Tapper Goes Out with a Contrarian Take on Sherrod; Donaldson Urges Obama to Exploit ‘Enemy’ FNC

Picking up on Shirley Sherrod’s allegation Andrew Breitbart “would like to get us stuck back in the times of slavery” and “he'd like to see all black people end up again” in slavery, ABC’s Jake Tapper, during his last Sunday as interim host of This Week before the show goes to Christiane Amanpour next week, expressed astonishment she’d be offered a job building racial harmony:

This woman's been offered a job by the Agriculture Department as a Deputy Director of the Office of Advocacy and Outreach, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. And she's saying Andrew Breitbart wants to return to the days of slavery? Now, you can think what Andrew Breitbart did was reprehensible, irresponsible, unfair and a total smear. Does that justify saying he wants us to go back to the days of slavery?

Earlier in the roundtable, Sam Donaldson equated Fox News hosts with Joe McCarthy and yearned for a Joseph Welch “have you no decency” moment, demanding: “Who are these people that they should pay attention to and be afraid of? Who’s Glenn Beck, I mean, who’s Bill O'Reilly? Who’s Bret whatever his name is?” Donaldson recalled how FDR proclaimed: “I ask you to judge me by the enemies I have made.” So, the retired ABC News veteran advised: “President Obama, don’t be afraid of them. Take ‘em on and let the people judge.”

Tapper caught how Donaldson matched liberal thinking: “This is an argument you hear from a lot of liberal activists.”

From the Sunday, July 25 This Week on ABC:

SAM DONALDSON: I believe in the first amendment, there’s nothing you can do about it, although you wish for Joseph Welch to say as he did to Joe McCarthy, when Joe McCarthy was destroying someone on television: “Have you no decency at last?” From the standpoint of Obama and the administration, who are these people that they should pay attention to and be afraid of? Who’s Glenn Beck, I mean, who’s Bill O'Reilly? Who’s Bret whatever his name is?

JAKE TAPPER: Adrew Breitbart.

DONALDSON: Let me finish, because I want to give a little advice since I’ve been doing it this morning in economics to the President, I want to quote another President who also said he had enemies I’m going to quote – “a financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionism. They're unanimous in their hatred for me. And I welcome their hatred” said Franklin Roosevelt who said, “I ask you to judge me by the enemies I have made.”

So, President Obama, don’t be afraid of them. Take ‘em on and let the people judge. You may lose, but if you lose you will lose- [grandly?]

TAPPER: This is an argument you hear from a lot of liberal activists...

....

TAPPER: Shirley Sherrod, also on CNN, also said something specifically about Andrew Breitbart from BigGovernment.com, the conservative activist who posted the unfairly edited video. And here's what she had to say.

SHIRLEY SHERROD, ON ANDERSON COOPER 360 ON THURSDAY: I know I've gotten past black versus white. He's probably the person who’s never gotten past it and never attempted to get past it. I think he would like to get us stuck back in the times of slavery. That's where I think he’d like to see all black people end up again.

TAPPER: This woman's been offered a job by the Agriculture Department as a Deputy Director of the Office of Advocacy and Outreach, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. And she's saying Andrew Breitbart wants to return to the days of slavery? Now, you can think what Andrew Breitbart did was reprehensible, irresponsible, unfair and a total smear. Does that justify saying he wants us to go back to the days of slavery?

DONNA BRAZILE: Well, you know, I'm not going to second-guess Miss Sherrod...