Shirley Sherrod says she will sue Andrew Breitbart

Hotair ^ | 07/29/2010 | Ed Morrissey

[SeekAndFind]

Via Ben Smith at Politico, the utterly predictable next step in the swamp that has become the Sherrod story has taken place:

Ousted Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod said Thursday she will sue a conservative blogger who posted an edited video of her making racially tinged remarks last week.

The edited video posted by Andrew Breitbart led Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to ask Sherrod to resign, a decision he reconsidered after seeing the entire video of her March speech to a local NAACP group. In the full speech, Sherrod spoke of racial reconciliation and lessons she learned after initially hesitating to help a white farmer save his home.

She said she doesn’t want an apology from Breitbart for posting the video that took her comments out of context, but told a crowd at the National Association of Black Journalists annual convention that she would “definitely sue.”

Sue Breitbart for what, though? Defamation? Sherrod is a public official, which makes that kind of lawsuit darned near impossible. Breitbart used the clip to criticize the NAACP, not Sherrod directly, although she certainly came into the line of fire. People are allowed to criticize public officials in harsh and even unfair terms, especially when they make public remarks.

A court is not likely to look favorably on this for another reason — Sherrod’s public statements about Breitbart. She accused him of being pro-slavery, which is a ridiculous and demagogic attack. Even if a court somehow found that Breitbart acted with malice specifically towards Sherrod to a level that overcomes the right to criticize public officials and that he lied about Sherrod specifically in doing so, under those same terms Breitbart would have a countercase against Sherrod. Otherwise, Breitbart has become enough of a public figure that Sherrod’s statements about him would probably not be actionable, either.

This lawsuit will make a big splash and keep the story alive for a while, but its value is strictly limited to PR. I somehow doubt that the Obama administration will see that as beneficial to its own objectives, either, as they seem as anxious to bury the story as anyone involved.

[Tublecane]

“The edited video posted by Andrew Breitbart led Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to ask Sherrod to resign, a decision he reconsidered after seeing the entire video of her March speech to a local NAACP group.”

So, basically, this is a matter for the courts because Tom Vilsack (he had nothing to do with it, obviously, but going along with the story) was too lazy to click on a link.

[Frantzie]

People who publicly give speeches about “hatin whitey” suing. Unreal.

[TigersEye]

ROTFLOL Shirley, you're not only a racist you're stupid.

"You know, I haven't seen such a mean-spirited people as I've seen lately over this issue of health care. Some of the racism we thought was buried. Didn't it surface? Now, we endured eight years of the Bush's and we didn't do the stuff these Republicans are doing because you have a black President."

Shirley Sherrod 3/27/2010 @ Georgia NAACP meeting

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While appearing on Anderson Cooper’s 360, Sherrod stated that Breitbart would “like to get us stuck back in the time of slavery.”

[HiTech RedNeck]

And Breitbart, for effect, should use a team of all-black lawyers and try to get a black judge for a bench trial.

[freespirited]

I think she comes out the big loser. She has no damages that I can see. What she risks is a broad airing of her victory in her case against USDA, where she and her group settled for 13 million in taxpayer dollars. She and her husband got an additional 300K for their alleged suffering.

I dont think it will play well, nor will an airing of other dumb things she has said. She equates Republican with racist, the more she talks the more she sounds less like a racial healer and more like a real loon. JMHO.

[FrankR]

So, now it's against the rules to expose a black racist? That's all Breitbart did, after all.

By rights, she should be suing Vilsack and the USDA - oh, but she's already done that before on another racebaiting charge.

What statute covers this case, the "thin skin" law? All that Breitbart did was embarass her - which she deserved based on her remarks in the tape.

The NAACP bellowed for weeks about all of the "racists" in the TPM, but none could prove it...all Breitbart did was actually PROVE there were racists in the NAACP.

Here's the advice they need to take next time..."Don't start nothin', and there won't be nothin'".

[cripplecreek]

Once again I think they’re simply trying to pull us off the black pamper case.

[lbryce]

Everything we have come to know and learn about Shirley Sherrod, the process and approach she means to take, all is quite logical, procto-logical that is.

[HiTech RedNeck]

This is like the NAACP not bothering to look up “niggardly” in a dictionary.

[Red in Blue PA]

Why isn't she suing the NAACP and the obama administration????

[paulycy]

This is excellent IMO.

It keeps this Sherrod hypocrite in front of the people and exposing the NAACP, White House and all of the racist marxists for what they are.

GO BREITBART!

[Kozak]

Well excellent. He gets to go through ALL her stuff during discovery.

[Red in Blue PA]

[marron]

She might have a case against Vilsack. He fired her before the story even broke, and he said he was firing her for fear of what Glenn Beck would do with the story.

If she wants to sue, there’s her target. Breitbart didn’t do anything to her, Vilsack did.

Now, Vilsack said that he fired her in part because he was trying to move forward having dealt with thousands of discrimination lawsuits. He didn’t mention directly that one of the biggest ones was Sherrod’s lawsuit that cost his department $13 million dollars. It seems strange that she would be working for a department that she also successfully sued for $13 million.

I’m not sure how much of the thirteen million was her share. She and her husband were awarded $300k, and also I believe a piece of the 13 million, but I’m not sure how many ways the money was divided out. Still, seems like a conflict of interest on her part, and also seems like Vilsack may have had other reasons for wanting her gone.

[henkster]

Don’t get carried away. The last time I remember the black community saying “trust us” was when the prosecutor was picking OJ’s jury.

[timeflies]

I watched a clip of her on another site, where she is a guest on The View and I swear I thought Joy “The Pig” Behar and some other guest were going to fight over Sherrod. You could see the hate in her eyes when Elizabeth was speaking.

[marron]

In her full transcript she actually proves Breitbart’s case, when she accuses Repubs of being racists for opposing health care.

So, while allegedly proving that she no longer sees the world through racial lenses, she actually proves the reverse. She is not capable of seeing the world any other way.

[Frank_2001]

LOL!There has to be some stigma attached to that line of work- When someone says to you, “My Johnny just got accepted to LAW SCHOOL!!!!”, just say “Oh. Really..now” as COLDLY as you possibly can;)

[MozarkDawg]

Excellent — I hope he counter-sues over the false and slanderous claims/charges she’s made about him on her little public pontification tour.

[hsrazorback1]

Get whitey.