oh for heaven's sake. melissa quit too? I'm just looking at this thinking people in this country actually sit in condemnation of religious nuts in other countries?

i know. this oughtta be great. donahue will get his sack ALL pumped up about this. i hope he gets so happy he gets really bad indigestion that he thinks is a heart attack and then writes his wife a note on a napkin and

oh wait sorry that's a movie.

anyway yeah. drag. i would have loved to see them both stand up to the freak. but i guess i can understand not wanting to deal with 100 hateful emails in a day or so.

*sits on her hands*

NO. DO NOT WANT.

Y'all really, really are going to make me say things to make certain people upset.

(!)

the mystery!

you are free to speak your mind here of course. always. :)

but i guess i can understand not wanting to deal with 100 hateful emails in a day or so.

Yeah, I get that, I mean, some guys always gotta sling out the "cock" comments when they get angry. Before I put up my comment policy, I used to get some doozies. but I'm also not a huge site like either one of them are, and I'm not blogging under my real name and nobody's gonna pay too much attention to some reverse racist like me. They both actually have power, and god forbid, we can't have two women being mean to the poor poor pope. I, frankly, would want to deal with it either. and would be more than a little scared for my family.

I'm with Sylvia on this I open my mouth i will be hated for teh rest of my life.

SO I'm gonna breathe on this

But on the post

It is now official

I love you I honestly love you like the blonde woman form grease I honestly love you

Y'all really, really are going to make me say things to make certain people upset.

well, I think you gots ta say it then chica. go for it. spit it.

to be fair, i think these angry guys are just following the phallustrous teachings of the Catholic Church. other guys who make angry Cock Comments are just gross and vile and misogynist. but these fellas are doing it in the name of Religion.

but these fellas are doing it in the name of Religion.

ay, pardon me. my bad.

:p

I know that, Nez. But...let's just say that I'm not very shocked and appalled by certain aspects of this situation. The threats and the harassment from the right-wing I'll never condone or accept because they're completely uncalled for. But...some of the attitudes exhibited by the mainstream leftist blogosphere in support of Amanda and Melissa have...surprised/shocked me. Some of the dynamics painting this situation ("protect the female bloggers with opinions" campaign -- including ignoring the...erm...Constitutional protection they have to say whatever the shit they want; the patriarchal tone of Edwards after deciding to keep them) are wildly fucking ironic. Add to this fact that BOTH of them are quitting after issuing formal apologies?! Ain't it a little too late to be growing a backbone? Did no one see this coming when Amanda first announced she was working for a political campaign? Or is this about name recognition?

*exhales*

That's the nice, Cliff's Notes version.

i'm feeling ya, sylvia, esp on the both of them quitting thing. very weird. both of them are insisting that they didn't quit from pressure--but they both quit within a day of each other? just by coincidence?

i definitely feel you on "did nobody see this coming?" it feels odd. the whole thing, personally. i dont want to judge what i dont know so i dont say much on it. but i commented to melissa and said "but maybe it would have blown over in a while?" i mean....i guess my honest feeling is why quit in the first few days? why quit anything that soon unless its a marathon and your leg is broken? i mean dont you need a little while to know for sure how its going to work out? so that you dont regret giving up so soon? but i dont know how much of that is just me wanting what i want. wanting to see them "make a stand" or "not fold" in the face of the Donahue Beast.

i'd love to hear more on the MSLB reaction, are you saying it is patriarchal and dismissive of their own strength and personhood by wanting to take care of them? the phrasing left me a tiny bit unsure.

I think so. I mean, it just seemed like a lot of gushing without substance -- "Dude, they're so cool, so if you dump them, the popular kids will NOT sit near you in the cafeteria anymore." I mean...I honestly think Amanda and Melissa had enough courage to stand up for themselves, but the support they received look less like support and more like ego stroking. Like, "it's okay; mama knows, girls; mama knows," and not actual defenses of their work.

Plus, I'm a little disappointed in Edwards. If you hire a blogger, you don't hire them by blog traffic alone. And you don't let rightwingers guide discourse. Because it will shoot straight to hell rather quickly.

I just don't like the taste it's leaving in my mouth. I am happy that some bloggers called Edwards to task for his patronizing attitude. But yeah, this quitting after being retained thing is just...ugh. I think if they wanted to take a stand, they chose the wrong time to do it. They should've done it, you know, when Edwards tried to make them apologize. Not now.

i think the MSLB identified with them mostly. i guess i saw it as them feeling "two of their own" had made it into a big political area. i think the letdown is that now "we're" out of the game, not part of the big event, the show, groupies, no longer On Tour with the band. i haven't really read enough to get your point about how the "support" felt more like stroking than actual support of their work. i trust your take on it.

How did Edwards let them down? i have to say i havent followed it superclose. but i thought he went to bat for them? i thought he said something about standing up for them? that he didnt agree with the way they blogged in the past ,but that he wasnt going to let that stop him?

i dont like the taste, either.

and i dont see how quitting is "making a stand" at all.

and i dont see how quitting is "making a stand" at all.

right on.

Blackamazon, I think I can quit blogging now. I have reached THE APEX!!! :) thank you.

(and on a side note, i dont know why your comment got hung up in moderation. maybe you used a diff email or misspelled it, i dunno but i definitely already put you in the system, lo siento, mami!)

ps: please feel free to spit it all wild and free anytime ya neeeeeed.

He didn't let them down, per se.* Rather, he stalled too long and thought too hard about this challenge. There are civil ways to dismiss complaints, especially once you review the sources of the discord. Scolding Amanda and Melissa wasn't the right course to pursue, y'know?

*I hate y'all; I typed "sex" instead of "se." Freudian slip of the new year!

and i dont see how quitting is "making a stand" at all.

This is one of the aspects of politics that is so very aggravating to me. The reich wing attack dogs come, foaming at the mouth, full of piss and vinegar, and the egregious offenders of the left back down, every time.

We saw this nonsense from so long back, I can't even remember. But the big recent example, IMO, is Kerry and the Swiftboaters. The whole thing was a horrendous slander, and he says nada. I know sometimes the game is "make him deny it", but for goodness sakes, have a spine once in a while. If you want to be the leader of the free world, show that you can lead.

So here, some "mouthy broads" are called on the carpet by a bigoted jackass, and they resign? I am very disappointed with Edwards' campaign, because when it comes down to it, the campaign could've stood by their man (women). Donohue has the proverbial log in his eye, and nobody says squat. Why play nice with ill-tempered hypocrits? Shoulda pulled out that log and beat him with it.

And once again, the white person is right! ;-p

pinche blanquito! ;)

oh, now I hang my head.

jeje. all in fun, vato. in fact, if we can talk to ya like this, it means it's all good, eh? all good.

Hey vato maybe you still do have a chance to work for the Edwards campaign. But honestly, I saw this coming. He could not fire them plain and simple, it would look bad. I guess he was not expecting the reaction from the blogosphere. He probably thought it would have been OK because people did disapprove of Edwards hiring them. To save face, he rehires them, but the writing was already on the wall.

It was a ploy, they waited till the dust settled and then make it look like their quiting was of their own choosing. And to me, them's the facts y'all.

Hey Edwards, ya need to hire a Latino who is unapologetic and who will stand up to those christofascists. Actually, ya really need some color in that lily white campaign of yours, I really hope your campaign is not a reflection of this One America view of yours.

truth be told that was my thought, carnál. a sly "quitting" to make him look good on all sides. no controversial bloggers, and no firing poor lil ladies. it would make the most sense, not that i want to call m & a liars. but this IS a presidential candidate, after all. not someone from a big blog hiring them. a presidential candidate.

and on the "hiring nezua" tip? jeje....never happen. a quick scan though my archives would prove that. and i wouldn't even take it on for a sec, even if the possibility were there. i don't believe in this political system. as far as i'm concerned, its a pack of lies. a circus. a big glitzy light show with the groupies bleeding and dead backstage.

my thing is why is anyone shocked that the right wing is vicious? Is it because for the real first time it's had consequences on their lives in real heavy ways. not just meanie s on internet?

GReat but I Don't feel bad because we stuck our mouths out not because we necessarily felt them but we felt it was important.

And the they issue an apology which says sorry were no big deal we didn't mean it evilly.

UH women i jsut put my neck out cause i believe you meant and you had teh right to it DANG NAB IT!

And rather than say that it becomes thank you for standing up to the right wing attack on atheists?

UH QUOI?!?!?

SOme of us who don't believe in happy system trying to work knew that but hey youve learned!

No dearie teh rightwing is gunning for jsut about anybody tehy can find. You talked shit baout Catholics and teh Catholics wer e offended and came for you.

THAT WHAT HAPPENS.

The racists have no love for me

and should Obama recruit my ass and i sign on I would tell him

Sir here is why hiring me is a fcuking awful idea becuase my words have power and are important not just when i wanna D-I_D it

And i do it because its imporatnt and this isnt your extra special targeted seesison you jsut got treated the way most of teh times you treat us

GRRRRRRRRRR

so true, blackamazon.

and...i'd LOVE to watch obama ask you JUSt to see your reaction and response. ah...dreams. :)

I say it was a case of 'quit or be fired' delivered under the table, to explain the double play.

Breckwards didn't do his due diligence and took some candy from a bowl that got his fingers dirty in the eyes of his money people, and to really fuck his own shit up he's still working from the squeaky clean 'appease the Right' playbook...'A pointed cap for he.'

And Donahue's a putz who needs to be caught in a hot sheet motel with a dead hooker.

jeje..."breckwards."

You stand a better chance of getting a gig with Edwards than I do with Lieberman, Nezua.

;>)

haHA!! that, mi amigo, was a good one. to those in tha know. ;)

If Donahue keeps putting his ass in my face, figuratively of course, I might have to do an after school special on him.

I just love phony white religious types...They're so clean and well-spoken, you could just eat them up.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/118/297679808_323af47e2f.jpg

yikes...that's touching/sad....sexy, gross and funny all at once!

Hahahaha, ewwwwwww!

LOL because of your title!

What a mess all this has turned out to be. If I was a tad more suspicious of motives and backstories than I already am, I'd think it was something calculated and planned to show "The Folly of Hiring Lefty Bloggers for Campaigns" or something. Especially female ones. Because that, most likely, is what some of the politicians will take away from this (instead of that the Edwards camp really didn't do their due diligence at all). I was surprised to see them hired in the first place, Marcotte especially, considering her posting history - if it wasn't that right wing Catholic bigot coming after her, it would have been someone else who found something else in her writings that made them seek out the fainting couch.

I don't know if the politicians that hire bloggers are more likely to stand by their male ones, or if the right wing is simply less vitriolic with them, but there is that one right wing one whose name I forget, that had something shady with them, and also Jerome Armstrong and his stock tout thing, and who knows what all kos has said on his blog, but none of that seems to have affected their employment with the politicians they were/are involved with.

I wasn't excited to hear about these last two (or any of them, really) being hired in the first place anyway, though, as I don't like the idea of independent voices (whether I like what they are saying or not) being co-opted by the political or other establishment, and thus being stilled for the most part. Of course, just that thing is probably the actual goal of some bloggers, and so it's to be expected, I guess.

Anyway, all this was handled badly all the way around, from beginning to end, if you ask me. They (or at least Marcotte) shouldn't have been hired without plans in place for countering the right wing attacks; when they were attacked, Edwards and crew should have stepped up immediately and strongly to show solidarity and a refusal to back down to the right wing, even if they were later quietly pushed out; and if they weren't pushed out, Shakes and Amanda should have stuck it out, at least for a couple of months - although I do understand if Shakes was worried about threats to her family. I don't think the nasty stuff will stop tho, just because they are no longer affiliated with the campaign. Now that they are on those freaks radar, they'll likely never get off of it.

Oh, well.

good points nanette. especially the last line. i think the Right will just continue to watch those two and continue to tie them to Edwards, as evidence of his poor judgment. "See? Today she blogged on The Great Macaroni Yoni! What kind of president would have chosen this kind of person?"

and then they'll have the worst of both worlds. quitters, pawns, and still persecuted. hate to sound cynical, but it happens. especially when i should be IN BED!!

time will tell.

It's always the 'same ole same ole', isn't it?

Grab up something for cheap street credibility, and drop it like it's hot when Mrs. Grundy catches you with it by the Malt Shoppe. Set your watches...Here comes the 5:15.

I've got a big fish eye for any mainstream player that tries to co-opt people politics by sticking their tinhorn toes into the Lake Perilous of bloggers.
Never mind buying up the fresh talent to give your campaign a jolt to its lazy legs...That Old Guard stink always shines through.

Good night, Nezua. Perhaps we'll wake up anon and the Bad People will have had their asses raptured off planet by that great Cattle Car in the sky.

;>)

Looks like it made the news - Second blogger quits Edwards campaign

Nanette - I really am not surprised Edwards hired them. Amanda is exactly what Edwards wanted because, even though her bio says she lives in Austin, she is actually from West Texas which is rural. Remember that is the area Edwards hit in the last election. I guess he figured she could give him some insight on how to win over young adult rural voters.

"Scolding Amanda and Melissa wasn't the right course to pursue, y'know?"

Sylvia, my sentiments exactly. And then they quit! Even my restrained self would have said no Edwards, you'll have to fire me!

The reason I go with they were actually fired, but asked to quit to save face, is why would Melissa want to quit after being unemployed for over a year. I remember reading about her unemployment on Wampum because it gave me comfort to know I wasn't alone and there are other people who are also unemployed over a year. Speaking out of my own experience the only other explanation for her to resign probably has do with her view of her self-worth. No matter how upbeat you can be while being unemployed, there are certain bonds that begin to form which tends to feed your mental demons and it is something you aren't aware that is happening, such as a fear of letting people down. You cannot help but listen your mental demons about own worth if you happen to get turned by prospecting employers time and time again. It is hard to notice because it slowly builds up until something like this where to happen. I know I have shot myself in the foot on many occasions because my own anxiety took over. But this is pure speculation and like I said I am talking from my own experience, her experience being unemployed maybe different.

It really is hard for me to buy into the whole I resign and I am taking one for the team - "my remaining the focus of sustained ideological attacks was inevitably making me a liability to the campaign, and making me increasingly uncomfortable with my and my family's level of exposure.

and that last part of the sentence, please, with over 800 comments, it is already too late. The way people are openly hostile towards each other and the increase of cyberstalkers these days, the only way to stop her and her family's exposure to stop blogging period, which I doubt she will do that at all.

Here ya go, Amanda's Why I had to quit the John Edwards campaign 3 pages long.