Where is Cheryl Cook?

Cheryl Cook with Tom Vilsack


As stated previously, one person who holds the key to the alleged White House involvement in the Shirley Sherrod sacking is Agriculture Asst. Secretary Cheryl Cook, who reportedly demanded Sherrod's resignation stating that the White House was demanding she resign immediately. Strangely enough, Cook is "unavailable for comment".

As Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack continues to take full responsibility for the firing, a CNN reporter yesterday asked White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs when Cook would be available for an interview. Gibbs referred the reporter to the press office of the Agriculture Dept. Subsequent efforts to call Ms Cook at her office and on her cell were unsuccessful. Therefore CNN reporter Ed Henry and his camera crew went to Agriculture's HQs and caught Vilsack entering the building. As Vilsack rushed into the building, he was asked by the reporter when Cook would be made available for an interview. Vilsack brushed him off as he continued into the building with two aides.

So it now appears that Ms Cook has been placed either in the Witness Protection Program or perhaps an MSNBC safe house to keep her away from reporters. As CNN itself pointed out last night on Anderson Cooper's 360 show, is this the transparency we were promised from this administration?

Meanwhile, Sherrod is lashing out big time at Andrew Breitbart and Fox News. She is calling Breitbart a racist and saying Fox News wants to take us back to the days of slavery.

You know who is really losing in this story? The nation, that's who. Not to load this whole Sherrod mess on Obama, but he was the one who was going to unite this country, white, black, Hispanic, what have you. Instead, we are clearly going backwards, and I still maintain that it is not-as his backers claim- because people refuse to accept a black president. First (before the election) it was Jeremiah Wright. Then it has been the New Black Panther Party episode with the Justice Department, Van Jones, the Arizona challenge and unsubstantiated charges of racism against the Tea Party and town hall protesters capped off by the Capitol Hill protest that featured more unsubstantiated charges of epithets against black lawmakers. If we were divided before Obama, we are more divided now-largely due to people he has surrounded himself with. God, even Keith Olbermann has come up with his strongest criticism to date of Obama, saying that he has not led, rather has been too detached. Well, let's just say that I would go much farther than the eccentric Mr Olbermann, who is still trying to cling to his faith in the President.

First things first. The entire news media should demand that Ms Cook explain herself and answer questions.