>recently, helen thomas lost her job when the same thing >happened to her. like sherrod, her comments were distorted >and she was vilified by sound bites and hair-trigger >reactions.
What gets me about all this is the totally lame response against these tactics used by Fox News and Breitfart. They will successfully sweep their fake journalism under the rug like the destruction of Acorn and Thomas. And Shirley Sherrod's excellent speech and conclusions about class, poverty, and similarities among the oppressed peoples provided the other extraordinary teachable moment for the Obama administration. That too has been nearly irrelevant in the corporate media show this time. It's easy to understand the fear and mistakes by those targeted by straw man strategies. (We saw these fallacious techniques used in our neighborhood with barely any protest except from the targets themselves.) The administration's rapid response was done because of fear not malevolence. Their apology was warranted but acceptable in light of their fear. But their unwillingness to use the bully pulpit against Fox News, Brietfart, and the use of these techniques in the erosion of journalism is not! The vital message of Shirley Sherrod's speech reminds me of MLK Jr's condemnation of the Vietnam War. The people of Vietnam were not the enemies of the soldiers fighting them. The oppressed people's of Vietnam were much more similar to the soldiers from American slums than either were to the war contractors and pirates destroying both of them. King and Sherrod stand out as courageous uplifting figures! Sadly, the administration lost two incredibly teachable moments and guaranteed that those vile twits will strike again! (If Sherrod had been less able and willing to fight back she would have been destroyed by twits and cowards!) Glenn -----Original Message----- >From: UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN <[email protected]> >Sent: Jul 23, 2010 10:00 PM >To: [email protected] >Subject: Re: [UC] Sherrod, and straw man technique > >Kimm Tynan wrote: >> >> Amen, Wilma. >> >> >> "Wilma de Soto" wrote: >> >> The Sherrod incident is troublesome on many fronts. > > > > > >recently, helen thomas lost her job when the same thing >happened to her. like sherrod, her comments were distorted >and she was vilified by sound bites and hair-trigger >reactions. (for starters, thomas was asked about 'israel', >but almost every headline had her talking about 'jews'. big >distinction! but a viral holocaust card will trump >everything, no question.) > >if sherrod is given different treatment than thomas as a >result of media-created firestorms and politically-fueled >agendas, we are, unfortunately, back to square one: racism. > > > > > > > >(not disagreeing with any of the 'wows' or 'geez' here, just >adding another note, one year after obama's 'teachable >moment' beer summit that was supposed to put dialog before >reaction.) > >.................. >UNIVERSITY*CITOYEN > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >---- >You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the >list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see ><http://www.purple.com/list.html>. ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
