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President Obama's remarks at the 100th Anniversary of the Urban League today focused mainly on improving education for minority students through structural change, but he also addressed the Shirley Sherrod controversy of the past two weeks, a series of events that catapulted questions of race and media bias into the national spotlight.
Despite the efforts of groups like the Urban League to help African-American communities, Obama said, "We were reminded this past week that we've still got work to do when it comes to promoting the values of fairness and equality and mutual understanding that must bind us together as a nation."
He did not blame particular people or parties for worsening the controversy, in which a conservative activist posted out-of-context excerpts from a speech Sherrod, a former USDA employee, gave before a local NAACP chapter to make it sound like she practiced racial discrimination, thus leading the USDA to fire her.
Obama did, however, indirectly condemn the actions of the media, as well as the federal government, calling the affair a "bogus controversy based on selective and deceiving excerpts of a speech," and adding that "many are to blame for the reaction and overreaction that followed these comments including my own administration."
While the president has repeatedly shied away from becoming the face of a national discussion about race, he did today express the need for such conversations to take place.
"We should all make more of an effort to discuss with one another in a truthful and mature and responsible way the divides that still exist" between races, Obama said, adding that such discourse should take place "not on cable TV, not just through a bunch of academic symposia and fancy commissions or panels, not through political posturing, but around kitchen tables and water coolers and church basements and in our schools and with our kids all across the country.
"If we can have that conversation in our lives then we can take an opportunity to learn from our imperfections and our mistakes to grow as individuals and as a country," Obama added.
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Brilliant (attempt to deflect) analysis Mr President, but I like this one better...
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-july-26-2010/lost-in-race
Only you dangerfield could read the statement above and find deflection.
lol
Watch the piece, that was the point...it is funny...
"many are to blame, including me" is still #1 in the deflection of blame playbook
So, accepting some of the blame is somehow deflecting it? Dangerfield is like Humpty Dumpty: words mean whatever he wants them to mean at any given moment.
BTW: The overwhelmingly largest share of the blame goes to Brietbart and the corporate media (including MSNBC) for promoting this vicious hoax.
Hey all, did anyone watch POTUS hit it out of the park this morning on The View and their huge audience? The questions from the ladies were not Fix news softballs they ask the dopes of nope GOBP'ers on the @!$%# for brains channel.
President Obama was awesome on The View...liked the come back "if it were your job saved..."
My President was indeed awesome on The View!
I only saw a little clip where he mentioned his vacation in Maine! Say what you will about his policies, how can rightwingers not watch him talk about his kids with such honest affection and not say "here is a nice man."
According to the rightwingdingers and the Repubs, Obama should have spent his brief vacation (more like a long weekend) down in Louisiana slogging through the oil slick in the brutal heat and humidity. I'm sure that's the sort of experience any responsible parent should force their children to endure on their vacation for the sake of putting on a good political show to appease the wingdings (who can be appeased by nothing other than his impeachment).
BTW: Regardless of Sherrod's chances of winning a lawsuit, I'd be proud to contribute to a legal fund to help pay for it. (I posted this in the wrong thread. Arrgh)
I'm glad you have money to waste.
Go feed one of those homeless walking around the Medical Center instead of sending money to Georgia. She doesn't need your money, she just got paid from another lawsuit.
It is reported that Ms. Sherrod will be suing Brietbart over his scurrilous attempt to make a national joke out of her. I realize that that the usual right wing characters will be posting en masse to defend him, but I think there are valid questions that a court can answer. Is there a limit on the ability of someone like Brietbart to attack a private citizen? Is there a requirement to be accurate in his type of "reporting". Did he have an obligation to verify that what he was saying is true, or can he trim the story to fit his political agenda? I hope Ms. Sherrod goes forward with this suit, the questions involved are important. Perhaps, at long last, it will cause those who claim to be journalists to be concerned that they can be held responsible for blatant lies.
newday:
I don't agree with how it all went down but Sherrod was not a "Private Citizen". Anytime you get a phone call directly from the White House and your boss is in a cabinet position, you're not a private citizen.
That Joe the Plumber guy was a private citizen. Sarah Palin is a private citizen, Bush, Carter, Clinton, etc. all are private citizens in being they do not work in public office.
That suit will not hold water, for whatever you think about Brietbart; HE DID NOT FIRE HER....
Sherrod needs to sue the SOB who wrongfully fired her.
BTW: Didn't this lady and her husband just recently receive a large settlement? They are not strangers to this type of stuff and they are no ORDINARY citizens.
I'm guessing that it'll be a defamation suit. Breitbart's stock in trade is edited video. I include attempts to deceive as lies. Fr'instance, Eric Cantor talked about the bullet coming through his office window. He attempted to make us think he was attacked. What actually happened was some a-hole fired a bullet into the air and it landed just inside the window of Cantor's office. In my book, that's a lie!
Win or lose the suit... -
Mrs. Sherrod should keep that scumbag Breitbart in the white hot spotlight!
It will be a positive thing as more Americans recognize him for the weasel he is!
Actually, Antie, they later reported the bullet did not even land in Cantor's office. It landed in a downstairs office that was occupied by another tenant. His suite of offices were upstairs.
Inthemiddle,
"Anytime you get a phone call directly from the White House and your boss is in a cabinet position, you're not a private citizen."
LOL!!
You're argument is stupid and complete garbage . Try again.
I agree (sorta) with InTheMiddle here. Defamation suits are notoriously difficult to win. You need to prove "malice" on the part of the perpetrator. That's hard to do, even though it's obvious that Brietbart acted out of malice, it's hard to prove that objectively and the malice was really directed at the NAACP and black people in general, not to Ms. Sherrod in particular.
Houston;
Try pulling your head out of your a$$! He directly tried to show Mrs. Sherrod was a racist and got her fired. She has every right to suit the pants off of him.
In the Middle,
Excuse me, when was Sarah Palin - the ex- GOVERNOR OF ALASKA, AS WELL AS THE REPUBLICAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE - considered to be a private citizen? Your argument is flawed and full of it. I hope Mrs. Sherrod is able to stop Brietbart in his tracks.
IntheMiddle, TX
They are not strangers to this type of stuff and they are no ORDINARY citizens.
No brother, your the one who is no ordinary citizen. you not in left field, you in the parking lot 10 blocks away. why defend this guy, what has he done for you, has he put money in your pocket, are you too sleeping together, or does he has compromising pictures of you.
Jeff,
I'm not defending anyone and I'm not your brother, homey.
If you knew anything about Sherrod you would know they just got paid large a minute ago.
Endurance,
You just proved my point. You said EX-GOVERNOR.....as in not the governor anymore.
I guess since I was a military man and I worked for the government, then I waived ever being a private citizen again once I retired.
Houston: Defamation suits may be difficult to win, but not when it is so public, so intercontinental, so pointedly aimed at her, and so spliced to convey a lie about her character. We win defamation suits quite often. One of the attorneys in my firm does discrimination, as well as slander/defamation. The intent to to slander and defame, the intent was malicious. Breitbart's piece was not directed at the government; it was directed at a citizen of the US. I hope she cleans his clock! We have become a society that allows the most inappropriate and evil behavior to exist, and if it is not condemned, pointed out, and in this case, sued, then it continues and gets worse. Then we can all be living in the gutter with no recourse. Fox News and Brietbart are already in the gutter. I have nothing but disgust for both the entity and the man.
Cathy,
Do you think Fox and Brietbart really give a ratz azz as to what you think about them?
Cathy,
Do you think Fox and Brietbart really give a ratz azz as to what you think about them?
_________________
Silly ITM!
Of course Fox & Brietbart don't give a 'rats azz' what Cathy thinks about them... after all Cathy is capable of independant thought which is something that's sorely lacking with the audience those freaks target!
IntheMiddle, TX
Jeff,
I'm not defending anyone and I'm not your brother, homey.
If you knew anything about Sherrod you would know they just got paid large a minute ago.
They got paid because of a law suit with the government that was files 17 years ago. and if you call 150 thousand for a suit 17 years ago getting paid then your poorer than you think.
Oha Come, if you can call me homey then i will from now on call you MY BROTHER!!!!!
Gotta love the headline of this post . . . creates just the opposite impression from the one the President intended . . . our modern media creating "interest" by fomenting "nontroversies"!
Ms. Sherrod certainly has every reason to be racist---however, she IS NOT!
Her father murdered by a Klansman who was never prosecuted! ...and she villified by that racist NOT so Bright bart! If she can move beyond then perhaps, we all can.
She should sue !
Nashville, I to have noted these headline issues, however it's not unique to this channel. It has been really bad during the BP spill saga. Just as a side note, have y'all noticed how they are beginning to spin the dispersant issue in earnest now that the leak is under control? I hope Shirley body slams that idiot and puts the fear of god in Brightfart, Beck, Hannity etc.
Every controversy pushed by the Fox Noose channel is a fake one, not just the Sherrod racist attack by Racist Breitbart and his KKK pals at Fox Noose channel. Obama need to get some backbone and name names to make sure he pins all of this racist ranting on the racist righty whities. The Mainstream media needs to be more careful about following the lead of well known liars in the rightwing Lamestream media because the righty Lamestream media will lie, cheat and steal to regain political power.
Still blaming that scum Breitbart for the MSM and the administration not doing their jobs? If they had not all jumped the gun, there would have been nothing to report but a discredited attempt to foment controversy by a right-wing muckraker. They couldn't even wait to watch the whole tape?
and if they hadn't responded so quickly Fox and freaks would have been up in arms saying the President is obviously a racist because he didn't address the issue immediately.
I like that you refer to the blogger as a right-wing muckraker instead of calling him what he is, which is a liar.
I thought News Organizations were required to validate their news stories and not the general public. If the public is required to figure out the truth for themselves what purpose do these journalists serve?
FR: "While the president has repeatedly shied away from becoming the face of a national discussion about race, he did today express the need for such conversations to take place".
"Shied away"? Are you serious? How can anyone forget the speech he made on race in Philadelphia during the primaries? It was brilliant - and, he had the courage to make it in the face of a much riskier situation (the Jeremiah Wright controversy) when his entire candidacy was on the line. I don't call that "shying away". In fact, I would urge everyone to go back and read it again today. It bears repeating.
JoAnne, totally agree whoever wrote that line about the President shying away from the national discussion on race should be Fired. This is the only President in history who took race on even before become President.
Once again Media looking to make news by making up what they think will get ratings. They prove over and over again that the American people the majority can't trust no one story that they cover.
Ms. Sherrod announced she's suing Andrew however she should soue the Media outlets as well all except CNN the only one who had the courage to get to the truth for once.
After Ms Sherrod finishes with Andrew hopefully he will keep his racist views to himself, at least not go public in an effort to hurt another Ethnic group
Is it not time for this a**hole to take another vacation!!!!!!!!!!
Good. Glad to see she is suing, win or lose. Briebart's part in this incident and the government's poor handling of the same are two totally different things. Those who keep expressing "oh but it is the goverment's or Obama's fault" are talking out of the sides of their mouths in order to add just another validation of their dislike for Obama. Briebart's intentional erroneous reporting and releasing of this information (tape) to national cable news networks was unexcusable, and Brietbart knew exactly what he was trying to achieve, to damage this woman's character and credibility, period.
Hi, CA - Agree that what Breitbart did was intentional, but I doubt it had anything to do with Sherrod. I think what he was actually trying to achieve was to:
1. Provoke a response from the administration that would play to his audience, and
2. Promote Andrew Breitbart.
Not necessarily in that order. But either way, I suspect he's congratulating himself and having a "Mission Accomplished" moment over both objectives. As I mentioned the other day, Glenn Beck would do well to look over his shoulder; I think there's a new pretender to the throne. ("pretend" being the operative word).
The whole incident proves how today's media is more about tabloid journalism, than serious news reporting. The media has a lead and fails to follow up. I know there is a real story waiting for a good reporter to uncover how interlinked our government is with doing business with x-employees. Someone needs to look into the private security firms that have golden contracts with the federal government.
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GEO
Black Water
etc
Folks, you might want to be careful about drawing conclusions and coming to the aid of someone when you still may not know the whole story. I don't think the other shoe has dropped in this story. What's really bogus is the POTUS, who is currently supposed to be managing our conflicts with Iraq and Afghanistan, a broken economy, the worst oil spill in history, near 10% unemployment, nuclear proliferation issues with Iran and North Korea, etc., etc., taking the time to appear on a daytime talk show that will not press him on any of these difficult issues. It is a waste of time in terms of doing anything productive for the country, which he is supposedly currently serving. It is a great opportunity to continue to campaign and spin media coverage, which is clearly about the only thing this President and his administration are good at. Can't wait for November.
Really, Rich: Were you okay with Bush doing Dr. Phil? Because he did.
Don't remember that, but no, I absolutely would not be OK with that. I hate to burst your bubble, but I can lodge criticism at both parties and don't mind holding Republicans accountable just as I do Democrats. We have to stop drinking the koolaid or we'll never turn things around in this country.
Then when you post that kind of criticism, perhaps you would aim it at both sides of the aisle rather than one. I have no issue with either side going on shows where they might be seen by people who may not otherwise be interested in politics. It is better to hear it from the politician himself than to have words put in his mouth by Fox News and co conspirators.
The fact of the matter is that this President seems to be constantly engaged in performing PR for his administration, rather than trying to govern. If it weren't for the fact that the Democrats have such large majorities in Congress, he would not have achieved anything without making some compromises, and unless he chooses to listen to and work with Republicans, he won't get much done after November. His social agenda is not popular with the majority of Americans, which is why he thinks he needs to go on stupid shows such as this and try to smooth talk everyone into thinking he's doing what's best for us, regardless of the fact that reality says otherwise.
Then, Rich: an objective observer would say that you do aim your criticism solely at President Obama. It is so easy to smoke you guys out of hiding. Turn off Limbaugh and that ilk and educate yourself.
Right back at you big guy! You don't want any criticism of our current President, so you want to paint everyone that provides a dissenting opinion into the same corner, which makes it oh so convenient to dismiss what they have to say. I don't listen to Rush BTW. Listen close - Obama is now the President, and it is time for him to accept some responsibility for what is going on in this country. The "Blame Bush" strategy is not going to get you very far. I've dealt out plenty of criticism of the Bush administration, but he is no longer in charge, as Obama likes to so gleefully point out. Obama needs to man-up and get off of the View and into the real world, where there are plenty of issues awaiting his attention.
Well, Rich, actually I would be a woman, but you support the point I make. Your anger is out of proportion to the "crime" you allege. This is purely your animus about President Obama, nothing else. You would criticize ANYTHING the man did, and if he hadn't gone on that show, you would say he was afraid to. Do read a book.
You know I can tell that you are a true believer since you are so sincere with your condescending remarks. I do read books BTW. Working on Bold Fresh from O'Reilly as we speak, which I bet you own as well. Also, I don't criticize everything Obama does. He has continued to allow the CIA and military to kill bad guys overseas, which I wholeheartedly support. Sorry to prove you wrong dear. And "big guy" is really an androgynous term in this context - don't be so literal. And if he had gone to help the boy scouts celebrate their 100th anniversary instead of pandering to the estrogen set on the View, I would definitely say that he did the right thing. Just curious - has Obama done anything of which you've been critical?
Every time Obama is criticized I want to hear what plans the repubs have to fix all that is wrong. When you ask them, they continue with some rhetoric crap talking points and no answers. They say they have all these plans, but NEVER publish anything.
marcilynnj, I'm willing to bet that you haven't looked too hard, and you won't hear much about Republican solutions on MSNBC, although Congressman Paul Ryan did school Chris Matthews on this very topic a couple of days ago. Here's a link you should check out, and happy reading!
http://www.roadmap.republicans.budget.house.gov/plan/summary.htm
And again, you reveal yourself...an O' Reilly book really? But you are not a Fox News devotee. Which is it? Your use of the word estrogen to demean women...so typical for the right wing. No President should be involved with the BSA since it is an organization that discriminates against atheists and gays. That would be a criticism I have of President Obama and previous Presidents. When I speak of reading a book, dear, I speak of reading something edifying. I keep recommending that folks like you read ANYTHING about Theodore Roosevelt. You might learn why he left the Republican party. (Hint: the same problems exist today within that party, but Palin et al have made them worse.)
I'm really starting to enjoy this! BTW, I do watch Fox and enjoy Bill O'Reilly, but you of course think he's the Antichrist. I suppose you subscribe to MSNBC in a most dogmatic fashion. To each his own. And I don't demean women, but I don't mind taking a shot at some of the idiotic women that host the View (don't know how Elizabeth can tolerate it - I'd have strangled Behar long, long ago). BTW, that's a figurative strangling, since I don't want to be taken too literally. And you're right, I certainly wouldn't want the President to associate himself with an organization with a long history of educating and challenging young boys as they grow into young men, imparting such values as honesty, virtue, character and selflessness. That would be horrible! In Obama's case, he would just be making a hypocrite (yet again) out of himself, so maybe it's better that he didn't go. I'm sorry that I've not been reading books that are sophisticated enough for you. My wife reads Hemingway and Dostoyevsky (among others) if that makes you feel any better. I've read biographies on Hendrix and the Doors, and also just finished up Agassi's autobiography. Is that any better? Getting ready to start on Arguing with Idiots by Glenn Beck, which might have come in handy over the last few hours....
I still hope Sherrod sues Breitbarts pants off.
Which brings me back to my original point, Rich. You presented yourself as someone who is not identified with either party. In fact, you are. You are a right winger, and they have done great harm to this country and will continue to do so if they do not begin to understand the foundations of this country. It is irrelevant what your wife reads, (and she does have my sympathy) since you seem to limit your reading to people who barely got through high school. To claim that an organization such as the BSA offers such a fine foundation to young people belies the discrimination that is a part of its very core. Can they discriminate...sure, but not on the public dime. So when you get past Glenn Beck, an alcoholic, who did not have the discipline to get a higher education, perhaps, dear, you might read something that is based on truth about the founding of this country. You certainly need it.
It's great that you're so enlightened. I do lean conservative, but I look at each issue on it's own merits, rather than through the ideological, kool aid drinking, dogma loving lens that those on the far left and right use. I prefer to actually ask people their position on issues rather than jump to conclusions because they might appear to be liberal or conservative. I am curious about what "great harm" the right has done, and I'm sure you would not be willing to acknowledge the "great harm" done by the left. And I also find it ironic that you, who are apparently beholden to the enlightened, inclusive and nonjudgmental left, are so willing to be critical of someone who has apparently overcome his own personal shortcomings. God forbid that there should be someone out there that actually has a grasp of what the founding fathers wanted for this country and is willing to try to educate others (and has the platform with which to do it). Maybe you should catch his show sometime. I doubt you can articulate one single position of Beck's with which you disagree.
BTW, apparently you may need to explain to me what the "foundations of the country" are, because I'm pretty sure that it's not having the federal government become a morass of overwhelming and burdensome bureaucracy that suppresses private enterprise and limits personal freedoms through excessive taxation. Don't think that's what the founding fathers had in mind. There are definitely those on the right that have contributed to this over the years (and I condemn their actions), but right now it's the left in power and they are trying to take it to a new level. How do you feel about that?
I love it when a plot blows up in someone face. The whole plot was to make the NAACP look like a racist organization and therefore the Tea Party is exhume from caring signs that were racist. A fundamental two wrongs so it make it right but they caught up Sherrod in this and the truth got out. Will Breitbart appear on comedy central?
"If we can have that conversation in our lives then we can take an opportunity to learn from our imperfections and our mistakes to grow as individuals and as a country," Obama added.
meaning he knows what he did was wrong is learning from it and justification is we are all humans thus not perfect but we can talk things through to make it work.....
funny how hes addressing the country when he should be addressing himself and his wife