Admin. gives explanation for why Sherrod may have thought White House directly involved.

[Clio the Leo]

Here's why Shirley Sherrod may have thought White House wanted her fired:

An administration official offered a new explanation to me just now for why Sherrod made this claim, which has driven much of the coverage: While USDA official Cheryl Cook was telling Sherrod by phone she had to resign, the USDA's White House liason was in the room.

The official argues that Cook may have told Sherrod of the presence of this "White House liason," a USDA employee who oversees political appointees to the agency, as per procedure in such situations. The use of that phrase may have led Sherrod to think the White House was directly involved.

"When Cook called Sherrod, we have reason to believe she said during one of those phone calls, `The White House liason is in the room with me,'" the official tells me. "This would be a logical explanation for why she said the White House wanted her to resign."

The White House has insisted it played no role in the firing decision. Obviously some will approach this latest with caution because it's anonymous, but it's possible this could clear up a lingering mystery.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2010/07/happy_hour_roundup_53.html

li·ai·son (l-zn, l--)
n.
1.
a. An instance or a means of communication between different groups or units of an organization, especially in the armed forces.
b. One that maintains communication: served as the President's liaison with Congress.

[Skittles]

1. everyone in CYA mode now

[LeftyAndProud60]

2. I really have no clue why this even matters. The media is filled w/ dumbasses. NT

[AtomicKitten]

3. I doubt Pres Obama micromanages this stuff. I think the only ones

still banging the pots on this are Faux News trying to pretend they are innocent bystanders and a few people here at DU who want to squeeze every bit of ugly out of this brouhaha for fun.

My hope is that this is the last time the tag-team of Breibart and Faux News dominates the news cycle and ruins careers with lies and horseshit.

[rocktivity]

4. another "administration official" who dare not speak his name

"Obviously some will approach this latest with caution because it's anonymous..." How very sporting of you, WaPo.

:eyes:
rocktivty

[Better Today]

5. So now they are calling her a liar. TYT showed last night Ms. Sherrod explaining

that she got three phones calls telling her the administration wanted her to resign in no uncertain terms and demanded she pull over to the side of the road and do it right then.

So not only CYA, but also calling her a liar. What chickenshits.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x487241

[LostinVA]

7. Exactly n/t

[Mimosa]

8. Better Today, I watched all the Sherrod interviews yesterday

She has no problems of understanding.

Of course on a story which was running 24/7 -no matter whether it was faux news- the administration was in control. Vilsack would not have acted unilaterally with no consultation.

But the admin was willing to believe the video presented by Breitbart and Fox was basis enough to fire Sherrod. That meant they were in P.R. panic mode. No cool head prevailed which said "we need to investigare the accusation." The accusation was assumed to be factual.

Now tell me there doesn't need to be a shake-up in how the administration manages any issues having to do with media?

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

16. There's a difference between calling someone a lying and being inaccurate.

I'm sure you might understand, given the situation, that Ms. Sherrod might not have properly parsed every word she spoke. She might also not have absorbed every last bit of detail, again, given what had to be an emotional moment for her. That's in no way lying.

[LostinVA]

6. To believe this, you have to believe Ms. Sherrod is lying

Or stupid. I believe Ms. Sherrod.

Government officials are in major CYA right now. Even IF the President's staff wasn't involved, I believe Ms. Sherrod was definitely led to believe they were.

[vaberella]

10. How so? Ms. Sherrod said she heard from Cheryl Cook. n/t

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

17. Or emotional and inaccurate.

Do you properly parse every word you use in an emotional moment, under great pressure, in a way that would meet the muster of a situation like this, where you have everyone in America combing over every word? I don't think so.

[VMI Dem]

9. Of course the White House was involved.

Didn't we see through this kind of shit when the previous admin used it?

[spiritual_gunfighter]

11. This is a good story

You think anyone will buy it?

[glitch]

12. Not that good. Why would a WH liason be in the room while Cook repeatedly demanded Sherrod resign?

Asking someone to resign is a very private job function. The only reason a WH liason would be "in the room" is if they are involved in that function.

This story makes the USDA and the WH look even worse. There is no proof it is true, seems like someone is running something up the flagpole to see if it flies.

edit: I wonder who else was in the room.

[ljm2002]

13. You are correct...

...Picture Ms. Cook frantically calling Ms. Sherrod because she needs her to submit a resignation "right now". If the picture in your mind has only Ms. Cook in her office making these calls, then you could easily believe that it is on the orders of Vilsack and not the White House.

Now picture Ms. Cook making the same series of phone calls, only there is a "White House liaison" in the room with her as she makes the calls.

Now riddle me this: if the White House was not involved in this action, then why, pray tell, was there a White House liaison in the room when the calls were being made?

[spiritual_gunfighter]

15. I know I was joking

A WH liason in the room only proves to me that the WH was instrumental in getting her fired. I believe Mrs. Sherrod, I dont believe the administration.

[Empowerer]

18. That's not true. The department's White House liaisons are ALWAYS involved in the hiring and firing

of political appointees. It's SOP.

But the White House liaison is not in constant communication with the West Wing, despite the media's attempts to gin this up into an Obama-gave-the-order-himself story. Each department has a White House liaison. Although they interact with Presidential Personnel, which handles the thousands of presidential appointments, they are employees of their individual departments and report directly to the Secretary, not to the White House. And the position that Ms. Sherrod held- a Schedule C - while it is considered an Administration appointment, is not a Presidential appointment.

I think it is perfectly likely that BOTH Ms. Sherrod and the White House are telling the truth. It is very possible that Ms. Cook told Ms. Sherrod that the White House wanted her to resign, even if she had not gotten any such directive from the White House.

But regardless, it's a non-story story. Even if Ms. Cook HAD spoken to someone in the White House, she most likely spoke to someone very far down on the food chain operating out of presidential personnel in the Executive Office Building. It would be highly, highly unusual for anyone above a fairly mid-level White House position to have been involved in a decision to dismiss a Schedule C department employee. And it would be a complete anomaly for anyone in the West Wing to have been involved. That's just not how it works.

The talking heads know all of this, of course, but how would they manage to keep this story viable if they acknowledged it?

[lynne]

14. I think they need a bigger bus -

- 'cause it's just too crowded under this one.

[donal dubh]

19. this makes sense...

the Obama WH would be aware of the righties intent to stir up discontent. Race issues would be an obvious gambit. The WH probably emphasized a 'zero tolerance' stance regarding such. A little more caution would have saved many hours of unnecessary grief.

As Rachel Maddow said, the real story here is the Dems being stampeded by rightwingers that have done this before... and done it again... and will do it again in the future. Get smarter.