The entire spectacle about Shirley Sherrod's firing and subsequent attempted reconciliation by the USDA and now the even the president is ridiculous. There are much more important matters going on in our nation than a mistake that should be forgiven and another "conspiracy" run by the right wing and FoxNews.
Many news pundits and respected opinions around the nation are promoting Shirley Sherrod as a liberal hero and then using this incident to bring in another discussion about race in America. Honestly, I could care less about this incident and I would much rather see attention being given to the crisis in the Gulf, our economy, or following the struggles and successes of our military in Afghanistan and Iraq. Yes, the firing of Sherrod was uncalled for, yet the mistake has been acknowledged by our government in all branches and reconciliation has been given. Yet, many continue bridging this event to so called racism still prevalent and 'as bad as ever' in our nation. If a white, mid-level bureaucrat was fired based on a sound byte, the news would be almost nonexistent, as how it should be. There is no need for ordinary people to be made into symbols in our country, as Neda in Iran. We don't need a martyr.
In addition, I cannot believe the news about Sherrod is trumping the disaster in the gulf, constant deaths of our soldiers, and the continual troubles of our economy. In comparison to these events, I care nothing about Sherrod or arguments about race or conspiracies involving Fox News. I don't care, and neither should the nation.
**Update
I was at work and left DK up on my screen and my worker wrote this diary...he's a good kid and was looking to stir up some conversation...personally mos1133 thinks this story is a perfect illustration of a baseless race war that FOX and the right is trying to wage to attract more white voters. They are trying to play the victim of this black president and his policies as they have been since they've been calling everything reparations. As Mrs. Sherrod said, it's not about black and white, it's about rich and poor.
Since there's nothing too offensive in this, I'll leave it up and allow it to be discussed or ignored.