Welcome to Buster's Blog

Irregular commentary on whatever's on my mind -- politics, sports, current events, and life in general. After twenty years of writing business and community newsletters, fifteen years of fantasy baseball newsletters, and two years of email "columns", this is, I suppose, the inevitable result: the awful conceit that someone might actually care to read what I have to say. Posts may be added often, rarely, or never again. As always, my mood and motivation are unpredictable.

Buster Gammons















Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Consider The Source, And Choose Buster's



Andrew Breitbart is a right-wing blogger and columnist, a TEA Party favorite, and a frequent guest on Fox News. In certain circles, he's considered "influential" for spewing his particular brand of hate and ignorance. And of course he recently gained some publicity for himself by posting an intentionally misleading video snippet on his website showing USDA employee Shirley Sherrod appearing to make a racist comment.

As a sign of the times, the video went instantly viral. Fox News was, naturally, the first to air it, followed promptly by every other news outlet on the planet. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack saw it, and immediately fired Sherrod.

But Breitbart's video was only 10 seconds of a 20 minute speech, and it now stands as the dictionary definition of "out of context". Sherrod made her speech a couple years ago and, in their entirety, her words were the opposite of racist. They were about racial reconciliation and tolerance and helping those in need, no matter what.

Well, oops! Suddenly, everyone from Presidential Press Secretary Robert Gibbs to Fox-wad Bill O'Reilly was falling over themselves apologizing to Sherrod for not bothering to check whether this red-hot news-making blog post was, you know, actually true.

The only person who didn't apologize was Breitbart. He accomplished what he set out to do. He was pissed when NAACP President Ben Jealous said that the TEA Party had racist elements (which it does), and if the TEA Partiers had any scruples (which they don't), they should acknowledge this and disavow racism (don't hold your breath). Breitbart wanted to show that black people could be racist too, and if his method of demonstrating it turned out to be a total crock of shit, he didn't care, and still doesn't. He just wanted to make his point, and to hell with honesty.

Sherrod says she's considering suing him. You go, girl!

And the next time you want a reliable, trustworthy blog, forget that slimy huckster Andrew Breitbart. For a more satisfying blog experience, I humbly suggest Buster's Blog.
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