July 21, 2010 by mike.

As the true story of Shirley Sherrod comes out there is something to be learned from this incident.

For those unfamiliar, the background is that a conservative website ran a video of Ms. Sherrod that made her sound like a racist who had abused her power at the USDA to hurt a white farmer who needed help to save his farm. Ms. Sherrod is African American.

This videotape became a flashpoint for conservatives anxious to make some point about reverse racism and the adversities that face white men today in a country that somehow elected an African American to be President.

Ms. Sherrod was pressured to resign and is now out.

The problem is that the videotape that led to her ouster was heavily edited to create a racist impression. The truth of Ms. Sherrod’s service to the white farmer in question is clear when that family came to her support.

The teachable moment, the thing we can learn from this event is that Andrew Breitbart, the force behind this edited video and the heavily edited theatrical piece that was the undoing of ACORN, just remember as white pimp and Hannah Giles as white prostitute in that bit of political theater, Andrew Breitbart is not a source that can be trusted. He is a political hitman who entertains zero concern for journalistic ethics when he finds an opportunity to further his political agenda.

Ms. Sherrod, another person of color hurt by Andrew Breitbart’s racism and political agenda, is not sure she would want her job back if it is offered. But there is a bad guy in this sad story. It is Andrew Breitbart. Nothing he says or presents should be assumed to be true or an accurate presentation of events.

Conservatives should refudiate (tip of the hat to Sarah Palin for that new word) Mr. Breitbart and apologize to Shirley Sherrod if they want to hang on to a shred of human decency.

Tom Vilsack should lose his job for the poor job he did as head of USDA in dealing with this event.  Send him packing.  There’s a teachable moment.

clipped from www.nytimes.com 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 when it accused parts of the Tea Party movement of being racist. Then, over the weekend, a video emerged of Shirley Sherrod, the head of the Department of Agriculture’s rural development office in Georgia, speaking at an N.A.A.C.P. event in Douglas, Ga., in March. In a two-and-a-half-minute clip, Ms. Sherrod seemed to explain that she discriminated against a white farmer 24 years ago. Ms. Sherrod said she was pressed to resign after the video whipped around the Web. But she said the clip was misleading. According to Ms. Sherrod and people who have seen the full video, she went on to say in her speech that she had learned from working with the farmer that all people must overcome their prejudices.

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July 21, 2010 by mike.

clipped from www.nytimes.com Water Dispute Increases India-Pakistan Tension BANDIPORE, Kashmir — In this high Himalayan valley on the Indian-controlled side of Kashmir, the latest battle line between India and Pakistan has been drawn. This time it is not the ground underfoot, which has been disputed since the bloody partition of British India in 1947, but the water hurtling from mountain glaciers to parched farmers’ fields in Pakistan’s agricultural heartland. Indian workers here are racing to build an expensive hydroelectric dam in a remote valley near here, one of several India plans to build over the next decade to feed its rapidly growing but power-starved economy. In Pakistan, the project raises fears that India, its archrival and the upriver nation, would have the power to manipulate the water flowing to its agriculture industry — a quarter of its economy and employer of half its population. In May it filed a case with the international arbitration court to stop it.

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