Obama Calls Shirley Sherrod

It appears he at least re-apologized and urged her to take the position with usda, according to Andrea Mitchell just now. They talked for 7 minutes.

I’m wondering why they won’t just give her her old job back. I’d be cranked. geez, they do all this to me and now they want me to take some policy job when all I want to do is work with farmers.

It takes a lot of guts to apologize, especially when you are one of the most, if not the most, watched person on the planet.

Flox’s spin: BO wouldn’t have called Sherrod if she were a white guy who got treated like that by the NAACP!

SS: Surely, you understand that I’ll need some time to think about whether or not I want to take that job back.

BO: Of course I understand that. And don’t call me Shirley.

Now that the mea culpas from the govt, media and assorted actors have been made one would think that the lady ought to be given time and space to work things out. But..NBC, MSNBC, CNN and others are using her to roll this story along. It seems that the usual suspects in the press and on radio need to put in their 10c worth of repititive stuff. As for the Foxies???? Megyn Kelly must be mad: she got the Sherrod finger – cheeky Black?

Can someone (anyone!) clear up some confusion on my part about her “firing” (or request for her resignation). As a public employee doesn’t she have the benefit of some kind of review of her work before being ousted? In my experience as a manager in the public sector, all employees had the right to verbal counseling, written admonishment, review of performance, and other workers’ rights before being terminated. Of course, there are always some grounds for immediate termination (for example, releasing confidential information to the public). I am having a hard time understanding how Ms Sherrod lost her job without being called in to speak to her supervisor and having the chance to explain herself. Was Ms Sherrod in some sort of “at will” position where she could be fired “for cause”? Or were her employee rights violated? (Let’s totally set aside for now her having to bear the public humiliation of being lied about and vilified by the NAACP and the Secy of the Dept of Agriculture.)

And right in the midst of some self-flagellation about how the media was ready to run with this story before finding out the facts, Morning Joe today did the same thing all over again by insisting that of course the White House had a hand in this, despite their denials. I mean, why whould we believe the White House? Of course we’re right.

Jonathan Capehart pushed back against this and indicated that his and a colleague’s reporting of the story suggested the White House didn’t play a role, and he was challenged.

If it fits the media narrative we’ll go with it.

She was appointed – she has few rights like most gov’mint employees do.

She was asked to resign, and she did – so she wasn’t technically fired, I suppose. If she’d refused to resign I imagine they would have had to go through a process.

The reason she had to pull over to the side of the road, as I understand it, was so she could send in her resignation by blackberry.

Good question. We talk a lot about due process. I would like to see the outcome of an investigation of the official who got her to pull over her car and wire in her resgination. Mrs Sherrod was driving. Couldn’t this have waited until she got home. I guess Glen Beck scared the bejesus out of some of these people.

As usual with this administration…this move is too little, too late. It again looks like Obama is just reacting to events after the fact, instead of getting ahead of them early.

His cowardice in the face of attacks by Fox Noise and the Becks and Hannitys there is unconscionable…Van Jones should never have been sacked, and he should have fought for ACORN.

Those of us on the left are still waiting for the President of all the people to stand up and be counted…

If not, 2010 and 2012 will be very unpleasant for the Dems…

At least he was a model for a genuine apology, considering how poorly he behaved before this. I was ready to have his head yesterday. I do think he could have done the apology a little sooner, but I imagine he wanted to get his facts straight before he jumped in without looking again.

It’s never too late to apologize. I agree with several of your points RE his veracity; people who should know better should do better. But don’t forget that BrightBoy and his enablers (Flox, Sludge, and the like) cannot get away with shoddy “reporting” any more. They manipulated the story (i.e., MSU) to suit their nefarious desires. No better than terrorists in my mind.

The MSM has not done a thorough job on ACORN and the New “Very” Black Panthers. Their leader seems to camp out in Megyn Kelly’s room at FOX. ACORN was a Breibart hit job and the cowardice on display by the authorities was pretty dispiriting. That too was all about edited tapes and pictures.

nflfoghorn: There is nothing wrong with government workers having rights. If they didn’t have the right to justice in keeping their jobs, they could lose their jobs each election period. These rights came out of the scandals of early 20th century, where supporters of certain elected officials were guaranteed jobs and those who supported the loser were tossed out. Do you want to return to the days of Tammany Hall, or the “cronyism” of Chicago which so many deride?
When you say “gov’mint,” you do know you are not only talking about the rights of federal government employees, but also of city employees, of county and borough employees, of special district employees: elections workers, road crews, dog kennel workers, sewer workers, grave diggers, janitors—the guys who change the burnt out lights in the lamposts downtown, the person who trims the trees so you can see the upcoming stop sign clearly; the person who prints out your driver’s license; the person who collects your daughter’s child support from her deadbeat ex-husband; the person who scoops the dead dog off the road; the fire fighter who fights in 100 degree weather to save your home from wildfire; the capitol police officer shot by a mad man. All of these are your nefarious “gov’mint” workers.

Gee, learning and teaching moments can be so inspiring. Yes?
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While we continue to give Obama on-the-job training in the basics, what’s happening over in Afghanistan?
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Is the economy still in the ditch?
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Are people still running scared and not spending?
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Is big Business being regulated enough now that perhaps we can move this country forward again?
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Will this now let the media do its job, and report on facts, and not play softball anymore with this Administration?
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Stay tuned for another episode of As The World Turns

Here’s hoping that “third time will be the charm” and from now on anything coming out of Breitbart/Fox News (inflammatory or not) will be checked for accuracy 15 times, and preferably for anthrax and radiation too.

Yeah,
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Just think of the good ole daze of Dubbya where he learned with Daddy’s money and connections how to run three perfectly good businesses into the ground followed by ruining a state’s budget for a few years.
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Yeah, the Dubbya Daze where you knew that he could run the country into the ground, no guesses required.

I agree with you. Look, Fox, the Republicans, the right wing bloggers, and Rusty are going to slam President Obama no matter what he does. He needs to stop listening to political advisors and insiders and just do the right thing. Just do it. Just say it. Just go out there and take the pitch. I will have more respect for him if he tries and fails than if he doesn’t try at all. In his biography he noted that after certain experiences in childhood he began to be more cautious in his approach to challenges, but this isn’t his personal psyche: it’s our country, and our future. I am getting impatient with his personal cautiousness. Go out there and just DO IT!!! (Like when he called Kanye a “jackass.” He looked and sounded more natural than any time since he took office.)

And just imagine the puppies and rainbows if President “get off my lawn” and Vice President “I don’t know what I read” were in charge.

Roger, Roger.

What’s your vector, Victor?

Huh?? What???

Blossom, put down…whatever it is you’re holding. I wasn’t slamming any government employee. I was simply saying that Shirley was appointed to her post. She wasn’t covered by any union/association/civil service protection that I know of – that’s why she was so easy to be fired because it was at the discretion of the department head. Down here “gov’mint” is an expression, not a slander. Sorry if you took it differently.

Actually, yes, I am inspired. I’m inspired and full of hope because the whole story came out and the media and the administration took a good, hard look at itself and took action. Self-reflection was a trait not often seen in previous administrations.

I’m gratified that Andrew Breitbart has taught us all by himself that he and his work cannot be trusted.

We have learned that it’s a misnomer that if you repeat a lie again and again, it does not become the truth.

We’ve learned that no matter what the story is, the same trolls will write the same old (tired) reply.

Gee, you watch as the World Turns? Doesn’t your tin foil hat interfere with the reception?

nff: Apology accepted. You’re right, I am a little touchy about slams on public sector workers. After hearing years of hearing “you people!” and “county employees feeding off the public trough” and (my personal favorite) “I’m a taxpayer!” (as if I don’t pay taxes, right?), I feel inclined to defend my fellow workers in the public sector. Now with this new trend of tea party members protesting against “the government,” I feel the urge to keep educating the public exactly what “the government” does for us every day. (Checked out a book at your local library lately, tea party members?)

…as we march back into lockstep

Pleeese don’t pull out the “nice beaver!” gag.

Kathy, you do you mean when you say “he”? And if you are referring to Obama, why do you say, “considering how poorly he behaved before this”?

As some have already pointed out in other threads, wagonjak, could you please provide proof that Obama himself was in any way involved with Sherrod getting fired? As has been reported many times already, Obama didn’t even know about the whole situation until Tuesday morning after Sherrod had already resigned, and was only told that there was a situation at USDA that Vilsack was handling. It wasn’t until Tuesday evening when Obama was told that this woman may have been wronged.
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So where is your proof to hold Obama responsible in this whole matter that makes it “too little, too late”? Frankly, that he is apologizing for other people’s mistakes seems pretty gracious on his part. (Though showing “regret” is not the same as an apology, is it? Even Ms. Sherrod didn’t think the President should apologize.)