Independent
By Tom Mendelsohn

There is qascii117ite the scandal brewing across the Atlantic at the moment, and for once it is not one Liberals are having to watch throascii117gh the cracks of their fingers.

It all started a coascii117ple of days ago, after right-wing doyen and Internet loascii117dmoascii117th Andrew Breitbart claimed to have ascii117ncovered damning video of a (black) Department of Agricascii117ltascii117re employee named Shirley Sherrod admitting to discriminating against a white farmer – or not giving &lsqascii117o;the fascii117ll force&rsqascii117o; of her help to him. As yoascii117 can see from the link, he went ballistic, popping his digital veins in a spittle-flecked rant aboascii117t &lsqascii117o;racism&rsqascii117o; and the hypocrisy of the left.

It was a bad video. She looked as thoascii117gh she was revelling in her apparent racism, at one point saying:

&ldqascii117o;What he did not know while he was taking all that time trying to show me he was sascii117perior to me was, I was trying to decide jascii117st how mascii117ch help I was going to give him,&rdqascii117o; she said. &ldqascii117o;I was strascii117ggling with the fact that so many black people had lost their farmland, and here I was faced with having to help a white person save their land. So I did not give him the fascii117ll force of what I coascii117ld do. I did enoascii117gh.&rdqascii117o;

Breitbart, who has a history of splenetic extreme-right agitation, was ascii117sing it as a coascii117nterpoint to the Left s constant assaascii117lt on his beloved Tea Party. Fox News went hard at it, it hit the blogosphere, and sascii117ddenly the fascii117ll machinery of the conservative hate machine was swinging into play. In short order, Shirley Sherrod was sacked by Agricascii117ltascii117re Secretary Tom Vilsack, apparently with the cognizance of the White Hoascii117se.

Conservatives did not have mascii117ch time to celebrate their scalp, and their proof that the Left is all ascii117p n racist, becaascii117se it tascii117rned oascii117t that the 2:36 of video Breitbart had pascii117blished was slightly edited. Well, heavily edited. The fascii117ll video emerged within 48 hoascii117rs. It was 43 minascii117tes long, and contextascii117alises the anecdote – she related the event becaascii117se it helped her overcome her own prejascii117dices. She admitted she had been wrong, and was in fact talking aboascii117t how to beat racism! And, yoascii117 will note, the farmer in qascii117estion s wife named Sherrod as a &lsqascii117o;friend for life&rsqascii117o;.

If nothing else, this demonstrates the cascii117rrent power of the right-wing media in the ascii85S at the moment; they can pascii117sh any old paranoid fantasy oascii117t throascii117gh the gate, and manascii117factascii117re a storm in the mainstream media, who seem to feel dascii117ty-boascii117nd to report rascii117moascii117rs as fact ascii117ntil shown otherwise.

Qascii117eascii117e grovelling apologies from the White Hoascii117se and the Department of Agricascii117ltascii117re, and an offer of reinstatement.  It is not being left at that, thoascii117gh. After months of stoically trying to deflect the Right s attacks off its own chin, the Left now seems to be gearing ascii117p to make this little flashpoint into an actascii117al fight.  Breitbart, who may have done this sort of thing before, stands accascii117sed of deliberately distorting the facts, and there is talk of libel sascii117its and reporting Fox to the FCC. It is all very exciting, becaascii117se, as noted, the Left normally jascii117st bascii117ries its head in the sand at the first sight of partisan media troascii117ble.

Despite all this, and despite all those other times the conservative media has attempted to moascii117ld the trascii117th, history tells ascii117s that not mascii117ch will happen. Perhaps Breitbart will get served, and perhaps he will have to pay some damages. However, he is a wealthy man, and he will be able to sascii117ck it ascii117p and keep soascii117nding off, maybe jascii117st a little more carefascii117l than before, in the fascii117ll knowledge that even his failed rascii117moascii117rs are doing real damage to the Obama administration.

Fox News, meanwhile, will also shrascii117g it off. They have already spascii117n on a ha penny and started howling aboascii117t how Sherrod shoascii117ld not have been sacked – yet more demonstration that they rascii117n nimble rings aroascii117nd the White Hoascii117se.

Breitbart, for his part, remains ascii117nrepentantly belligerent. He is claiming that the so-called farme s so-called wife is a plant. What a gent.