UPDATE: White House Apologizes to Shirley Sherrod

The White House has apologized to former USDA official Shirley Sherrod and acknowledges that they may jumped to conclusions by calling for her resignation, reports the Associated Press. In a press briefing today, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs called Sherrod’s resignation an injustice and apologized for the “entire administration.” Watching Gibbs during a taped segment with CNN, Sherrod said she accepted the administration’s apology but is still insure whether or not she wants her job back. As well-intentioned as the administration’s apology may be, could this be a case of too little, too late? Sherrod says has already started getting threatening phone calls and hateful emails from strangers who insist on calling her a racist despite the recent revelations. Anyone could watch the video and tell that Sherrod’s story about how she was initially hesitant to help a White farmer had a point that was obviously edited out. The Department of Agriculture, The White House and NAACP responded in haste, perhaps out of fear of the Tea Party and other conservatives who jump at the chance to point out reverse racism. This is one instance when President Obama’s reputation for keeping cool was necessary.  All parties involved had time to investigate, but instead they reacted with the speed (and calculation) of a Tweet. If only they had sought the truth as fast.