re: #100 Judith

No but if the tactic didn’t WORK, they might quit doing it and she would still have her job. Are you saying the feds didn’t make it worse?

The tactic, though, was never to attack Shirley Sherrod. The tactic was to make the NAACP, the White House, the Feds, and the ‘liberals’ appear to be harbouring racists, since the NAACP had had the temerity to point out the racism rife in the Tea Parties. Had the NAACP and the administration done as you suggest, and simply stood by her, pointing out actual facts, the attacks would have intensified, because the point of it was to make the argument about how the evil liberals are harbouring racists.

The point of these attacks is not about facts. It’s about creating national memes. The loyal audiences of the Conservative cult already believe all liberals are racists. Making another accusation, false or not, just gives them their two minute hate. However, if the cult media can make the story about the argument back and forth as to whether this hapless employee is a racist or not, and are they defending her correctly or not, and are these liberals really full on out there racists or just closeted ones, then they have shaped the national discussion again as a question of just how evil and racist those liberals are, and how horrible it is that the evil Democrat in the White House encourages and protects them. And that is exactly what would have happened if the NAACP and administration had simply stood by the facts.

I am, in fact, saying that the feds did not make it worse. Yes, it is unfortunate that they overreacted to the lies of a repulsive smear merchant. Yes, it is unfortunate that they cannot simply call the repulsive smear merchants what they are. And yes, it is even more unfortunate that being a repulsive smear merchant is much more lucrative, successful, and powerful than being an actual journalist in today’s media climate. However, the sad truth is that nowadays, simply having the facts on your side is not enough. Having the facts simply allows your opponents to frame the debate and suggest that reality lies somewhere between the facts and their complete made up lies.

The ‘feds’, if you want to call them that, have been actually almost exemplary. Yes, they overreacted. And then they were immediately adult about it, apologised, called the facts to the fore, and tried to make amends. An adult reaction of that sort was the last thing FOX and the cult media expected. Taking that road took the power to frame the debate away from the cult. I doubt it was calculated that way, but that is how it has shaken out. Now, instead of people trying to decide whether the ‘feds’ are protecting an evil racist (Chicago style politics! Maoists! Reverse racism!), nobody except the most unhinged doubts her innocence. Now the question simply becomes whether one believes the ‘feds’ are still the bad guys, somehow. And, truth be told, I suspect that those who still believe they are are those who think everything they do is bad. Which is as much of a win as it gets these days.