The Shirley Sherrod Debacle

Vince Foster was a good and close friend of the Clintons. He became an Assistant to the President whose main job was seeking out competent, talented people for appointment to government positions. He eventually fell into depression and committed suicide.

Famously, he left behind a note expressing his belief that ruining people was considered a "sport" by other people in Washington D.C. Immediately, the right-wing lying establishment went to work. They began by besmirching the reputation of Mr. Foster -- but not content to stop there, they proceeded to accuse Hillary of having a covert sexual relationship with Foster and then accused her of killing him. It was said that Hillary secretly maintained a love nest somewhere in Washington where Vince and she could meet.

The far-out conservatives of the country own most of the scandal mags that you will see by the checkout counters of your supermarket. They also own a bunch of behind the scenes websites whose task it is to create out of any little indicator, another large scandal about liberals and progressive ideas. Having fabricated the absurd, they then disperse it throughout the culture.

Nearly everyday, I get literature through e-mail which contains some extrapolation or tortuous extension of some little datum point, maybe it's a quotation, which then is built into an insult against a person in government, or it gives a fictitious account of something in the policy field.

Now, those scandal monsters have been forced to apologize.

One of the evil wingnut liars has contrived to destroy the career of a perfectly decent, well-educated, intelligent government worker named Shirley Sherrod in order to further the idiotic notion that since Obama became president, black against white racism has taken over the government. This comes hard on the heels of the story floated around last week (or was it this week -- or two weeks ago?) that Al Gore had sexually assaulted a mid-night masseuse in a hotel somewhere.

Anyone who falls weakly into believing most of the shit generated by the right-wing malefactors is foolish themself, and I hope that does not include any of my readers or friends. As soon as a new "scandal" or "exclusive report" is announced next week about some liberal or some progressive policy, remember this: perpetrating this nonsense is sinful and God will get-cha for it.

As for Shirley Sherrod, she has turned out to be a lady of so much more class, so much more intelligence, so much more quality of thought, than her detractors have proven to be, that we should elevate her to the status of folk hero.