What's really happening with the Sherrod controversy? Who is benefitting? Where's the focus? When did it happen? Those are the questions we should be asking, not the media's focus. What is Karl Rove's first principle of political manipulation, attack your opponent's perceived strength and this Sherrod controversy has the stink of Karl Rove all over it.
Obama overcomes racism to become America's first black President supposedly heralding a "post-racial" America. Obama and his administration are supposedly "no drama", cool, analytical.
The Tea Party is barbecued by the NAACP and in the media, one of their own is exposed and embarassed and they are forced, under charges of racism to disown him. The new Republican foot soldiers are embarassed, exposed, vulnerable to further justifiable attack.
The Obama Administration is about to sign into law one of the most popular measures of his Presidency. The NAACP has had a triumph. Both events could dominate the news cycle for days. Good press for the President and the Democrats. Good press for the NAACP. Bad news for Tea Partiers and their Republican allies, what can we do...
Use a third rate no talent political hack to attack both the NAACP and the President's administration as crypto-racists. Use Fox to sell the story, Roger Ailes doesn't care, if it doesn't fly, if its ignored, then no loss; however, if it provokes a reaction, something very distracting may happen, in this case they hit the jackpot.
What transpires, under the stress of being attacked the NAACP over reacts, contacting the Administration about a possible PR disaster in the making. Without fact checking, NAACP denounces Ms Sherrod, trying to stay ahead of the news cycle, responding with "positive spin."
The Administration, possibly with the urging of the NAACP, is now in damage control mode, trying to form an acceptable PR response before this turns into Acorn II. Fires the offending Ms Sherrod, immediately claims a "zero tolerance" policy for any form of racism, thereby validating the "reverse racism" claims of the racist right wing, and spins the situation as justly resolved, the perpetrator is punished, just another bad apple.
A minor victory for the Republican right, minimal damage, news cycle handled... Until Ms. Sherrod fights back, until other media fact check the story and expose it as a fraud, until the real story comes out.
This is the real brilliance of the Rovian method of attack, tell a lie, unanswered it festers, mishandled it becomes a media event, in any event it captures the news cycle and turns the media lens upside down.
Is the story a brilliant President is making headway on important legislation that benefits all Americans. Is the story, the NAACP pushes back against a racist Tea Party. No, its all about the cool and brilliant Obama Administration being harsh and arbitrary, while in a panic demonstrating no prudence or judgement and hurting an innocent party in order to do "spin control." It's also about the NAACP in the same spirit abandoning one of their own to save their image. Breitbart, he's already a miscreant, no loss, his only value is as an "agent provocateur" which role he fulfills brilliantly. Fox, "crocodile tears" and "mea culpas" while still pushing the hullabaloo as hard as they can.
So who is controlling the news cycle? Who's story is getting out? Who's hurt and who's helped... You would think we'd have learned by now...