Breitbart's Bum Story
Clarence Page

In the end, the only people who came out of the Shirley Sherrod pseudo-scandal without egg on their faces was Shirley Sherrod -- and her falsely alleged "victims."

Things didn't start out that way. There was that troubling, selectively edited Internet video of the black Agriculture Department official speaking at a March NAACP dinner in Georgia.

Her comments in the clip sounded racist, so faster than you could say "due process" she was out of a job. She also was denounced by many, including national NAACP leaders -- before they looked at the full uncut video.

When it was released, the world learned ironically that blogger Andrew Breitbart, who first posted the clip, had gotten the message of Sherrod's speech exactly backwards. She actually was talking quite poignantly and persuasively about overcoming prejudice, not perpetuating it.

And Roger and Eloise Spooner, the elderly white couple whose farm Sherrod helped to save, enthusiastically backed her up. "She'll always be my friend," Mrs. Spooner told Fox News. Her husband cheerfully agreed and called the racism charges "hogwash."

Oops! A stampede of backpedaling, apologies, recrimination and vindication followed. President Barack Obama, Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack, NAACP chief Ben Jealous and Fox News host Bill O'Reilly apologized for their rushes to judgment.

Only blogger Breitbart chose to play the defiant dope. Without a hint of irony or shame in various interviews, he washed his hands of culpability. He was after the NAACP, not Sherrod, he said, because of the civil rights group's recent call for the tea party movement to rid itself of "racist elements."

"I could care less about Shirley Sherrod, to be honest with you," he said, stating the obvious to Fox's Sean Hannity. "This is about tarring the American people and the tea party movement with the false charge of racism." Right. Breitbart obviously didn't care about Sherrod as he pursued his anti-NAACP, pro-tea party agenda.

Yet, his video also plainly fails to support his claim of "showing racism at an NAACP event." Nor does the audience appear to be "laughing and applauding as (Sherrod) described how she maltreated the white farmer," as Breitbart put it. I suspect that most viewers outside of Breitbart's fellow travelers will conclude as I did that the blogger king is hearing things in his head, not from that audience.

Breitbart's not worried about getting the other side's view of stories like this. He's convinced himself that his willfully conservative websites provide a useful alternative to what he sees as a left-biased mainstream media. Bring it on. There's plenty of room on the Web. Let the consumers decide whose version of journalism is worth their time.

But consider this, dear consumer: Just as you want the media to be fair and balanced, be fair to yourself, too. Don't cheat yourself by exposing yourself only to views and ideas that agree with your preconceived notions. The Web offers a range of views and sources. Enjoy. But keep a healthy skepticism. Remember the old Chicago City News Bureau slogan: If your mother says she loves you, check it out.

And, for those who wish to engage in citizen journalism, remember the old-school lesson that Breitbart appears to have learned the hard way: Getting the story right is better than getting it first.

Bad journalism eventually produces its own punishment. Justice for Breitbart -- or against him -- will be determined by his audience.

He'll keep many of his fans, no doubt, and maybe win some new ones now that he is touting himself as a heroic martyr for the tea party cause. Others can now view his work with the healthy skepticism that it deserves.

Regardless of whatever spin he puts on it, he will be long remembered as the guy who cost an innocent woman her job, all because he cared more about attacking liberals than checking his facts.

And the folks in the White House and the NAACP have lessons to learn, too: Don't let fear of a charge of racism from the Right impair your common sense. When somebody sounds like a race-baiter, don't take the bait.

Only Sherrod and the Spooners came out of this drama with their grace and dignity intact. Reunited after many years by this bogus scandal, they offer an inspiring model of a better America, a place where ordinary everyday folks manage to get along despite racial lines -- even when our leaders fail.

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