Myths about Sherrod

Breitbart And The NAACP: Busting The Myths (Wizbang) Jay Tea looks at the myths surrounding the whole Shirley Sherrod kerfuffle.

Myth 1: Fox News got Sherrod fired.

Earlier this week, I got into a dustup over this, and did some research into the precise timeline of what happened when. What I've managed to establish (all times Eastern, as best as I can tell about what happened last Monday... So, the verdict here: "Plausible," based on the Foxnews.com initial story, but highly, highly unlikely.

Myth 2: Breitbart edited the video to "get" Sherrod.

The video Breitbart initially released was carefully edited...

Breitbart claims that he published the entire video he was given, and he did not edit it. Further, he says that he contacted the NAACP for a full copy of the video, and was denied.

That is a very, very risky claim for Breitbart to make. His request very well might be documented at the NAACP, and that could prove quite damning.

Further Breitbart has a history of "aiming high." He goes after big names --very prominent people and organizations. To him, Sherrod is very, very "small fry."

Conclusion: Busted. To Breitbart, Sherrod was entirely incidental to his point. The NAACP was always Breitbart's target.

Myth 3: The NAACP was "snookered" by Breitbart into issuing their press release condemning her.

As noted, the video Breitbart released was taken at an NAACP function. The NAACP had the full, unedited video in their possession. Further, Breitbart had put in a request for that video. Had they practiced their "due diligence," they would have reviewed that video or consulted with someone who attended it before making any statements.

Conclusion: Busted. If the blame for the NAACP's error were to be divided up, they'd own at least 90% of it.