Wampum

sHnap.

I can take a lot from generally decent politicians, but fucking over the people who give up so much to work for them - that, I don't abide. Whether Amanda and Melissa's "firing" is a rumor, the campaign shouldn't have let it even get that far. They should have come out loud and strong and supported their new hires. They did their research, knew the blogrrls had a long record of strong opinion and strong language. They had to know this was coming - Edwards saw what the Swiftboaters did to Kerry - he's the very last person to say he wasn't prepared.

Well, fuck 'em if they can't stand the heat - get outta the damn kitchen and let someone else cook.

Hey MB,

That's the question -- did they do the research? It looks to me like the decision to hire was made by someone who was relatively clueless regarding the strong language, if not the strong opinion -- and absolutely did not know "this was coming" -- otherwise, why would they hire them and then fire them? Whoever that person was is the one to blame, not Amanda and Melissa. That is the person who should be fired (unless it was Elizabeth, then he's got a problem.

Now, I'm thinking, why the heck didn't they hire YOU...you have the strong opinions without the strong language!

Seriously, if you blog under your own name, not a pseudonym, you have to know that what you say is going to follow you around and potentially limit/affect your career options...which is why "real name" bloggers do tend to be somewhat more temperate and pseudonymous ones have the luxury of being more extreme...and obscene.

Hey, Allison. I think this is the first time I've used such obscenity on Wampum in years, and, in part, it's in solidarity with Amanda and Melissa.

Heh, no campaign's going to hire a non-hip blogger, especially one known mainly for long investigative reports on the evil-doings in the Interior Department. ;-)

I'm just so disappointed in the campaign. I really thought they were cutting-edge by hiring Amanda and Melissa, rejecting the Big-Box'ers and going for the Issue-sphere. Now, hours after the Salon rumor, the blogrrls are still flapping in the wind. It's just such a crappy way to treat your staff.

Yes, Edwards should fire the idiot(s) who didn't do a thorough background check, if that is in fact the case.

On the plus side, we don't have to write about his health plan that isn't single payer, or dance around his decision to compete for a share of the the AIPAC money.

I am disapointed that his CM hasn't twigged to the fact that he'd gotten some really good women, and that he's now out of the policy blog and moved waay down market to the horse-race-and-cattle-call model of what blogs do and are.

See, and I was starting to lean Edwards BECAUSE of Herzilya...but you know me, I'm an unabashed fifth columnist with a parochial interest in not getting my own Zionist occupier ass bombed by Iran. (I love you guys anyway... :)

I guess Edwards and company were cutting edge without knowing it.

Weirdly, I'm not somebody who would neccessarily either be influenced vote against Edwards because he hired the bloggers, or vote against him because he cut them loose immediately after realizing that they would be a political liability and alienate big voter blocks.

I AM getting turned off to Edwards because he/his campaign seems so deer in the headlights, hiding in the bunker frozen and confused and indecisive over something relatively small and stupid like this, which does not seem like good potential president behavior. None of his options are perfect, but he should pick one and stick with it.

I am proud of you for yanking Edwards off your sidebar. Maybe it would be somehow forgivable THAT he spoke at the Herzliya Conference, but the substance of that speech was so despicable that it completely blotted out all the good he's tried to do. It just boils down to Edwards being willing to fill the public discourse with that much more ignorance, fear, hatred and willingness to let millions die for political expediency at home. I know many politicians do this, but somehow it was worse coming from him, both because it was coming from him, and because he used such vicious and decisive speech while doing it. He could use the very gods of Outer Blogistan for his campaign and it wouldn't change my mind about him.

We have to convince Gore to drop the political consultants, stay loose and real, and take his rightful place as President.

Thank you for dropping Edwards from your sidebar.

love, 99

Hey, MB, you can put him back up now!

Edwards Press Release. The Girls are lectured, but not fired.

Arg!! Hawise, I accidentally deleted your comment when I was removing spam! Ack, and I didn't get a chance to read it. Do you recall what you said? I always look forward to your comments.

Btw, he's not going back up. I was explaining to Eric how I was offended by JRE's claim of being "offended", and he laughed and pointed me to his latest post (which I had not read, as I was off doing errands when the news came out.) I just don't understand how anyone who benefits from rich, white, male, American, Christian privilige can claim to be offended by anything two young feminists write, particularly when it concerns their own condition. It would be like Al Gore claiming to me he's offended over my asserting white fans of that Washington professional football team are de facto supporters of institutional racism, if not actually racist themselves. (I use Gore, as he was raised in DC, and has been known to attend the games of that offensively-named team.)

So yes, everyone makes nice, but this whole affair clued me into the fact that JRE just doesn't "get it".

And I'll just add that it offends me that while Edwards talks about poverty, he doesn't call for the immediate repeal of Clinton-Gingrich welfare "reform", which has done nothing but push millions of Americans, particularly children, deeper into poverty. Because, you know, that would be "offensive" to the sensibilities of many middle and upper-class voters.

No problem. I was just mentioning that the bloggers had been retained. I also mentioned that I appreciated that he had taken the time to actually think about what he was doing rather than reacting one way or the other immediately. I find it refreshing that he appeared to have actually thought about it. The notice may have been a mite off kilter but I don't know how I would react if the blogosphere was erupting all about me.
As to the issue of that stupid welfare reform, unless he has a plan that can be implemented without causing additional damage the he needs to wait. Too many politicians have tried to 'fix' a problem only to have it fail for all the same institutional reason that the last one failed. Heck, the stupid welfare reform was supposed to be a fix and look how that turned out.

It was your insistence throughout 2003-04 that Edwards was the 'IT' that swung me over. It was his Southern DLC centrism that made me unsure. I never was a Clinton fan and felt like I was always beeing forced to defend him or the country would swing wider to the right.

I don't feel he particularly mishandled the blogger situation. I think 24 hours after the story went mainstream, he found a nice way to push the critics away without provoking them to yowl incessantly (except Donahue, but I think most Catholics can see through him).

But the anti-Iran rhetoric certainly makes me nervous. And sure, going after welfare deform makes sense, though I think there'll be better ways to time that, like when the economy takes a dive in the second half of 2007.

Is there ANY candidate out there both close to my heart and capable of mounting a serious challenge? I think Kucinich, Gravel and Dodd may be the most liberal, though I don't see the three as having that oomph to make them reach the first tier races.

At the moment, I'm staying with JRE because he's showing leadership on the current war and (I hope) his Iran babble is mostly intended to signal that he's not going to tolerate President Ahnevermetajew. (I can handle that, as my Iranian contacts indicate both the left and right are fed up with his provocations towards the West. If he continues the babble in any way that's supportive of Bush's next fuggup, though, I may just have to sit this election out and find some decent country willing to make me feel at home again.

I'm so tired of feeling like an alien from Mars...