I’ve lost track of the number of readers who have asked, Why doesn’t Shirley Sherrod sue Breitbart for defamation?
As a journalist, I’m naturally wary of defamation claims. As a lawyer part of my job was counseling clients that a lawsuit is a terrible, awful, no-good way to resolve almost any dispute. That is doubly true of libel suits. So to my way of thinking there is no such thing as a slam-dunk defamation claim.
But for those eager to see Sherrod get her pound of flesh, she says she is considering it.
If you want to read only one thing today about Shirley Sherrod and USDA, make it this piece by Rachel Slajda, which puts this entire sordid episode in the context of the right-wing’s vehement opposition to USDA’s settlement of long-standing discrimination claims from black farmers, including from Sherrod herself. Some very interesting and relevant background here.
Howard Kurtz swallows Fox’s continuing claims that the cable network maintains a news v. opinion distinction internally.
From the New York Times:
A 20-year-old Virginia man who had made threatening statements about the television show “South Park” was arrested on Wednesday and charged with supporting the Shabab, a Somalia-based terrorist group, after he allegedly tried to board a flight to Africa with his infant son.
One of Glenn Beck’s favorite whipping boys — the Tides Foundation — was allegedly a target of that anti-government gunman in Oakland who was stopped by police in a shootout.
TPM’s Evan McMorris-Santoro was at Tom Vilsack’s press conference this afternoon and managed to get a question in — and a follow-up. Watch.
Video from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s press conference this afternoon: Read More
Former Rep. Rob Simmons (R-CT) has ended the suspension of his campaign after about six weeks and has TV ads up now, giving primary voters an alternative to former WWE CEO Linda McMahon.
Fox’s Shep Smith: We didn’t run Breitbart’s edited video on my show because “we did not and do not trust the source”: Read More