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Dr. Laura Gets “Dr. Laura’d” While Shirley Sherrod Sides With NAACP Against Breitbart

by Philip Bump | 10:48 am, August 18th, 2010

» 14 comments

Yesterday, the NAACP released a biting statement, excoriating a prominent member of the right wing for a deeply offensive act. Later in the evening, Dr. Laura Schlessinger announced that she wouldn’t seek to have the contract for her radio show renewed at the end of the year.

But the NAACP’s statement wasn’t about Dr. Laura – it was from Shirley Sherrod. In a clear demonstration that she sees herself and the NAACP allied in a fight against a common enemy – and in a remarkable bit of redemption for NAACP head Ben Jealous – Sherrod blasted Andrew Breitbart and Fox News for their roles in last month’s kerfuffle. Calling Breitbart’s clip “heavily edited” and “intentionally deceptive” she notes that she won’t “yield because some Tea Party agitator sat at his computer and turned everything I said upside down and inside out.”

The NAACP was, in fact, not at the forefront of calls for sponsors to drop Dr. Laura – that leadership was position held primarily by Media Matters. Although Dr. Laura’s offense was to repeatedly spout the n-word and demean the political choices of the African-American community, it was the progressive community broadly that held her to account. This despite Dr. Laura herself invoking the name of the organization, famously suggesting to the black caller in the incident that the caller was “taking things out of context” and exclaiming, “Don’t NAACP me!” The irony of referring to taking words out of context as “NAACPing” – and not “Breitbarting” – was lost on the good doctor.

In her resignation, Dr. Laura sputtered and fumed about “special interests” who somehow revoked her First Amendment right to say whatever she wanted. Or, in her words to Larry King, she no longer has “the right to say what she needs to say.” You know, like the n-word.

Dr. Laura’s comments were tone-deaf and out of touch, the result of a media environment that makes it difficult to pause, to temper, to reflect. Shirley Sherrod was caught in that same environment, the victim of the NAACP’s difficult choice in a swirling news cycle: act immediately with the information at hand, or risk being pilloried for allowed a purported racist to go unchallenged. It was a situation in which the NAACP couldn’t not act.

In the case of Dr. Laura, the NAACP didn’t need to act. Dr. Laura didn’t get “NAACP’d.” She got “modern American cultured.” She was unable to articulate why her comments were wrong or to admit her mistake. That her announcement to Larry King placed the blame on everyone except Dr. Laura means that her decision to leave the air is the right one – she is no longer able to comment effectively on the world in which she lives, because she doesn’t understand it. In a way, I guess she did get NAACP’d – in the sense that she was the victim of society that increasingly understands and agrees what that organization strives for.

Shirley Sherrod got “Breitbarted” – and got over it. Dr. Laura got “2010′d” – and in 2011, will no longer be on the air.

Andrew Breitbart, Ben Jealous, Dr. Laura, fox news, NAACP, Shirley Sherrod

Pablo

…she notes that she won’t “yield because some Tea Party agitator sat at his computer and turned everything I said upside down and inside out.”

Yes! More Shirley!

The irony of referring to taking words out of context as “NAACPing” – and not “Breitbarting” – was lost on the good doctor.

Your notion that Tommy Christopher gets to invent and define words for America is, well, dopey.
BatBoy

Pablo said:
Tommy Christopher is, well, dopey

Did the NAACP statement read….”It waaaas the Devil who made us do it”

“Wa Wa Wa…Brieitbart made us do it…he made us call for your resignation Shirley…it’s Breitbarts falt…not ours!”
http://www.nukethefridge.com MartiniShark

The spinning narrative of the left is allowed to perpetuate — facts be damned. It speaks volumes that Ben Jealous and the NAACP get to squirm out of any culpability in Sherrod’s firing, and Brietbart is their scapegoat. They first tried to implicate Fox but facts got in the way of that, so Andrew is their new effigy.

The NAACP called for Shirley to be fired, Brietbart never once commented on her professional future. In his original piece about the speech he was taking the orginization to task for their acceptance of racism in her message. He never mentioned Sherrod by name in the original article until over 800 words in. His focus was the NAACP. They called for the woman’s firing before even speaking to her, and before reviewing the entire video, video they had access to because it was shot at an NAACP event. Ben J. admitted such.

The White House was also complicit, and the admistration — like the NAACP — is also being permitted to also skate free from responsibility. They helped orchestrate her dismissal, applying pressure to the superiors at the USDA. The source? Sherrod herself, in interviews that day to CNN and AP. Since then she has softened her interpretation to fit the narrative. It is amazing in that Brietbart was illustrating how the NAACP was hypocritical, and in the end they unjustly had a woman fired, blaming Andy though he never suggested she should be removed.
http://www.facebook.com/people/John-Romano/622177618 John Romano

Here is the NAACP race story the media is ignoring:

http://yesbuthowever.com/racism-within-the-naacp-9000080/

Five weeks was spent investigating this story. Odd that both Breitbart and the “left” have ignored this one.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Chris-Jones/1384303476 Chris Jones

When is that broad going to pipe down? Isn’t her 15 minutes up yet?
notsofast

Shirley, it sounds like you want to stay with ” your own kind.”
http://www.facebook.com/people/Norman-Murphy/1485778246 Norman Murphy

Thank God Dr. Laura, the fake psychologist, with a degree in physiology from a Christian University who has preached hatred of homosexuals and total intolerance for years. She acts as if she is a qualified social worker, therapist, psychologist, counselor, etc. Yet, she doesn’t have an appropriate license and is no more effective than your grandmother Betty, a well known ignoramus and gossip.

Maybe Laura will stop playing with fire, lying, and humiliating others for profit. The woman should be incarcerated for acting as a professional mental health therapist without any kind of eduction, supervised experience, or license or certification.

She talks about free speech and yells at anyone who disagrees with her devolving mentality.
gar

$hirley $herrad.
Ms.AnnDrist

Dr. Laura, narcissist supreme, needs to learn that the First Amendment only guarantees that the GOVT will not suppress her speech. Private entities, organizations, citizens can do whatever they want to in regard to her precious speech. IOW — we can censor, argue, ignore and/or shout her down just as much as we like.

There may be a right of (no government censorship) Free Speech, but there is no right to be heard, let alone respected for her precious thoughts and words.
SpineCrusher

Called it!

1-0 for me Gordon Blowhard…let’s see if I can get 2-0 after the Islamic center issues cools down.

I win. You lose!
lonestar77

Sherrod = racist race baiter.
Nachi

During slightly pressured moments, people reveal their true selves. Just another Philistine.
KMLake

“Doctor” Laura has, for years, dispenced dubious, perhaps dangerous, advice to the vulnerable and hurting. She is not a medical doctor, psychologist or mental health professional of any type. She is an irresponsible media personality who has taken it upon herself to pontificate on subjects about which she knows nothing. Her idiocy extends to her despicable views on gay people and her disgusting assumption that she can blithely use the same “n-word” that was used by other whites while the burned children alive in a southern church. (by the way I am white and a retired mental health professional). This moron needed to be off the air years ago. We will never know how many people she has damaged with her mental midget psudeau psychological BS.
http://none pyrope

If the NAACP boycotted everyone who ever used the “N” word, they would be boycotting every rap and hiphop “artist” and most African American comedians. Even they can’t get away with that much bilge.