Shirley Sherrod and the Settlement

On Monday, Andrew Breitbart posted a video of Shirley Sherrod addressing the NAACP in March of 2010. The point of which was to show the reactions of the NAACP audience members -- but that sort of got lost in the maelstrom.
The Administration immediately threw her under the bus and demanded her resignation. At least that's what Ms. Sherrod says. (The White House claims it had nothing to do with anything.)
The NAACP put the bus in reverse and rolled over her again. It wouldn't denounce the New Black Panther haters, no sir. But old Shirley -- who in the Breitbart clip went on to say she came to realize helping farmers wasn't so much a race issue as a "poor versus the haves"? Bam. Shazam. Squashed like a bug.
But the point of this post is not to discuss whether she should have been fired. Or whether the White House was behind it. What I'm wondering is what on earth caused the frenzied race to judgment?
"Pull over and type your resignation on your blackberry now!" she was commanded.
Did their haste have anything to do with the Pigford case (a class action against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in which Ms. Sherrod is a plaintiff)? She is suing her employer, the USDA, for discriminating against her and other black farmers.
As an aside, I don't really get how a plaintiff can work for a defendant while a lawsuit is pending -- I mean, I can't see employing someone who is suing me . . . but, well, never mind.
In any event, it worked out fine for Ms. Sherrod. Obama appointed her to be the USDA's Director for Rural Development for the state of Georgia on July 30, 2009.
The government has agreed to pay her and her organization a cool $13 million. She's even getting $150,000.00 personally for pain and suffering. In fact, Ms. Sherrod and her organization are getting the biggest settlement of any other claimant.
And the Obama Administration played a key role in ensuring fast government funding for the Pigford settlements.
The $1.25 billion settlement occurred on February 18, 2010.
But the money hasn't come just yet. It's up to the Senate to pass the second stimulus bill. Tucked into this stimulus package is the billion dollar allocation for Pigford claimants like Ms. Sherrod.
And Obama is threatening to veto the bill because it does away with $800 million in funding for his "Race to the Top" school program.
Oh dear.
American Thinker has more on the Sherrod-Pigford connection here.
UPDATE: Gibbs is flailing at his briefing as I write this. You know it's bad when he says "this is a teachable moment." He says Secretary Vilsack is calling Sherrod to apologize to her for his "disservice."
"And on behalf of the Administration we offer our apologies," he added. "I would apologize on behalf of those involved here [the White House] for what has happened."
CORRECTION: Ms. Sherrod was appointed by the Obama Administration to the USDA a few days after she agreed to take a $13 million dollar settlement with the USDA, as a claimant in the Pigford case.

Labels: Gibbs, Pigford Ii Litigation, Settlement, Shirley Sherrod, Usda, Vilsack