The Obama administration has been shamed by its rush to judgment after it forced the resignation of a black midlevel official in the Agriculture Department who was wrongly accused of racism by the right-wing blogosphere. Shirley Sherrod was sandbagged by a two-and-a-half-minute clip from a 45-minute speech in which the real message was reconciliation.

Instead of tracking down the whole speech, the administration ran scared. Tom Vilsack, the agriculture secretary, dismissed Ms. Sherrod from her job as the chief of the department’s rural development office in Georgia. On Wednesday, Mr. Vilsack apologized that Ms. Sherrod had been “put through hell” and offered her a new job with a “unique opportunity” to help the agency move past its checkered civil rights history. The White House admitted it “bungled” the entire affair.

In her March speech at an N.A.A.C.P. event in Georgia, Ms. Sherrod recalled a period 24 years ago when she worked for a nonprofit agency that helped rural farmers fight bankruptcy. In the excerpt, she spoke of helping a white farmer, but not with the “full force” that she then believed black farmers needed. She said the farmer ultimately opened her eyes to the truth that white farmers faced much the same threat as blacks and that “there is no difference between us.” Her message was confirmed by the white farmer’s family. “She’s a good friend,” said Eloise Spooner. “She helped us save our farm.”

The N.A.A.C.P. also had to apologize after swallowing the excerpt and condemning Ms. Sherrod. The organization certainly should have first checked with its chapter in rural Georgia, which had the full speech on tape.

The administration’s haste to fire Ms. Sherrod was unfair and unseemly. She told of how an agriculture under secretary phoned her to demand she resign instantly via her BlackBerry. The official anxiously cited the likelihood the furor would “be on Glenn Beck tonight.”

By the time the conservative commentator took up the issue, the full transcript of the speech was out and Mr. Beck was citing Ms. Sherrod — but as a victim of administration recklessness. This time, he was right.