reverse the checkered civil rights history at the department and take the issue of fairness and equality very seriously.

Andrew Breitbart is going to post one of these counter-offensives every day this week. 
Welcome to Barack Obama's new post-racial America. 
The Tea Party is kinda goofy, but the charges of racism are nothing more than a ploy to intimidate fence-sitters and keep them from participating.  The NAACP really should've gotten the beam out of it's own eye before picking at the specks within the Tea Party. 

In the words of one commenter: “The difference between the tea party and the NAACP is if you are looking for racists at the tea party you look at the fringe and if you are looking for racists at the NAACP, you look to the stage.”

Don't get me wrong....I think Shirley Sherrod did the right thing by intentionally denying the tax money for the white farmer.  I wish all tax money could be denied to white farmers.  And black ones.

************
From Wednesday afternoon:

Go here for an update.  It seems that the video doesn't tell the entire story. 

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa