That is the real question the radical right is asking. For they have vested in Shirley Sherrod all their pent-up racial hatred and, in willful ignorance of the facts, have accused and convicted her of being the Wicked Witch of the Liberals and the long-sought poster child for black racism against whites. The Andrew Breitbarts and Sean Hannitys and Newt Gingriches of the radical right have distorted the facts, played fast and loose with words, intentionally ignored the overwhelming evidence in her favor.

But the potion masters who stir this evil pot are only the vanguard of the sick racists who infest the radical right. The Tea Party needed pushback against the NAACP, and in Sherrod's 40-minute sermon of sin and redemption they found 2-1/2 minutes of her remorseful tale of trespass to conveniently twist into their Exhibit A, and oh, by God, the truth be damned along with her.

Never mind that the alleged victim of all this stands by Sherrod's close friendship and credits her with saving the family farm. Never mind that the hesitant attitude for which Sherrod is being crucified flitted through her mind 24 years ago. Never mind that Sherrod's point was precisely that racism is never justifiable--neither against blacks nor against whites.

It isn't just the pertinent facts themselves that those who have built and gleefully tend the pyre of Sherrod's destruction want to wipe from our consciousness. They want to divert our eyes from the deeper sorcery at hand: that Sherrod's vilification and resignation was formulated to diffuse the light which the NAACP's resolution has shined on the use of overt racism as a political tool within the ranks of the Tea Party.

Harken, for here stands the human scapegoat of a bloodthirsty rite, the lamb brought for slaughter upon the altar of political power. She has been abandoned to those who scorn her. But the knife must be stayed and the fire quenched, for this is an abomination to justice. If profane conservatism can succeed against Shirley Sherrod with its finely crafted attack on reality, then none are safe. The purveyors of propaganda will have claimed a victim in full sight of the world and with the tacit blessing of all who cower in fear of speaking against it.

Call the White House, the Secretary of Agriculture and Congress. Tell them to stand up for Shirley Sherrod. Tell them to stand up for the truth. Tell them to stand up to the racist witch hunters of the radical right.

This line must not be crossed. The race-baiters and fear mongers have tread too far upon what is good and true and innocent. Fascism is stirring among the radical right and must not be allowed this foothold. We must deny them their prize, for Shirley Sherrod is no witch and no pound of flesh to be bartered for the loving graces of the Tea Party.