The Shirley Sherrod story tells us so much about ourselves, and none of it is pretty. The most obvious and shameful fact is that the Obama administration, which runs from race issues the way thoroughbreds bolt from the starting gate, did not offer this woman anything resembling fair or respectful treatment before firing and publicly humiliating her.
Moving with the swiftness of fanatics on a hanging jury, big shots in the administration and Bill O’Reilly of Fox News came to exactly the same conclusion: Shirley Sherrod had to go — immediately! No time for facts. No time for justice.
What we have here is power run amok. Ms. Sherrod was not even called into an office to be fired face to face. She got the shocking news in her car. “They called me twice,” she told The Associated Press. “The last time, they asked me to pull over to the side of the road and submit my resignation on my BlackBerry, and that’s what I did.”
This woman was thrown to the wolves without even the courtesy of a conversation. Her side of the story? The truth? The administration wasn’t interested.
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Please read the rest of this excellent column. We know that Fox News is populated by the worst kind of scoundrels who have no respect for American ideals or America's founding principles but to see the cowardice of the weak kneed Obama administration and of the NAACP kowtowing to right wing unpatriotic nut jobs is sickening. Where was the basic principle of innocence until proven guilty? Where was their professionalism? There was not even a rudimentary investigation of the facts in the Sherrod case. This is America, not a banana republic or China. We have principles of due process that are part of the very fabric of our culture and legal system. We do not expect these values from Fox News or other narrow minded, conservative right wingers but we expect more from both the NAACP and the Obama administration.
This incident has damaged President Obama's credibility with his base, those who supported, organized and voted for him. We expected a president with a spine. We are deeply disappointed. The reality is that most of us will vote for him again because we have no other choice, but Obama will lose many others who will simply stay home. President Obama must take up the mantle that was handed to him without fear and lead us as our president. He must not cower before those on the right, who truly do not believe in the American dream or justice for all. He has over two more years left in his first term. There is still time. We can still hope that he will learn and grow. Only Obama can bring us "Change We Can Believe In". We need that change now more than ever. President Obama, we are waiting.
John H. Armwood
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