Clinton Cash Author Was Part Of Shirley Sherrod Smear Campaign
By D.B. Hirsch
April 23, 2015 6:00 pm - NewsBehavingBadly.com
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Peter Schweitzer, a former Bush speechwriter and conservative activist, and his colleagues at Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com, were involved in a racially-charged smear campaign against the woman who improperly lost her job at the Department of Agriculture.
The smear effort started when BigGovernment.com’s late founder Andrew Breitbart posted a video of Sherrod speaking at an NAACP event, which the site edited tomake it appear as though Sherrod admitted to mistreating a white farmer due to racist feelings. Breitbart’s video left out crucial details where Sherrod said that she actually learned that such feelings were wrong and helped the farmer in his struggle. The farmer in question also disputed claims that she acted in a racially prejudicial way. But that didn’t stop conservative media from picking up the video, ultimately leading to the USDA firing Sherrod.
After his video was exposed as deceptive, Breitbart tried to pivot by claiming that he was really more interested in the Pigford case, a civil rights class action suit involving the historical discrimination against black farmers seeking government loans, in which Sherrod was a plaintiff.
Breitbart alleged that Sherrod was really fired as part of a government cover-up of some sort of under-the-table-reparations-vote-buying scheme for African-Americans in which the government was handing out Pigford settlement money to unjustified claimants. His allegation about the real reason for Sherrod’s firing — like the edited video — was without merit, but it gave him a new way to attack Sherrod and the Obama administration at the same time.
In 2011, Schweizer, a BigGovernment.com contributor, appeared on End Times conspiracy theorist Rick Wiles’ “Trunews” program to discuss the allegations, defending Breitbart’s role in the Sherrod affair and repeating discredited talking points about a supposed cover-up and a black-vote-buying scheme championed by Obama.
Schweizer defended Breitbart by saying the conservative media star “didn’t see the original” video of Sherrod’s remarks and “apologized for that,” adding that “the principle was still there, that there was selective justice taking place.” He also agreed with Breitbart’s false claim that the administration only “went after” Sherrod as a result of the Pigford episode: “What we believe happened is that when Sherrod became the public figure as a result of this incident, it gave people a peek at Pigford.”
“Why was there this amazing reaction to this incident? Why was Shirley Sherrod such a hot figure, as it were, that the White House itself intervened and wanted to drop it so quickly? And we believe it was because they did not want attention given to Pigford,” he said. Several months before the interview, the Los Angeles Times reported that USDA emails at the time show that the deceptive video and the resulting conservative media firestorm were the causes of Sherrod’s ousting.
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nola878 April 23rd, 2015 at 6:12 pm
Even a few years back, my reaction would be enormous surprise. Today my reaction is, “that figures”.
Makes me very sad and angry at what the right has done to our nation.
John Tarter April 24th, 2015 at 1:36 am
The right? It’s the sleaze from the left that has destroyed the nation. Putting one fifth of our uranium supply was done by the Obama cabal.
Red Eye Robot April 23rd, 2015 at 7:49 pm
Wasn’t Hillary part of the Smear Paula Jones Movement?
allison1050 April 23rd, 2015 at 8:26 pm
And he’s getting rich peddling his “book” on the chat shows.
Winslow Bunny April 23rd, 2015 at 9:31 pm
Another hit job on the Clintons? The Right Wing Sausage Machine and their fantasy writers have, and continue, to make an undeserved fortune off the two Clintons for 25 years now.
John Tarter April 24th, 2015 at 1:32 am
No, not another hit job on the Clintons but just the continuing saga of the sleaziest couple in America. The pus of the national infection of these two is continuing to ooze out over the land and when liberal media outlets like Time, Newsweek, and the NY Times picks up on it you know that it is so bad that even they in good conscience cannot refuse to investigate the story.
Lets see, we have Russian control over one fifth of our uranium supply and Billy Boy just happening to get a 500k speaking fee. Then it’s 150 million or so from associates of the same energy company into the Clinton “charity”. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
majii April 23rd, 2015 at 10:16 pm
If the Obama administration has been handing out checks to Black Americans to get their votes, I need to check my mailbox ASAP. My check is late! /s/