Althouse: On Sherrod and Taking Things Out of Context
by PubliusAnalysis from Ann Althouse today. Read the whole thing:
Don’t we constantly extract quotes and clips from larger contexts? I do blog posts by that method all the time. I find the juiciest line and quote it often deliberately out of context or with intent to misdirect for humorous or shocking effect. It’s the reader’s responsibility to figure out what to do with it. I’m not ashamed to operate that way. For one thing, I give links, so you have a path to the larger context. And, more important, by depriving you of a pat, self-contained package, I’m forcing you to read critically and keep going.
There’s always more to the story. When we purport to put something “in context,” it’s the whole context, We’re choosing the frame of information that serves our interests, interests that may include but are rarely limited to the pure understanding of the truth. Traditional newspapers may have led their readers to think that they’d processed all the information and digested it into a simple-to-read article, and they often abused their readers’ trust. The web doesn’t work like that. The web activates its readers, and I think that’s for the good…
…[Breitbart] identifies Sherrod as USDA Georgia Director of Rural Development, speaking a the NAACP Freedom Fund dinner in Georgia, giving a “meandering speech to what appears to be an all-black audience.” He misstates (and later corrects) that she’s talking about how she treats white people today, in her current job. That’s an atrocious, blatant error, which, as we all found out, is easily refuted by watching the video of the full speech. (I should say, more accurately, the speech minus the gap that “an NAACP spokesman” said occurred “when the tape was switched in the recording.” Really? They use tapes to record? Tapes that are inadequate to hold a speech of less than an hour? My pocket digital cameras have better video capacity that than. I’m skeptical.)…
…We learned much more about Shirley Sherrod, but we don’t know everything. The context frame was widened, to her full speech, her life story as she chose to tell it. But there are gaps even in that (even aside from the tape-switch gap). I want to know more, and I don’t think we know the whole story about why she was fired. The official story is pretty embarrassing for the administration, and I don’t quite believe it. They jumped because of the Breitbart post? What are they hiding? I suspect that they don’t want us delving into the inner workings of the USDA, and they don’t want us listening to all the various things Shirley Sherrod has said and will say. Why wasn’t she on any of the Sunday talk shows?
Full article here.
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73 Comments
SEE Shirley Sherrod's husband in all his racist glory!
"We Must Stop the White Man and His Uncle Toms From Stealing Our Elections"
http://theothermccain.com/2010/07/26/video-shirle...
I'm sure SHE's not a racist, too. Yah.
(credits to "alan markus" on the althouse blog for posting that link)
The only thing that surprised me (And really doesn't) Is the "Fact" the MSM takes just about everything out of context that's ok for them
But let somebody on the right do it and it's"Racist"
Ed Morrissey seemed to think the video of her husband's racist remarks weren't relevent. Really? Do you have such widely diverging opinions about matters such as race with your spouse of several decades? I seriously doubt it. The Sherrods are from my state, and with very little probing, people have said they BOTH have a rep as race baiters. I think this is why they wanted her gone and shut up quickly.
Shirley Sherrod must have replaced her burned out NAACP sock-puppet batteries.
THERE'S ONLY ONE OPTION FOLKS, AND THAT'S TO STOMP
OUT OBAMANOMICS, SOCIALIST ENSLAVEMENT AND BANKRUPTCY:
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
http://i27.tinypic.com/34rj0uv.jpg
I think Charles Sherrod is in Bill Ayers book and was a member of the SNCC (student non-violent coordinating committee)
Shirley Sherrod admitted to being a former racist and she did not denounce or call the NBPP racist, or the DOJ racist for having an apartheid civil rights division — where it is now legal to discriminate against whites?
Al Sharpton in drag.
BLACK LIBERATION THEOLOGY mm mm mm……….it's all about REPARATIONS folks, nothing LESS.
Get in your Representative and Senators back pockets, on these Piggy-back Pigford lawsuits against
USDA, and stay there until they begin to pay attention.
WAKE-UP AMERICA ! ! !
I Know it's coming, just wondering how and when!!
(It's Bushes Fault)
Uh fellas read what your man says – he likes to misdirect..- "I find the juiciest line and quote it often deliberately out of context or with intent to misdirect for humorous or shocking effect. It’s the reader’s responsibility to figure out what to do with it." Listen to what he's telling you, he and his kind are not to be trusted, he means it, more than most of what he writes. And just to prove that he has no interest in reality just fanning the flames and making a buck he tries to imply that there is something fishy in the 'changing of the tape'. This speech was 25 years old, yes we did have to change tapes back then before digital technology. Beware the snake-oil salesmen.
In this day and age is it possible that the Black Panthers, NAACP, and the Black Caucas could be vilified as racist? I'm just shocked I tell you. Shocked. Affirmative Action must do much more to help those poor downtrodden groups. /Sarcasm.
assjack, the speech wasn't 25 years old. The incident with the white farmer was. DUH.
Love how you fruits can't even get your facts straight on a story which is already many days old.
The speech was given in March 2010. Her story was from an incident that occurred 24 years old. Troll somewhere else until you get your facts straight, please.
Publius also says he gives the link so we can read the whole thing for ourselves. Don't take him out of context, friend.
The problem, and the story, isn't Breitbart's shamelessly misleading video, it's that "Fair and Balanced" Fox made no effort to get their facts straight, and the rest of the media and elements of the administration actually believes Fox enough to shoot first and ask questions later. I suspect this incident takes care of Fox reports ever being taken at face value again. Andrew has performed an inadvertent public service. For that, I sincerely thank him.
Fair enough, my mistake.
And poor white people oppressed since that awful day in 1964 when racism against blacks was ended with a stroke of the pen and all opprobrium was turned on the white man, most of whom had never harbored a racist thought let alone benefitted in any way from the country's history.
After mackycat and UGA just punked you out in your zeal for another predictable illiterate statement, this is the part where you feel like the DUMBASS you truly were meant to be.
Okay now, cue in your traditional "troll misdirect" statements. C'mon…..you can doooo iiiittt!
assjack, fox didn't aire any parts of the video or even mention the story until hours AFTER she was already forced to resign (fired).
again, the story has been out for days, yet fruits like you can't get the facts straight.
So you're saying you used to take FoxNews reports at face value?
Besides the EXCERPT was not misleading – it included the part about her seeing the light and taking the farmer to "one of his own kind".
Mr. Breitbart got the administration to be stuck with Ms. Sherrod. It's funny how it took the NAACP ALL DAY to release the "unedited full" video. Just long enough to perhaps clean it up some.
Thanks for surrendering, by the way. Enjoy the grape Kool-Aid.
Illiterate is what you are,ie a mangler of the English language. I made a mistake, and have the balls to admit it.
I know you are, but what am I?
Illiterate as I said. Also cowardly and arrogant.
Try again without the homophobia macho man.
The best part is when Sherrod's racist husband made that racist statement. The gall of this black man saying "OUR" elections. Since when did white people become irrelvant? Oh yeah, when Obama fraudulently became some sort of squatter in the WH. People like that man Sherrod make me nauseous and DO NOT promote racial harmony in this country.
Yooohooo Mr. Sherrod, you do realize you comprise only 13% of the population of this country, so don't get so cocky by stating the elections are YOURS. They belong to everyone, even repugnant racists like yourself.
Yeah, you're so right. I should now be punished for not even living in those times but merely for having the wrong skin color now.
Two wrongs don't make a right, and many of those who and do benefit from prejudice like this weren't alive in those days either.
Here's a question: What was it about this woman that made the WH overreact so dramatically? I find it hard to believe they were actually terrified of Andrew and Glen Beck all of the sudden. (Not that shouldn't be of course, but they've been downplaying and condescending all over AB & GB for quite a while now.) Just have to wonder what exactly it was about this woman that had them responding so violently…… ('Cause it only took 'em a couple months to make some decisions and destroy the economy of the Gulf and all…..)
KNOT! It was on their web site.
Do you know some scumbag over on The American Spectator said it was "another man named Sherrod"?
I could have died laughing. I sprinkled it "liberally" in the thread.
Thank God we have your fair and balanced interpretation to lead us away from our white guilt. I'll call the President tomorrow and suggest he appoint you as the Racism Czar.
Your incoherence leaves me unable to respond to anything but your first sentence. As for my ever having taken Fox News at face value? I've known Ailes for a long time, so I've never seen Fox News unless trapped in a room with it on, or as excerpted to prove one point or another about its utter brainlessness. .
Heh. Truth comes to the patient, but owning the conversation comes to the quick. I learned that from the Left, but Ann has outlined it perfectly.
Very interesting. My read is that they didn't want any digging and I have a feeling there's more than a barrel of rotten apples there. Notice how they were dying to trot her around for the Sunday talk shows and then (suddenly) they pulled her back behind the curtain.
Oh yeah, there's more going on here. You can bet on that…
So you are saying that you get all your news from the alphabet stations? And they are not biased?
I am of Slavic descent. The word slave is from Slav. My ancestors were slaves so I guess I am owed something? Is it impossible for me to be racist since I come from an oppressed minority?
I can see how you would think I'm incoherent. By the way, the next time you are trapped in a room, you should try using that thing attached to the door – it's called the doorknob. You can turn it either way to open the door and get out.
That explains why she has "vanished" from the news cycle….don't stop post it drive it home
Never watch teevee news, to be honest. I find it unbelievably irritating. They don't have the time, resources, or intention to do serious, in depth reporting.
Uh, Artwhite, take a minute or two and read the post a little more carefully. Ann Althouse is not "my man"…or anyone else's, for that matter.
And when SHE says that SHE takes things out of context, for humorous or shocking effect, SHE points out that the technique is commonly used by the mainstream media, and not just by bloggers.
Yeah, he said you had to have brains to figure things out on your own, which would exclude you brainless drooling obama-bots. You don't have what it takes, brains and the ability to filter things correctly. Mostly because you are a MORON.
Apparently, in seeing your rating, you make a habit of making mistakes and not having the brains to figure out right from wrong. Which makes you a good tool for the obama-bot crowd.
Somehow reading your bit of wishful thinking about Fox reminds me of Don Quixote charging the windmill. Sorry guy, but the left's heyday of ruling over the media and the distribution of information is over. The only thing this will do to Fox is boost their ratings. Frankly, no one trusts your particular media choices any more. And they shouldn't, since the partisan spin coming out of the other networks makes Fox on its most conservative day look tame.
Funny, with not a single liberal making an effort to get a single fact straight I can't just muster taking a god damned worthless idiot troll like you seriously. And apparently nobody else does either. So, just curious, why do you bother drooling on this site when nobody respects you and for good reasons? Is the minimum wage you earn from huffington post worth your soul that you sold to get it?
Funny, you don't really hear white people complaining about being oppressed as much as pointing out truthful statements about how evil any kind of racial quota is. Did you ever have a brain at any point in your life or is this brain dead condition of yours a new thing?
In the next few weeks and months you will see some new facts come out about Sherrod and her ilk that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt just how big of a racist she really is. I can't wait till it hits the streets. It will be fun.
With your head up your butt, we just wonder how you ever manage typing. Flashlight?
Do ya think she resigned so fast because she didn't know which tape people were talking about?
Ok, what is worse the fact he married her or she married him? He sounds like Billy Joe Jim Bob from rural Georgia trying to make a Harvard commencement address. WOW. It almost seemed like he was only reading from a card and not sure to believe what he was reading. Maybe Shirley typed it up for him and just said "Go up there and read this"
Even tho FOX is trying to cover everything (the lsm misses a lot of issues), yep, they do "stumble" rarely………..but our admin misspeaks what 3-4 times a week? Are we really so lame that we will listed to this man and believe ANYTHING he has said? They have all pretty much lied thru their teeth as well, but not with every word they said!!!!!
And we all know who will find this answer to that one…………it's getting so you can't miss five minutes on here and the admin does something else!!!!!!!!!!!! These are scary times
"I want to know more, and I don’t think we know the whole story about why she was fired."
(A possible scenario from an imaginary conversation between the USDA and White House);
WH: Hello, this is the White House liaison with the USDA. How may I help you?
USDA: Hi. We have a problem. Shirley Sherrod, our hack in Georgia gave a speech to the NAACP back in March. In it she described an incident where she basically harbored anti-white feelings toward a farmer who had come to her for help.
WH: So, what's the problem?
USDA: Well, a video clip is posted on the Big Government website.
WH: Hum. So what do you want ME to do about that? We can't shut down the website, yet.
USDA: Well, we were thinking of asking her to resign….
WH: Now there you go! Get that done immediately before she is exposed on the Glenn Beck show!
USDA: Well, she's in her car and won't be back to the office for awhile.
WH: You got your orders. She got a blackberry? Everyone has a blackberry. Even the One has a blackberry. Tell her to pull over and do it immediately!
USDA: Okey Dokey!
WH: Oh! And this conversation never occurred. Right?
USDA: Right! What conversation?
WH: Ha ha. Have a nice day! Buh-bye.
Amen!
I've seen your posts often troll. You're a legend only in your own mind. Arrogance comes with the territory here. There's plenty enough of it to go around. I you can't hang, keep your puppy-ass on the porch. We see daily how it affects trolls such as yourself. Cowardly? Ha, coming from you carries no weight or substance. You're just a troll. Everything you contribute is insignificant. And your posts are cowardly and arrogant. It's seems to be all you know.
Ooh I love it when you speak so nastily, it just turns me on.
I've only ever got involved in one other thread at this site and that was last Friday…I guess it's a good thing to be arrogant 'cos that way you always think you're right whatever the reality. Again unlike cowardly fools I can admit to a mistake…we all make them, especially you.
Oh the ratings from a bunch of Breitbaters really hurt. Ouch.
BTW Where have I shown any evidence of a love for Obama? Making assumptions isn't very smart.
How recently were your ancestors enslaved? Time eventually heals all wounds….
You don't suffer from white guilt, more like general superiority.
Exactly how are you punished you poor fellow?
Man you sussed me out. What a brilliant mind. Will you give me a job, I'm cheap. Please sir I only want to learn from you.
They rarely stumble as long one ignores Beck, Hannity, O'Reilly, the action man looking thing and the blondes. Sheppard Smith's ok.
We hear endlessly from white people not only complaining about racial quotas but denying the daily evidence of prejudice (eg policing, employment) and the ramifications of history (eg net worth, residential ghettoization).
I realize you are an endlessly and morally impeccable person but you also sound like a racist.
I just seen a video on Joe Scarbourgh, They had Sherrod on I am sitting here in amazement. She stated her father was killed by the KKK. He was killed by his neighbor over Cows. She skips to about 9 months later after her brother was about 6 months old (he was born after her Dad was SHOT by the white farmer neighbor) and says they burnt a cross on her front lawn. Of course she wasn't here she was in college.
I see all kinds of contradicting in this interview after hearing the stories from her CNN interview. I am feeling SNOOKERED. I am hoping Andrew can get all the interviews MSNBC and CNN there are the conflicting three phone calls, also she knew that video was out the week before because she was getting all kinds of hate mail prior to it being released. wassup
Why does that matter. My people were oppressed! I want reparations!
My husband and my mother both have lost jobs they were equally qualified for (in my mom's case she was better qualified for) thanks to affirmative action. They were told as much too. My mom lost out to a hiring quota right after affirmative action was passed. She could type and do secretary work; the gal they hired could not but had the correct skin color to fill the quota. My husband was told that his qualifications were equal to the gal they hired except that she was both a woman and a minority, so all other things being equal, she was more equal than he was.
Maybe it's just coincidence that both jobs were GS positions.
Time heals all wounds … unless it doesn't because we're talking about "evil" American whites.
I do believe for me you said the right thing Publius, you give the links where we can see the whole thing and judge for ourselves, a good journalist should do that. That is what the media, any media needs to do. I am embarrasssed to say I jumped ahead with the Shirley Sherrod thing (she is a racist), then again on the second one (oh she was a turned around racist) and for crying out loud- the whole thing came out and for crying out loud, she is racist!!!!
History has consequences. After slavery, Jim Crow and generally accepted institutionalized racism – see how black soldiers in WWII were treated for instance – there has been an effort to right some of these wrongs and to enforce a more level playing filed. If the info they were given was correct it sounds like your mother was harshly treated for which I'm sorry but life isn't always fair and your husband not. All things being equal why should your husband have got the job? As Mitch McConnell might say – stop complaining and go get another job there are plenty out there if you're prepared to work hard.
All things being equal, why should he not? If the only deciding criteria were skin color and gender, that's no more valid than telling someone they were not chosen because they were a brunette with hazel eyes.
And we have moved beyond the institutionalized racism of Jim Crow. By codifying more institutionalized racism via affirmative action, you have two wrongs and no rights. At some point we have to move beyond that or we will always have a racially divided soceity.
And you need to apply your last advice equally to minorities "- stop complaining and go get another job there are plenty out there if you're prepared to work hard." But in your mind, it seems that advice only applies to white folks because for the others it seems it must be racism. Maybe that's not your intent, but that's the way it comes out. Stop being guilty or resenting others for being different whichever the case may be.
Personally, I don't care so much about what happened to those I know that I've let it imprison me on a couch shouting about how The Man is keeping me (or them) down. We did what you suggested, but to imply that no one who isn't a minority is discriminated against is simply wrong.
Yeah, it's quite common, particularly when quoting someone from an administration who likes to bury the relevant information deep within a mountain of blather.
Time for another beer in the rose garden! Obama acted stupidly………..again!
In considering how often you dimwitted ass holes claim something is prejudice or racist when it is not, we can only assume when you ass hole liars say it occurs daily that it more likely occurs yearly.
So, tell me again how my post was racist. Is this another god damned stupid example of yours of your "daily prejudice" that you are seeing?
Again, where is your evidence that he suffers from general superiority? Is it because he does not kiss your racist race baiting lying ass that you feel that he feels superior?
Of course, with you having the intellect of a garden slug under a mountain of salt, most people will be superior to you.
Jim Crow laws were passed by your god damned racist democrat party you stupid ass hole.
Have You No Decency, Andrew Breitbart,? At Long Last, Have You No Sense of Decency?
i am sure this will be deleted, dont all negative comments of andrew breitbart get deleted by the admin.?
welcome to free speach in the concerative world.
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