Shirley Sherrod, the former USDA official unfairly ousted from her job back in July, has declined to rejoin the agency in another capacity. Saying she has accepted an apology from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who she met with today, Sherrod nonetheless told reporters she wants to “take a little break” from USDA work. (Vilsack sacked [...]
Here’s a lesson in how frustrating it can be to observe the United States Congress at work. Yesterday, the body once again failed to fund payments to black farmers discriminated against by the USDA two decades ago. The payments, which have broad bipartisan support and stem from an earlier class action lawsuit known as Pigford, [...]
A little noticed statement from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s press conference yesterday was his admission that Shirley Sherrod tried to alert the USDA last week of the tape’s existence. Andrew Breitbart, who has not disclosed who sent him the tape, posted it on Biggovernment.com Monday morning. But Vilsack said this yesterday: (The video is on [...]
Tom Vilsack, the secretary of the Department of Agriculture, just gave a short press conference where he took total responsibility for the Shirley Sherrod debacle. “I didn’t take the time I should have as a result a good woman has gone through a very difficult period,” said Vilsack, saying he has learned “a very serious [...]
For those who have been following the Shirley Sherrod/Andrew Breitbart/NAACP/USDA story today – you might have whiplash! – here’s the full text of Sherrod’s speech before an NAACP audience in March. It’s worth watching in full. (UPDATE: Around 2 a.m. this morning, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said he would review Sherrod’s firing. She said [...]
