Loony Edwards Blogger "Quits" Campaign

The quotation marks in the title of this DUFU edition are intentional. Although loony Edwards blogger, Amanda Marcotte, apparently "quit" the campaign, it is more likely that she was fired AGAIN. Again? But...but didn't John Edwards show backbone by standing by her when her extreme anti-Catholic postings came to light? That was the OFFICIAL story. What I have been hearing is that, according to Salon.Com, the Edwards campaign (meaning the Breck Girl or his wife) FIRED Marcotte only to rehire her back when there was such a large backlash among the nutroots. Of course, Edwards could not risk losing the Catholic vote in a general election so extreme pressure was put on Marcotte to "quit" as happened last night as you can see in this Daily KOs KOmmie THREAD titled, "Amanda Marcotte Resigns." Lost in all this loony Edwards blogger hoopla is the role of Elizabeth Edwards. My strong guess is that this whole scandal was brought about because Elizabeth wanted to hire a couple of feminist "You Go Girl" bloggers for the Edwards campaign. It says a lot about her utter lack of judgement that she either did not investigate their past rantings very carefully or actually agreed with their lunacy and didn't see it as a roadblock to working for Edwards. Evidence of Elizabeth Edwards' utter lack of political discernment exists in the fact that she has posted on occasion in the loony left DUmmieland. And to post on that forum means you have to register as a DUmmie. So let us now watch the Breck Girl's campaign sink before our eyes in Bolshevik Red while the commentary of your humble correspondent, wondering what other disasters Mrs. Breck Girl will bring to their campaign, is in the [brackets]:

Amanda Marcotte Resigns

[Put "Resigns" in quotes.]

It's a shame, really, that after a victory for the bloggers, Amanda has felt obligated to resign. I don't blame her for a second - I just wish that it had all worked out.

[A VERY short-lived victory for the bloggers.]

Speculation below

Option 1: This should be taken at face value. Knowing that you might be a liability should you ever make one snarky joke would really suck the life out of blogging pretty quickly, I think. You want to go out on your own terms, but it's clear that this fight is going to hurt you. I think this is still the most likely option.

[I think this is still the most UNlikely option.]

Option 2: This was The Plan. Edwards's strategists got together and decided they couldn't go out without a show of strength to the netroots, an then asked for a resignation a few days later. I'm skeptical of this one, not least because I don't think Amanda would agree to it.

[You're getting warmer...]

Option 3: Edwards changed his mind. After sticking with her early, he bailed and asked for a resignation when he saw the right didn't go away. Ick, but I think it's still a possibility, though I like John Edwards and would hope not.

[You're now red hot.]

Option 4: ???

[Option 4: Edwards first fired her (through his campaign). Then when he saw the nutroots revolt, he changed his mind and rehired her (while pretending Marcotte had never been fired in the first place). Finally, Edwards saw that Marcotte would eventually be poison for him so she was fired AGAIN (pressured to "quit").]

It's hard to imagine Amanda agreeing to get fired as part of some charade.

[Unless there was a sizable $$$ resignation bonus involved.]

I'll miss having her work for Edwards, who's my guy, but at least we can look forward to the next year and a half at Pandagon being filled with hard-hitting classic Amanda posts.

[You can look forward to her full blown lunacy again. Too bad Elizabeth Edwards somehow never caught what was staring her in the face.]

I can't wait for her first post, Donohue may now know what fury hath of a woman scorned... 9th level of hell might be a safer place for him to hide!

[You won't have to wait long. Marcotte has already encouraged her Pandagon readers to file bogus COMPLAINTS with the IRS against Donohue.]

feel like I am on a different planet than most of you here on this issue - she said very outrageous things, and acts shocked, I tell you, when people are outraged. (and I am not talking about Donohue, I am talking about mainstream people). Where is the personal responsibility that we are looking for? Not here.

[And this KOmmie WINS a Kewpie Doll for having a brief moment of mental clarity.]

So you were offended. Big deal. I wasn't, and a lot of other people weren't. Jesus H. Christ, grow up already. The takeaway message here is that Donohue won.

[The takeaway message here is that the Breck Girl folded.]

I cannot fathom why this person is such a cause celebre. From her writing (typing?) that I have read, she cannot go a paragraph without using obscenities; her disregard of the facts in the Duke rape case makes me think she has an enormous sense of resentment and with it, entitlement. Which is all fine on her own but would be a disaster in the crucible of a presidential campaign.

[And yet she was most likely handpicked by Elizabeth Edwards. You go girl!]

I am glad she resigned, for Edwards' sake. (and I would bet Mrs. Edwards had something to do with that - she is no one's fool.)

[And I bet that Mrs. Edwards had something to do with not only the "resignation" but the initial hiring as well.]

And another thing, take your precious Duke lacrosse players and stick them where you think I am going to say you should stick them. You'd think they'd suffered the gravest injustice the world has ever seen.

[Yeah. Those Duke lacrosse players should have shut up and meekly accepted the phony rape charges brought against them by an out of control prosecutor.]

Amanda Marcotte was right. And didn't go nearly as far as I would. Perhaps she can't be useful working for the Edwards campaign, but she certainly can be useful taking on the radical theocrats.

[But NOT the radical Islamists who are blowing people up. That's taboo.]

I don't think Edwards' people vetted her enough. There's a huge number of posts to read through, and they probably only went some of the way.

[Elizabeth would have had to read past a couple of sentences to see the Pandagon lunacy. A daunting task.]

Time to close your mouth and read Sam Harris and Dawkins and get a life. It is after all, all you have. Everyone you know and love will die. There is nothing after this. The coyote does not wait for "last rites" for his prey. Use the life given to you, don't credit this to an all powerfull being, own up to it. It's yours, don't waste it thinking something bigger than you is in charge, you are in charge of your life. No excuses, no 5 hail marys, it really is all up to you. Get over it. There is still wind in the trees, and stars at night. If you listen closely you can also hear the coyotes homing in on their kill.

[If you listen closely you can also hear the giant pink rabbit closing in on you.]

This is why we have to retake the media and restore the fairness and equal time rules, as well as breaking up huge media conglomerates.

[Is that you, Hugo Chavez?]

i suspect that she was given a set of ground rules that she'd have to play by in order to remain employed. Said ground rules were strict enough that she would feel muzzled and decide to leave on her own.


[The ground rules were "Just Shut Up!"]

Conspicuously Absent ...was a shoutout to John for sticking behind her. She did credit the blogosphere in general, though


[Perceptive observation about the lack of a shoutout to John over her shutout.]

The conservatives whisper, "Boo!" and the Democratic consultants jump a mile. Edwards "fired" the wrong people.

[Maybe he should have fired his wife who caused this problem to begin with.]

I too think the absence of platitudes about the Edwards campaign is telling.

[Yup!]

If she was doing the right thing for Edwards then why didn't she thank him for standing up for her, and why didn't she say something positive about him and the campaign? Something like, I still believe John is the best candidate... Sorry, but I think they threw her overboard, or froze her out.

[Sorry, but I already used up my Kewpie Doll quota for this thread.]

I really hope though, that Edwards did not back down to this.

[And I bet you really hope the leperchaun will bring you a pot of gold.]

Swiftcrossing. We need a name for this tactic. It needs to be branded as the smear it is, so people outside blogworld can understand what's going on.

[Swiftcrossing: Accurately quoting the anti-Christian/Catholic rantings of loony leftwing bloggers.]

It seems to me that Edwards was tardy and tepid in his response.

[The Breck Girl was busy fussing with his hair and purchasing a Wal-Mart Playstation 3 on the sly.]

I'd wager she wasn't pushed out, but rather they didn't downplay the fact that she would be a liability to the campaign. She could figure it out.

[And an envelope full of resignation bonus also helped ease her departure.]

Really sad - and let me also say that I'm disappointed in Edwards for accepting the resignation without at least a statement of support. The entire incident had helped, rather than harmed, his candidacy IMHO and now it looks as if he caved, whether it is called "resignation" or not.

[Thank you for correctly putting "resignation" in quotes.]

I hope that Amanda becomes the best goddamned bitch in America and...

[She faces stiff competition from Hillary in that department.]

Amanda, will you marry me? And have my babies? And together we can topple the Bush government.

[Is that you, Rosie O?]

Ultimately, Edwards caved. He could have gone to Amanda and told her that he would not be intimidated by reactionary right wingers, and that he insists that she stay on the campaign. Clearly, he did not do that. Ultimately, Edwards caved.

[Edwards was for Amanda before he was ultimately against her.]

Edwards caved. It was reported that Edwards fired Amanda, then rehired her once the blogosphere made a big stink. Then, his defense of her was a day late and a dollar short. Rather than telling Malkin and Donohue to go screw themselves, he instead released a statement about how personally sickened he was by Amanda's words, but that she could stay with the campaign if she kept her mouth shut. A few days later, she's gone. Hard to blame her, knowing that her boss didn't have her back.

[John Edwards has your back...NOT!]

What the right wing wanted was to damage Edwards. They got their wish, but not by my hand. Edwards damaged himself by not standing behind his people. This episode was a test. The test was comprised of a single question: will you stand up for yourself in the general election against the dark forces of the right. We saw John Kerry fail the test in 2004, and now we saw his running mate fail the test this week. Better now than a year from now, I guess.

[At least Hillary is smiling.]

Edwards made himself look weak... By flip-flopping back and forth - hired, fired, not fired, resignation accepted. Ultimately, the fact that Amanda was hired will be less damaging to the campaign than Edwards' response to Donohue, that poor excuse for a man.

[Whenever Edwards flips, you can be sure he will follow it with a flop.]

The campaign never should have hired her in the first place, given the inflammatory nature of some of her comments. Or rather, they should have gotten out in front and publicized her comments themselves. Killed the issue before it ever got started.

[Send a Thank You note to Elizabeth Edwards for that hire. You go girl!]

Sorry - Edwards should have made sure a decent interval passed before he accepted her resignation (if that's even what she really wanted). Unfortunately, Edwards did the very thing all of us were afraid of - become another Democratic candidate who failed to hit back hard at a typical right wing smear attack.

[Right wing smear attack: Accurately quoting the rantings of loony leftwing bloggers.]

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