Damage All Around

Recently, Andrew Breitbart of BigGovernment posted "Video Proof: The NAACP Awards Racism–2010," in which he stated:

Sherrod’s racist tale is received by the NAACP audience with nodding approval and murmurs of recognition and agreement. Hardly the behavior of the group now holding itself up as the supreme judge of another groups’ racial tolerance.

In my view, that point about the NAACP audience is being missed by those who don't visit "the right-wing blogosphere" or watch Fox News.

Despite Breitbart's protestations to the contrary, CNN has turned "Shirley Sherrod's Story," as that edition was entitled, into a tale excoriating Fox News Channel, specifically Bill O'Reilly, who called for Ms. Sherrod's resignation on his show earlier this week.

Yesterday afternoon, CNN showed the full video of Ms. Sherrod's speech to the NAACP, a special show that I watched on the plasma television at the car dealer, when I took in my vehicle for scheduled service. Several others were also in the customer-service area at the car dealership.

I could see it on their faces: they are now discounting "the right-wing blogosphere" and deeming Fox News as unfit sources of information.

Now, while I was waiting at the car dealership, sometimes I couldn't always quite hear what CNN was saying. But the best that I recall now, CNN didn't cover the audience's sounds of approvals to what appeared to be the racist statements Ms. Sherrod was making in her speech to the NAACP, although CNN did, at the top of the video-loop screen, print in words the text of that portion of Ms. Sherrod's speech. Furthermore, the two black women I was sitting across from, were nodding their heads in agreement to every point that CNN made, including that Andrew Breitbart is a major player in the Tea Party Movement. Let me also add that a large part of yesterday's broadcast was self-congratulatory (paraphrase): "We at this network didn't fall for the scam because we don't broadcast a story until we fully investigate that story" [as in watching the entire video].

Over at this thread at MSNBC, the following comment well summarizes the reactions, black and white, in the customer-service waiting area:

When did this sort of stuff become OK? How is it possible in a country that claims to be the "best in the world"? How does this blog clown sleep at night? Oh, that's right, he's conservative.

For the record, HERE is the full video of Shirley Sherrod's speech at the NAACP. The video is long, but I do recommend that you watch it in its entirety.

This video clip of Keith Olbermann pretty much sums up the way the Shirley Sherrod story is playing out in the mainstream media, albeit not always so condemnatory of Obama:



Let's keep in mind that a lot of American voters base their decisions at the ballot box upon information they glean from the mainstream media.

Maybe there is plenty of loss of credibility to go around, including for the Obama administration, which was quite willing to throw Mr. Sherrod under the bus before watching the full video of her NAACP speech. However, based on what I saw yesterday in that waiting area at the car dealership, conservatives have taken a big hit on this one.

How many of those in the waiting area at the car dealership and how many American voters will see the Bill O'Reilly's rebuttal, which aired last night?



What is your view of the damage done in this Shirley Sherrod story?

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Disappearing Bloggers

Several bloggers with whom I used to visit have either stopped putting up new posts or have deleted their blogs. Four examples:

1. The Sassy Tn't PoLITically InCorrect — No explanation offered.

2. Haid Da Salami — Please take the time read Jewel's tribute and Haid's response HERE.

3. Debonair Dude DD2 — Read his farewell post HERE.

4. The Hill Chronicles, The New Moral Compass, and Zeeva David — all penned by Layla.

Why the vanishing acts?

In my view, the reasons are several. I'll discuss three below.
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First, many conservative bloggers gave up in discouragement after BHO gained the White House and the Democratic Party gained the majority in our Congress. I didn't quit blogging because I was prepared for BHO to win the election. After all, the signs of his impending victory were everywhere, and I could feel the groundswell as I watched normally sane people succumbed to his charisma and utopian message. I was less prepared for the overturn of our Congress and did consider quitting my efforts in the blogosphere; good or bad, such quitting is against my stubborn nature. Apparently, however, the combination of losing both the White House and the Congress was simply too much for some bloggers. I do understand why and will not criticize those who decided to depart the blogosphere. I also note that even my cohost WC has ceased posting every day although he does try to post at least once a week (instead of every day), co-hosts a weekly radio show, and continues to send out his weekly e-newsletter, for which anyone can sign up HERE.

Second, some bloggers had personal reasons for leaving. In some cases, we don't know the personal reason, so we are left to speculate. For example, Beamish disappeared for a short while (seemed like forever), citing vaguely-stated personal reasons. Then (Joyous Day!), Beamish suddenly resurrected his blog The Crank Files, albeit a constantly metamorphosizing site. Ogre, on the other hand, ceased posting but kept his original blog up on the web; he has written once or twice more after posting "The Four Boxes of Freedom and a Goodbye", an important read as it addresses more than blogging itself. Others I know decided that blogging was a waste of time and have chosen to take up other pursuits. Still others are having financial difficulties such that they cannot afford the time or money required to keep a blog going.

Finally, some bloggers have family issues with regard to blogging. Specifically, Layla has had to flee the blogosphere because of the ire of her Muslim son, who feels that her writing violates his and his father's honor. Personal harassment from a family member is a powerful factor behind the scenes for most bloggers, and, many times, bloggers find that blogging is not worth the hassle.

Occasionally, a blogger stops posting for a long while but returns when the real-life workload eases up. Such was the case with Mustang of Social Sense, who stopped posting for several months a while back. Mustang was my first cyber friend, so I grieved when he wasn't posting. I am so grateful that he now posts almost every day as I value his thoughtful essays! Raven of And Rightly So took a similar hiatus for a while. These days, she's posting regularly, but I suspect that, due to a combination of discouragement with the political scenario and a desire to spend more time with her family, she may retire for good in the near future. I hope I'm wrong. I also hope that if she does retire from political blogging she will continue to post at her personal site. Recently, The Merry Widow has ceased posting on a regular basis. As she stops by here regularly, I'll let her state her reasons herself. Warren of Long Range is too busy working multiple jobs to post much, but he still reigns as tech advisor, administrator, and graphics expert for several sites and his blogging friends.

We bloggers often count fellow bloggers as friends to visit with every day. But just as in the non-virtual world, sometimes our friends stop communicating much or they disappear from our blogging lives. The cutting back or departure of these friends, no matter why they made their decision, leaves a hole which can never be filled as each and every blogger offers readers a unique message and an individual voice.

As Haid advised his readers when he began his web site:

...This weblog is a lot like western civilization or modern life as we know it. Just because it’s here today, that’s no guarantee it will be here tomorrow.

Worth keeping in mind.

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