I think this is a start, but much more must be done not only when it comes to Mrs. Sherrod, but also the damage caused by the yellow journalism practiced by the Fox "news" channel and Andrew Breitbart (along with his agents).
According to Greg Sargent on his Washington Post blog:
Robert Gibbs apeared to extend a heartfelt apology to Shirley Sherrod on behalf of the Obama administration, and promised a look at what went wrong.
There's more that has to be done...much more... not only in making sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again, but in bring about total recompensation to other victims of the shameful and shoddy yellow journalism peddled by Fox and Breitbart among others.
More below.
When I hear this story, I believe that there's a disturbing pattern of the mainstream media and government officials swallowing the Fox/Breitbart bait and acting based on what they presented instead of waiting for all the facts to come out.
It happened to ACORN, and it happened to Mrs. Sherrod.
ACORN may not have been a perfect organization, but it deserved far better than to be shamed by Congress because of the lies peddled by Fox and Breitbart.
The effective community work ACORN did never should have ended because some gullible politicians fell for the lies of Fox and Breitbart.
Those who could have been helped by groups like ACORN should never have been demonized the way they've been by irresponsible outlets pretending to be journalists like Fox and Andrew Breitbart.
It's time for reckoning, all right, and it's not only on behalf of Mrs. Sherrod. It's on behalf of all those who benefitted from ACORN's community work only to have that shut down no thanks to irresponsible reporting by Fox and Breitbart.
More than apologies are due to both Mrs. Sherrod and ACORN. They must be made whole.
(NOTE: I just checked on Twitter and Keith Olbermann will have a special comment tonight on Mrs. Sherrod and the practitioners of yellow journalism that are Fox and Breitbart).
(UPDATE: Thanks to msmacgyver, who provided a list of Breitbart's "contributors," -- a list that, I am sad to say, includes my area's heartless Taliban congressman (TX-32), Pete Sessions, and "Fair Hair" Rick Perry. If they didn't deserve defeat before, they do even more now. Anyone who sponsors the type of irresponsible and reckless yellow journalism practiced by Breitbart should never be elected to public office, even dog catcher.)