Top Items:
Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Farmer's wife says fired USDA official helped save their land — The wife of the white farmer allegedly discriminated against by the USDA's rural development director for Georgia said Shirley Sherrod “kept us out of bankruptcy.” — Eloise Spooner, 82, awoke Tuesday to discover that Sherrod …
Discussion:
TPMMuckraker, JustOneMinute, New York Magazine, Taylor Marsh, Outside the Beltway, Ben Smith's Blog, RedState, Mediaite and Weekly Standard
RELATED:
Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
Our Summer Race War Heats Up — Hoo boy. Conservatives apparently aren't going to back down from ever more overt appeals to racial resentment this summer. BigGovernment.com “broke” a story yesterday about a speech given a few months ago by Shirley Sherrod, USDA Georgia Director of Rural Development, at an NAACP Freedom Fund dinner.
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Corner on National …, NewsBusters.org, Wizbang, The Daily Caller, Riehl World View and Sister Toldjah
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Official: No White House pressure on Sherrod — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack this afternoon took responsibility for firing an official, Shirley Sherrod, whose appearance on video recalling her behavior toward a white farmer drew charges of racism, and whose immediate firing drew suggestions …
Digby / Hullabaloo:
The White House's Weak Back Hand — Update below: — Weak Back Hand — by digby — When our new overlord Andrew Breitbart says jump, the White House says, “how high?” Kevin Drum: … Naturally, the administration panicked like a bunch of frightened little children:
Discussion:
TalkLeft, The Plum Line, Talking Points Memo, The Agonist, Power Line and NewsBusters.org
Fox News:
Ex-Ag Official Says White House Forced Her Out Without Hearing ‘Truth’ About Video — Shown here is USDA Georgia official Shirley Sherrod. (YouTube) — The Department of Agriculture official who resigned Monday over a YouTube clip said the White House forced her out of her job without bothering to hear her side of the story.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Townhall.com, Mediaite, Gateway Pundit, Hot Air, Riehl World View and YID With LID
David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
Not Looking Good For Breitbart — The 82-year-old wife of the white Georgia farmer who was supposedly discriminated against some quarter century ago by the black USDA official forced to resign this week — if the video released by Andrew Breitbart's Big Government and re-run by Fox is to be believed …
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Breitbart's Skilled Editing — The quotes that former USDA worker Shirley Sherrod gave on the edited tapes disseminated by Andrew Breitbart are indeed indefensible, but is it not fair to provide some kind of context? To wit: … And: … This reminds me of the Octavia Nasr case.
Discussion:
Mediaite
Datechguy / DaTechguy's Blog:
One thing about the NAACP video of Shirley Sherrod — ...that nobody is mentioning. — Look at the crowd reaction when she says this. Is there shock? Is there disgust? Is there anger? Nope, they are with her all the way. — That says more about the NAACP than anything Sherrod did.
Discussion:
The Other McCain
CNN:
Former USDA employee says White House pressured her to resign — Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) — A black former Agriculture Department employee, who resigned after a video clip surfaced of her discussing a white farmer, insisted Tuesday she “went all out” to help the man keep his farm …
Discussion:
The Politico, Big Government, msnbc.com, Mediaite, Jack & Jill Politics, Rumproast, This Just In, Obama Foodorama and newsfeed.time.com
Marcus K. Garner / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Resigned USDA official says racial story misconstrued — The USDA's rural development director for Georgia says she was forced out of her federally appointed job after a “snippet” of a speech she gave in March appeared to show her admission to only half-heartedly aiding a struggling white farmer because of his race.
Rachel Slajda / TPMMuckraker:
Breitbart On Sherrod's NAACP Speech: ‘I Did Not Edit This Thing’
Breitbart On Sherrod's NAACP Speech: ‘I Did Not Edit This Thing’
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Little Green Footballs, Talking Points Memo and The Daily Caller
Rachel Slajda / TPMMuckraker:
USDA Appointee Forced To Resign After Edited Speech Released By Breitbart (VIDEO)
USDA Appointee Forced To Resign After Edited Speech Released By Breitbart (VIDEO)
Jonathan Strong / The Daily Caller:
It was the moment of greatest peril for then-Sen. Barack Obama's political career. In the heat of the presidential campaign, videos surfaced of Obama's pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, angrily denouncing whites, the U.S. government and America itself. Obama had once bragged of his closeness to Wright.
Discussion:
The Politico, NewsBusters.org, Salon, NewsReal Blog, Big Journalism, Don Surber, Another Black Conservative, Ace of Spades HQ, GayPatriot, Hot Air, Weekly Standard, Sister Toldjah, EconLog, Pajamas Media, Moonbattery, Confederate Yankee, Jules Crittenden, Gawker, Right Wing News, Taylor Marsh, Wizbang, Wonkette, Hit & Run, Questions and Observations, Conservatives4Palin.com, Nice Deb, Real Clear Politics, Mediaite, The Sundries Shack, Sweetness & Light, Left Coast Rebel, The Moderate Voice, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Michelle Malkin, Moe Lane, Stop The ACLU, The Corner on National …, Dean's World, Althouse, Weasel Zippers, theblogprof, Instapundit, Breitbart.tv, Politics Daily, sara in italy, sisu, Gateway Pundit, Say Anything, The Future of Capitalism and The Right Scoop
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Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
The Corruption Of Journo-list — The latest revelations from Journo-list are deeply depressing to me. What's depressing is the way in which liberal journalists are not responding to events in order to find out the truth, but playing strategic games to cover or not cover events and controversies in order to win a media/political war.
Discussion:
The New Republic
Ben Domenech / The New Ledger:
Lessons From Journolist: Why Ross Douthat is Useful
Lessons From Journolist: Why Ross Douthat is Useful
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Stop The ACLU, Big Journalism, Liberty Pundits Blog, Mother Jones and Riehl World View
Jeff Sessions / USA Today:
Opposing view on the Supreme Court: A big-government vision — After carefully reviewing Elena Kagan's record and testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, I must oppose her nomination. — OUR VIEW: Kagan deserves bipartisan backing, but won't get it
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Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Lindsey Graham's vote on Elena Kagan ensures primary challenge — South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R) announcement that he will vote in favor of Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court is likely to further incite conservatives already unhappy with him and, according to close observers …
David G. Savage / Los Angeles Times:
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan approved by Senate Judiciary …
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan approved by Senate Judiciary …
The Politico:
GOP leery of Tea Party Caucus — With the official formation of a congressional Tea Party Caucus, Rep. Michele Bachmann has thrust an existential question before House Republican leaders: Are you in or are you out? — Indiana's Mike Pence, chairman of the Republican Conference, was adamant.
RELATED:
Ezra Klein:
Unemployment benefits to pass, but all alone — Democrats are set to pass an extension of unemployment benefits today. The presence of Carte Goodwin, Sen. Robert Byrd's temporary replacement, gives them the 60 votes necessary to break the Republicans' — and Ben Nelson's — filibuster of the bill.
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Derek Thompson / The Atlantic Online:
The Scariest Unemployment Graph I've Seen Yet — The median duration of unemployment is higher today than any time in the last 50 years. That's an understatement. It is more than twice as high today than any time in the last 50 years. — OK, you're saying, but what does this mean?
Jonathan Allen / The Politico:
David Axelrod won't commit Obama to Meek campaign — President Barack Obama's top political adviser declined to say Tuesday whether the commander in chief would campaign for Florida Senate candidate Kendrick Meek — even amid reports that Vice President Joe Biden may hit the trail to assist the fourth-term Democratic House member.
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John Aravosis / AMERICAblog News:
BP photoshops fake photo of crisis command center, posts on main BP site — (H/t to AK for spotting this.) — UPDATE 12:08PM Eastern 7/20/10: BP has faked yet another oil crisis response photo on its Web site. — UPDATE: 11:14PM Eastern: BP has now posted the “original” photo, they claim.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Breaking News …, Mediaite, Daily Kos and Gawker
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Dan Mangan / New York Post:
Chilling toll of Times Sq. ‘bomb’ — Thankfully, it didn't go off as planned. — A secret FBI test of a correctly made version of the Times Square bomb revealed that it “would have killed thousands of people” if it had been made to explode as terrorists had intended, law-enforcement sources told The Post yesterday.
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Frank Newport / Gallup:
Six in 10 Workers Hold No Hope of Receiving Social Security — Americans aged 18 to 34 are least likely to believe they will ever see benefits — PRINCETON, NJ — Six in 10 Americans who have not yet retired believe they will get no Social Security benefits when they retire …
Discussion:
USA Today, Washington Wire, Fact-esque, Wonkette, Real Clear Politics and The Huffington Post
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Anne Applebaum / Washington Post:
A government of the people's every wish?
A government of the people's every wish?
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Reid holds slight lead — Given the gift of an opponent who's even more unpopular than him, Harry Reid leads Sharron Angle 48-46 in the Nevada Senate race. When PPP last looked at the state in January Reid trailed Sue Lowden by ten points. — Reid continues to have upside down approval numbers …
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Peter Wallsten / Wall Street Journal:
Crist Uses His Old Party as a New Foil — Senate Push Gains as Florida Governor Sets Himself Off Against State's GOP, With Some Firepower From Obama Camp — Gov. Crist has shored up some conservative positions, such as his support for gun rights, while shifting to the left on core issues like abortion, education and gay rights.