Vilsack offers Shirley Sherrod a new job

The wrongly fired USDA employee will consider an offer from the White House

Published July 21, 2010 9:01PM (EDT)

Shirley Sherrod
Shirley Sherrod

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack apologized to Shirley Sherrod for her unnecessary firing. He also offered her an unspecified new job with the USDA. According to CNN, Sherrod will think the job offer over for a few days before making a decision.

Vilsack then spoke to the media. He called Sherrod "extraordinarily gracious" in their conversation. He went on to commend her experience "helping individuals in trouble," and said Sherrod could help the USDA "turn the page" on their civil rights troubles.

Vilsack promised "a more deliberative process" before making decisions of this magnitude, in the future, He admitted that he was hypersensitive to civil rights issues in the department, because of tens of thousands of claims filed against the USDA.

The White House acted stupidly. This whole incident revealed something upsetting about their spine and their character. But at this point we should just make sure that everyone has learned their lesson about lending credence to anything that troll Andrew Breitbart does.


By Alex Pareene

Alex Pareene writes about politics for Salon and is the author of "The Rude Guide to Mitt." Email him at apareene@salon.com and follow him on Twitter @pareene

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