Yesterday, the Obama Administration fired Shirley Sherrod, a USDA employee, because a right-wing smear artist released a speech from Sherrod that was edited to make it look like she was racist against white folks.

It goes without saying that Sherrod should be reinstated (Update: The Obama Administration has apologized to Sherrod). But there’s a larger story here.

It’s embarrassing that the Obama Administration fired her so quickly based on reports from a known liar. What happened to giving people a fair chance to defend themselves and their livelihood? And let’s not pretend her firing was out of character. Obama has a history of throwing friends and allies under the bus. There’s ACORN, his church and his pastor, William Ayers, Van Jones and Samantha Power, to name a few. If you’re a liability in the media (the right-wing noise machine included), consider yourself gone.

If Obama won’t defend people in his administration from obvious lies, then he will wither in the building Republican storm. The GOP could take control of the House of Representatives this fall. And the last time Republicans controlled Congress during a Democratic administration, they launched investigation after investigation in an attempt to bring down Bill Clinton. Sure most of the charges were bullsh*t, but it didn’t matter. They just wanted to grind Clinton down and make him politically ineffective, and, with the help of our petty media, they succeeded.

With our country and our economy in such sorry shape, we can’t afford to limp along with a neutered government. Obama needs to work on his defensive game, and fast.