In his latest media appearances, Andrew Breitbart is breaking out a new talking point to bolster the alternate history he's created of his smear of Shirley Sherrod. In seeking to avoid any responsibility for his actions in that case, Breitbart is citing the NAACP's criticism of Sherrod's audience as evidence that his post was accurate and fair.
In an appearance this morning on C-Span's Washington Journal -- a program that claims to “strive to educate the viewing public about national issues,” but for some reason chooses to promote the discredited blogger -- Breitbart said:
BREITBART: The NAACP excoriated the audience for its clapping and its affirmation of her telling the story about how she sent the farmer to “one of his own” and how she patronized him initially. That was the point in what was theprevious week's attack by Ben Jealous of the NAACP attacking the Tea Party as racist, and my argument a week before was “Hey Ben Jealous, if you're going to attack the Tea Party based upon negligible evidence, those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. The NAACP apologized for the audience's reaction which was the context of my video.
Breitbart is referring to the NAACP's July 19, 2010, statement, in which Ben Jealous says he is “appalled” by Sherrod's “shameful” actions, and says that “the reaction from many in the audience is disturbing.”
For Breitbart to cite this statement to defend the accuracy of his work is absurd, even for him. Jealous issued those comments immediately after Sherrod's resignation, based on a review of Breitbart's clips. The next day, after reviewing video of the full Sherrod speech, Jealous said he had been “snookered” by Breitbart and that the clip posted on his site had been “deliberately edited to create a false impression of racial bias.”
Basically, Breitbart is saying that he is vindicated because the NAACP was misled by his work. Pathetic? Yes. Surprising? No; his Sherrod mythology is built on such inanities.