memeorandum: Agriculture Secretary Stands By Asking For Sherrod's Resignation (Rachel Slajda/TPMMuckraker)

8:20 PM ET, July 20, 2010

Top Items:

NAACP STATEMENT ON THE RESIGNATION OF SHIRLEY SHERROD — (BALTIMORE, MD) - NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous issued the following statement today after a careful investigation into the presentation of former USDA Official Shirley Sherrod. — “The NAACP has a zero tolerance policy …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Balloon Juice and HotAirPundit

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Farmer's wife says fired USDA official helped save their land — Despite being defended by the white farmer she allegedly discriminated against, former U.S. Department of Agriculture official Shirley Sherrod will not get her job back. — Sherrod “kept us out of bankruptcy,” said Eloise Spooner, 82.

Discussion: The Anchoress, Comments from Left Field, Sister Toldjah, Outside the Beltway, JustOneMinute, New York Magazine, Taylor Marsh, The Plum Line, CNN, RedState, Ben Smith's Blog, Weekly Standard and The Corner on National …

Rachel Slajda / TPMMuckraker:

Breitbart On Sherrod's NAACP Speech: ‘I Did Not Edit This Thing’ — The crux of the Shirley Sherrod controversy is what she said outside of the two-minute video clip posted by Big Government — whether she was, as she claims, telling a story about how she overcame racial prejudice …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Little Green Footballs, Talking Points Memo and The Daily Caller

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 …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, CNN, Washington Monthly, Big Government, PostPartisan, The Plum Line, TPMMuckraker, Say Anything, The Rachel Maddow Show and Daily Kos

CNN:

NAACP ‘snookered’ over video of former USDA employee — Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) — The NAACP has retracted its original statement condemning comments made by a former Agriculture Department official who resigned after a video clip surfaced of her discussing a white farmer.

Discussion: Politics Daily, The Politico, Big Government, Mediaite, Associated Press, PostPartisan, This Just In, Obama Foodorama, Rumproast, Jack & Jill Politics and newsfeed.time.com

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: Federal Eye, TalkLeft, The Plum Line, Fact-esque, Politics Daily, Talking Points Memo and The Agonist

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: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, The Corner on National …, NewsBusters.org, Wizbang and The Daily Caller

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: TPMMuckraker and No More Mister Nice Blog

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: Hot Air, Associated Press, Townhall.com, Mediaite, Gateway Pundit, Riehl World View and YID With LID

Tom Blumer / Washington Examiner:

Shirley Sherrod's Disappearing Act: Not So Fast — My oh my, that happened quickly. Perhaps too quickly. — Until yesterday, Shirley Sherrod was Georgia Director of Rural Development for the USDA. Earlier in the day at Big Government, Andrew Breitbart put up a video that exposed …

Discussion: RedState, NewsBusters.org, Don Surber, Big Government, Right Wing News, Weasel Zippers, Little Green Footballs, protein wisdom and Mediaite

Datechguy / DaTechguy's Blog:
One thing about the NAACP video of Shirley Sherrod

Discussion: The Other McCain

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Breitbart's Skilled Editing

Discussion: msnbc.com and Mediaite

Rachel Slajda / TPMMuckraker:
Agriculture Secretary Stands By Asking For Sherrod's Resignation

Discussion: Salon

Marcus K. Garner / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Resigned USDA official says racial story misconstrued

Discussion: Jay Bookman, TPMMuckraker, Mediaite, Washington Monthly, Left Coast Rebel, Little Green Footballs, Sweetness & Light, Talking Points Memo, THEROOT.COM, The Right Scoop and Simply Left BehindThe …

Alex Seitz-Wald / Think Progress:
White House Uses Misleading Breitbart Video As Basis To Hastily …

Discussion: Politics Daily, CNN and Shakesville

Rachel Slajda / TPMMuckraker:
USDA Appointee Forced To Resign After Edited Speech Released By Breitbart (VIDEO)

Discussion: Political Punch, Crooks and Liars, Think Progress, Salon, Moonbattery, The Nation, Hot Air and Media Matters for America

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.

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, The Daily Caller, Conservatives4Palin.com and Pajamas Media

Ben Domenech / The New Ledger:
Lessons From Journolist: Why Ross Douthat is Useful

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Big Journalism, Liberty Pundits Blog, Stop The ACLU, Riehl World View and Mother Jones

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 …

Discussion: The Caucus, New York Times, Hot Air, Washington Post, The Hill, msnbc.com, Weasel Zippers, The Politico, PostPartisan, The Nation, Washington Monthly, Power Line, The BLT, Wonkette and RealClearPolitics Video Log

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

Discussion: National Review, The Washington Independent, msnbc.com, The Hill, Balkinization, Minnesota Independent, Hotline On Call, Gateway Pundit, The Hill, Don Surber and The Page

Frank J. Gaffney Jr / Washington Times:
GAFFNEY: Kagan's Shariah problem

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Think Progress and Wonk Room

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.

Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:
GOP campaign chief joins Tea Party caucus

Discussion: CNN and TPMDC

Jake Sherman / The Politico:
Cantor won't join House Tea Party Caucus

Discussion: Hot Air

Newsdesk / Blagojevich on Trial:

Sources: Rod doesn't plan to testify — Attorneys for Rod Blagojevich told the judge in his corruption trial this afternoon that the former governor will not testify in his own defense, sources said. — But after conferring with lawyers in a private sidebar, U.S. District Judge James Zagel told …

Discussion: TalkLeft, Ballot Box, Taegan Goddard's … and The Blago Blog

Natasha Korecki / Chicago Sun Times:
Sources: Rod Blagojevich unlikely to testify

Discussion: The Blago Blog and TPMMuckraker

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?

Discussion: THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Christopher Palmeri / Bloomberg:

California Official's $800,000 Salary in City of 38,000 Triggers Protests — Hundreds of residents of one of the poorest municipalities in Los Angeles County shouted in protest last night as tensions rose over a report that the city's manager earns an annual salary of almost $800,000.

Discussion: Beltway Confidential, L.A. NOW, Say Anything and Instapundit

David Streitfeld / New York Times:
A City Outsources Everything. Sky Doesn't Fall.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and Mish's Global Economic …

Carl Hulse / New York Times:

Breaking Impasse, Senate Extends Jobless Benefits — WASHINGTON — The Senate broke a stalemate on Tuesday over extending unemployment benefits for Americans who have been out of work for six months or more, voting to override Republican objections that the bill's costs would add to the federal deficit.

Discussion: The Confluence and Truthdig

Ezra Klein:
Unemployment benefits to pass, but all alone

Discussion: The Washington Independent, The Rachel Maddow Show, Free exchange and Shakesville

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.

Discussion: Gothamist, Weasel Zippers and New York Magazine

Fox News:
Times Square Bomb Could Have ‘Killed Thousands,’ FBI Test Shows

Discussion: Weekly Standard and World Threats

CNN:

New Angle ad says society ‘fearful’ — Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle is out with a new ad Tuesday. — (CNN) - A new ad by Sharron Angle highlights the nation's massive deficit and states that “government is the problem.” — The television commercial, the second by Angle since …

Discussion: The Politico and The Swamp

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Reid holds slight lead

Discussion: The Reid Report, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Mother Jones and Ballot Box

Ben Geman / The Hill:

House Dems whack Cheney over oil spill — Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee traded partisan blows Tuesday over whether the Obama administration or the former Bush administration deserves more blame for the catastrophic Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

John Aravosis / AMERICAblog News:

BP photoshops fake photo of crisis command center, posts on main BP site — UPDATE: Show BP you mean business, donate to AMERICAblog. If you like our hard-hitting activist journalism, then please donate and help us continue our work. Thanks so much. — (H/t to AK for spotting this.)