There’s a lot in the news today. The Obama administration is saying that if the FBI just says some magic words they ought to be able to look at anything on your computer or pretty much anything. I’ve got a problem with that. I think the tea party would too. Maybe we should join forces. House republican leadership is saying there’s some legislation to help 9/11 responders who are having health problems, they’re saying ‘that’s a giant new entitlement and we’re opposed to it.’ Right. Well, we’ve got some information on that.

Michelle Bachman is in the news again. A new scientific study out about global warming. Actually two. One’s actually kind of solid, the other’s kind of scary. And Sandra Bullock, of all people, is in the news, in a big way and in a very positive way. We’re going to get to all of that as we go through our program today. And...

But, first of all, Shirley Sherrod has taking a metaphorical beating in the media. In fact the vice president of Fox News, Michael Clemente, has now said to Politico that they should have, he said, ‘there was a breakdown in our system,’ with regard to the Shirley Sherrod story. They should have, they shouldn’t have done it until all the facts were addressed. Now stepping into the midst of this is former Reagan White House political director and author, Jeffrey Lord.

He’s been writing over at the American Spectator for some time. Spectator.org, the conservative publication. And recently trashing Shirley Sherrod for using the word “lynching” to describe the murder of a man by three people, three white guys using pipes and blackjacks. But I think that that’s even a smaller and meta issue to the larger issue which is: is continually talking about race going to be an effective electoral strategy for republicans and conservatives next fall?

Jeffrey Lord, welcome to the program.

Jeffrey Lord: Thank you Thom, going to skewer me here today? I’m ready to go.

Thom Hartmann: Well that’s not my goal actually. My, you know….

Jeffrey Lord: Good, good.

Thom Hartmann: My goal is to be about light not heat, frankly. Although we do…

Jeffrey Lord: Actually you know I didn’t know about that FBI story, I think I do agree with you.

Thom Hartmann: Yeah! You ought to look into it. They’re saying that if the FBI simply says the magic word terrorist then they get to look at your computer without a judge, without a warrant, without…

Jeffrey Lord: I was going to say is the word warrant in there anywhere?

Thom Hartmann: Yeah. We’ll get into that a little later on. But you’ve got this article in the American Spectator, “Sherrod Story False.” You say, “Shirley Sherrod’s story in her now famous speech about the ‘lynching’ of a relative is not true.” Now this relative, this case went all the way to the Supreme Court, Screws vs. US Supreme Court, May 7, 1945. You quote from this in your article, to your credit.

“Hall, a young Negro about 30 years of age,” now keep in mind this was in 1945, “was handcuffed and taken by car to a courthouse. As Hall alighted from the car at the courthouse square the three petitioners,” these the three white guys, “began beating him with their fists and a solid bar blackjack about 8 inches long and weighing 2 pounds. After Hall, still handcuffed, had been knocked to the ground, they continued to beat him for 15 to 30 minutes until he was unconscious. Hall was then dragged feet first through the courthouse yard into the jail and thrown on the floor, dying. An ambulance was called, Hall was removed to the hospital, died within an hour without regaining consciousness.”

Now this happened when Shirley Sherrod was 17 years old. The other thing that happened when she was 17 years old is that her father, who was a horse rancher, a white guy who was a neighbor, he and the white guy got in an argument about three horses and he said to the white guy ‘well let’s just call the police and let them sort it out.’ The guy pulls out a gun and kills her father. He was never prosecuted for it, basically got away with it. I mean, she had some real hell that she went through and then you’ve got the audacity to say that because this guy, this relative of hers, Hall, was murdered by being beaten that that wasn’t the lynching that she referenced in her article?

Jeffrey Lord: Right. Just first of all one small correction of fact. The Hall incident happened in the 1940s and she was not born yet to the best of my knowledge. I think that’s right.

Thom Hartmann: Okay you’re right.

Jeffrey Lord: And the other one was, her father, it was 1965 when she was 17.

Thom Hartmann: When she was 17, yes. Okay, I’m mixing those up.

Jeffrey Lord: Here’s my point. And let me just start by saying you know my family, you know, I grew up in New England. We moved to Virginia in 1965. We had to leave after two years. We had a really bad, for us, a really bad civil rights experience there for standing up for civil rights.

Thom Hartmann: What does that mean?

Jeffrey Lord: I, well, you know, my dad lost his business because he hired African Americans and put them in charge over white people, etcetera. I mean it’s a long story here. It was very difficult…

Thom Hartmann: Then why are you going after Shirley Sherrod in saying that she’s wrong by using the term “lynching” to describe the murder by three white guys of a black guy when the American Heritage Dictionary of the English language defines “lynching” as “to execute without due process of law; especially to hang.” But not necessarily.

Jeffrey Lord: OK, sure, right. The Supreme Court of the United States said quite specifically, and you, I read the opinion. First of all they make no reference whatsoever in the opinion to Mr. Hall being lynched. I put, so you know, I put the description that you just read of the beating because I was so infuriated by it and I wanted people to see what this meant.

And the fact that basically we had a Supreme Court, you know sort of, they reversed the decision, as she accurately notes. We had a Ku Klux Klan member on that court making that decision, that would be Hugo Black. And you know I’ve gotten all mail from people, oh Hugo Black, he was a progressive, etc., etc., etc. Well, that’s fine, but just news flash, you don’t ever put a Ku Klux Klansman on the Supreme Court of the United States. I mean I just… it boggles my mind.

Thom Hartmann: Well first of all the Supreme Court of the United States back in the 19th century had a number of Ku Klux Klan members on it and secondly, Hugo Black, much like the recently deceased Robert Bird had long ago renounced any affiliation with the Klan.

Jeffrey Lord: But he should not have been there to begin with.

Thom Hartmann: Oh come on. If he was…

Jeffrey Lord: Look, this was not an issue…

Thom Hartmann: Are you going to turn this into a referendum on Hugo Black on the Supreme Court?

Jeffrey Lord: No I’m, look, I’m turning…

Thom Hartmann: This guy was one of the most anti-corporate, pro-civil rights members of the court back in the ‘30s.

Jeffrey Lord: He was a racist, Thom. He was a racist. And that’s the …

Thom Hartmann: Well back, by the standards of today, pretty much everybody in the ‘30s was a racist.

Jeffrey Lord: That is the devil’s bargain here. And the relevance of this that goes right to now, to things like the suit in Arizona. The Democratic Party ties race to big government. They play one race off against another. And this is what they do. They split us up by race.

Thom Hartmann: But why is it that it’s the Republicans who are constantly talking about race? Why is it that Glen Beck is saying that Obama hates white people? Why is it that Rush Limbaugh is constantly talking about Obama as, you know, “The black president.” Why is it that you guys are constantly talking about race? Is this really going to help you in the fall, do you think? Does it activate your base?

Jeffrey Lord: Look, Thom, you know, to be perfectly candid, I don’t care whether we’re helped or hurt, we need to move to a color blind society. That’s the objective. That’s where we have to go..

Thom Hartmann: Well you’re not going to do it by calling a woman who refers to the murder of a black man wrong.

Jeffrey Lord: Thom, we don’t patronize people. She is an American citizen. She is equal to me, to you, and everybody else.

Thom Hartmann: You’re going to write a whole article attacking her because her syntax was wrong?

Jeffrey Lord: No. Thom, did you read her piece? She also…

Thom Hartmann: I did and I read your piece.

Jeffrey Lord: … let me read you this line. “You know, I haven't seen such a mean-spirited people as I've seen lately over this issue of health care. Some of the racism we thought was buried. Didn't it surface? Now, we endured eight years of ..."

Thom Hartmann: I absolutely agree with that.

Jeffrey Lord: You’re saying that she should appeal to race?

Thom Hartmann: No she is pointing out that there is naked racism out there, it’s being used in this political campaign and…

Jeffrey Lord: She is using this Thom, she is…

Thom Hartmann: And I will submit to you that you are doing the same, Jeffrey Lord.

Jeffrey Lord: She is using this to appeal to race. And I’m saying it’s wrong.

Thom Hartmann: She is pointing it out.

Jeffrey Lord: And I’m saying this is also a sedition.

Thom Hartmann: Okay, well you can read about it over at Spectator.org. Jeffrey Lord, former Reagan White House political director. Thank you Jeffrey.

Jeffrey Lord: Thanks.

Transcribed by Suzanne Roberts, Portland Psychology Clinic.