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NAACP:
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 …
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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 …
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.
CNN:
NAACP says it was misled over video — NAACP.org has posted what it says is the full video of Sherrod's speech. Watch it here. — Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) — The NAACP has retracted its original statement condemning comments made by a former Agriculture Department official who resigned …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Think Progress, Firedoglake, Raw Story, Associated Press, Big Government, Politics Daily, The Politico, The Atlantic Online, Mediaite, Swampland, Jack & Jill Politics, This Just In, Obama Foodorama, No More Mister Nice Blog, Rumproast, PostPartisan, Little Green Footballs and newsfeed.time.com
Washington Post:
Firing of USDA official highlights larger political problems involving race — A fuzzy video of an Agriculture Department official opened a new front Tuesday in the ongoing war between the left and right over which side is at fault for stoking persistent forces of racism in politics.
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 …
Andy Barr / The Politico:
NAACP: Breitbart ‘snookered’ us — NAACP President Ben Jealous on Tuesday said the organization had been “snookered” into condemning former Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod. — Sherrod was fired Monday after a video — posted on one of Andrew Breitbart's conservative sites …
Sister Toldjah:
More to Sherrod/NAACP story than we know? (UPDATE: NAACP RELEASES FULL VID, SHERROD ACCUSES TP REPS OF RACISM IN VID) — Hmmm: … If what Jealous is saying about the tape is true, then it will be a huge black eye for Andrew Breitbart, who told Ed Morrissey he never had in his position the entire tape but was looking for a copy:
Sarah Wheaton / New York Times:
N.A.A.C.P. Backtracks on Official Accused of Bias — The president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People apologized Tuesday to a black civil servant whose ouster the civil rights organization had originally cheered. — Last week, the N.A.A.C.P. garnered headlines …
Digby / Hullabaloo:
The White House's Weak Back Hand
The White House's Weak Back Hand
Discussion:
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Rachel Slajda / TPMMuckraker:
Agriculture Secretary Stands By Asking For Sherrod's Resignation
Agriculture Secretary Stands By Asking For Sherrod's Resignation
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Media Matters for America, Talking Points Memo, Salon, A Tiny Revolution and Eschaton
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:
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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 …
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David G. Savage / Los Angeles Times:
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan approved by Senate Judiciary …
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan approved by Senate Judiciary …
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USA Today, The Politico, The Swamp, The Moderate Voice, The Note, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Feministing and CNN
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?
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.
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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:
Power Line, The Daily Caller, The Politico, The New Republic, Sister Toldjah and Taylor Marsh
Zaid Jilani / Think Progress:
Ben Stein: The Unemployed Are People With 'Unpleasant Personalities...Who Do Not Know How To Do A Day's Work' — Today, the Senate extended unemployment benefits for millions of jobless Americans. Despite the terrible shape of the economy, conservatives resisted extending unemployment insurance …
Timothy B Lee / Bottom-up:
How to Talk Liberaltarian — Nick Schulz weighs in on the liberaltarianism debate: … This seems completely wrong to me. Conservatives care about “protecting individual liberty” for some people, but the conservative movement includes many people who are indifferent, if not hostile …
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias
Shaila Dewan / New York Times:
Handel and Deal Lead Georgia Governor Primary — ATLANTA — Karen Handel, a former secretary of state who was endorsed by Sarah Palin, came in first in Georgia's Republican gubernatorial primary Tuesday evening and will face Nathan Deal, a former Congressman, in an Aug. 10 runoff.
The News Star:
(2 of 2) — Traylor is also currently involved in a romantic relationship with Denise Lively, the estranged wife of his stepson, Ryan Ellington, the son of Noble Ellington. — Lively and Ryan Ellington remain legally married, but both he and Traylor said the Lively-Traylor relationship began …
Associated Press:
Obama to campaign in Texas — WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama plans fundraisers for fellow Democrats in Republican-controlled Texas, but his party's nominee for governor said Tuesday he would not join the event scheduled in the city that he used to run.
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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Martin Feldstein / Wall Street Journal:
The ‘Tax Expenditure’ Solution for Our National Debt — The credits and subsidies that make the tax code so complicated cost big bucks. Reduce them by third and the debt will be 72% of GDP in 2020 instead of 90%. — When it comes to spending cuts, Congress is looking in the wrong place.
Jim Geraghty / National Review:
GOP's Schilling Leads Democrat Incumbent Phil Hare, 45-32 — Few of my assessments in this cycle have met with more derision than my argument that Phil Hare, an Illinois Democrat, is supremely vulnerable. — His GOP opponent, Bobby Schilling, hired Magellan Strategies to conduct a poll of the district.