[daguy]

Last year Andrew Breitbart, right-wing blogger, posted a heavily edited videotape of a speech by Shirley Sherrod. He presented this video as proof positive that Sherrod, the USDA's Georgia Director of Rural Development, was a racist and executed her job in an overtly racist way.
The unedited, honest videotape showed nothing of the kind--in fact, just the opposite.

Now Ms. Sherrod is suing the guy. And she's not fooling around. The legal team she assembled is first class:

Lastly, the complaint is telling for just who Shirley Sherrod’s attorneys are, and it is a very significant point. There are a team of four attorneys at the DC office of Kirkland & Ellis, Thomas Clare, Michael Jones and Beth Williams with the lead being one Thomas D. Yannucci. And who is Tom Yannucci? Glad you asked. He is, if not the preeminent, one of the most preeminent plaintiffs defamation attorneys in the United States. From a September/October 2000 Columbia Journalism Review article:

In-house lawyers at top news organizations describe him as “extremely aggressive,” “very effective,” a straight shooter, and someone who, more than any other plaintiffs’ lawyer, “strikes fear in news organizations’ hearts.”

Yannucci is the attorney who embarrassed and gutted NBC’s Dateline on the fraudulent GM exploding gas tank story and who obtained a page one above the fold retraction from Gannett Newspapers and the Cincinnati Enquirer, and reportedly $18 million dollars, in the Chiquita Brands story. The Shirley Sherrod Complaint Against Andrew Breitbart | Emptywheel Good for her. Nice to see honest people fighting back against the smear machine.

[EvaQWmrm]

Yeah, instead of exposing her as a racist, it exposed her as a socialist.

Real victory there.

[yurawerj]

Breitbart is a scumbag. I hope he gets burned in the courts.

[Yyaqyped]

Since he knowingly edited a video to put this lady in stance directly opposite to what was real, I do hope she wins, and get awarded a very large sum. He ruined her chances at an important, critical, Washington job and harmed her career for a long time, if not forever. Anytime she comes up for a political job, or runs for any officer, you can expect Faux News, completely unfair and completely unbalanced, to show this edited video over and over.

[Hedkffiz]

Yeah, instead of exposing her as a racist, it exposed her as a socialist.

Real victory there.

So you support deliberate manipulation of videotape and the release of lies?

Why would you support such a thing?

[EvaQWmrm]

So you support deliberate manipulation of videotape and the release of lies?

Why would you support such a thing?

What she said was not a lie, it was taken out of context.

You do know what they say about people who live in glass houses don't you?

[Hedkffiz]

What she said was not a lie, it was taken out of context.

You do know what they say about people who live in glass houses don't you?

It was a doctored video that was used to misrepresent what she said. It showed her saying "B" when she actually said "W." That's a deliberate mistruth, i.e. a lie.


What do glass houses have to do with anything?

[yurawerj]

What she said was not a lie, it was taken out of context.

You do know what they say about people who live in glass houses don't you?

Slander laws also prohibit misrepresentation and defamation of character.

[EvaQWmrm]

Slander laws also prohibit misrepresentation and defamation of character.

If that were the case Washington would be one giant prison.

[yurawerj]

If that were the case Washington would be one giant prison.

lol... Well, slander laws are less restrictive of political commercials -- probably because of that possibility.

Public figures have less privacy and defamation rights than private citizens. A random bureaucrat like Sherrod can't be targeted the same as a political candidate.

[EvaQWmrm]

It was a doctored video that was used to misrepresent what she said. It showed her saying "B" when she actually said "W." That's a deliberate mistruth, i.e. a lie.


What do glass houses have to do with anything?

Did I miss the part with the CG Sherrod?

She said everything on that video. There was just more to it.

It was basically a campaign ad.

[EvaQWmrm]

A random bureaucrat like Sherrod can't be targeted the same as a political candidate.

Your garden variety bureaucrat doesn't address a NAACP convention.

[yurawerj]

Your garden variety bureaucrat doesn't address a NAACP convention.

She's higher profile than a lot of bureaucrats, for sure. Still, unless she actually announced a run for office, she's not fair game.