Shakespeare's Sister becomes second blogger to quit Edwards campaign under barrage of threats

Announcement
| posted by Shakespeare's Sister | Tuesday, February 13, 2007 | permalink |

I regret to say that I have also resigned from the Edwards campaign. In spite of what was widely reported, I was not hired as a blogger, but a part-time technical advisor, which is the role I am vacating.

I would like to make very clear that the campaign did not push me out, nor was my resignation the back-end of some arrangement made last week. This was a decision I made, with the campaign's reluctant support, because 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.

I understand that there will be progressive bloggers who feel I am making the wrong decision, and I offer my sincerest apologies to them. One of the hardest parts of this decision was feeling as though I'm letting down my peers, who have been so supportive.



There will be some who clamor to claim victory for my resignation, but I caution them that in doing so, they are tacitly accepting responsibility for those who have deluged my blog and my inbox with vitriol and veiled threats. It is not right-wing bloggers, nor people like Bill Donohue or Bill O'Reilly, who prompted nor deserve credit for my resignation, no matter how much they want it, but individuals who used public criticisms of me as an excuse to unleash frightening ugliness, the likes of which anyone with a modicum of respect for responsible discourse would denounce without hesitation.

This is a win for no one.

More:
http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2007/02/announcement.html

She had nothing to do with anything, but she has to leave her job anyway. Great.

National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries
About pastoral care for lesbian and gay Catholics and their families. Resources, links, conferences.
http://www.nacdlgm.org

Or here:

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DignityUSA works for respect and justice for all gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons in the Catholic Church and the world through education, ...
http://www.dignityusa.org/

from the R/T forum, and flip a giant bird at Donohue.

:shrug:

Fucking shit!

big PR fanfare. Then maybe noone would have gone around snooping.

That's unfortunately what happens when one is a press hound....the press and whomever comes with it ends up hounding you.

and according to the last Salon article (not the first one that announced the firing of the two young bloggers originally) written....they were indeed hire, then fired, then re-hired...and it was predicted on that day that they would both end up walking.

First Salon article reporting "rumors" of the firing: http://wizbangblog.com/2007/02/07/salon-reporting-that-edwards-has-fired-bloggers.php

Second Salon article reporting after the fact the real story as to what went down: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/02/08/bloggers_rehired/index.html

The part that is troubling is how long and the types of turns the campaign did in resolving this issue. There was no real decisiveness, just the campaign trying to figure out what to do based on reading the blogs as they went. Not a good way to govern, IMO...and the results show this. :thumbsdown:

I don't know what to say to you. It actually saddens me.

But I will say that my BS meter is set real high.

I feel badly for the two bloggers, and feel that a precedent was set that didn't need to be. Bloggers hired in the future will have to go through an extensive background check. It will discourage a lot of established bloggers from attempting to be hired for their expertise, because many has said a lot about a lot of things. Bloggers will be afraid to end up like these two; with their reputation sullied. Some folks here were smearing them just a few days ago. It was ugly and that to me is what was is sad.

Edwards tried to capitalize on the netroots and ended up losing at it instead. It was a gamble....and so....nothing ventured, nothing gained for him inasmuch.

I realize that the Donahue fellow is a giant RW asshole and shouldn't have been prying and should have kept his big fat one shut....

And it's not so much about who the Edwards campaign hired, but how it was all handled. It was tacky and transparent. Edwards couldn't make a decision in his fear of losing either/or and ended up looking neither here nor there. Doesn't make Edwards a "bad" guy; just showcased his lack of executive experience.

There will be more tests, and he may do better later.

Look, the primaries are still miles away....so I don't think this or anything else thus far takes Edwards out of the running or anything. The fat lady ain't sung or nothing. I believe Edwards to have a very fair chance at the nomination. Whatever I say won't change that. All campaigns have their peaks and valleys....this is a valley. That is all.

thread, and found out that Bill Donahue targeted a Kerry campaign hire in the last election. She was not fired, nor did she resign, but it's not like the idiot didn't try. I doubt there was that much fanfare for the hire (Donahue's words are in italics, so take them with a grain of salt):

http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2007/2/13/18310/1890/82#c82

This is from the Talk to Action website. It concerns Kerry campaign staffer Mara Vanderslice. Guess what? Donohue pulled this same tactic against Kerry. Fortunately Kerry stood up to him.



Vanderslice, from what I can tell, continued with the campaign doing grassroots outreach, contrary to what Donohue stated.

by Ciccina on Tue Feb 13, 2007 at 04:45:52 PM PST

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Edited to add: I want to be clear here -- I am not criticizing Edwards, just pointing out that this guy has pulled this stuff before. Maybe it could have been handled better, I don't know, but I do think Democrats need to stick together when the Right attacks.

In the face of this crapola. Kerry did it right. Edwards did it wrong.

Religious outreach had a lot to do with what Donahue dwells on...and in effect, the Kerry hire was a direct reflection on the Kerry campaign.....and such hire was in fact hired to deal with the likes of the many Donahues out there as well as others.

These Edwards bloggers were not hired based on working on the religious issue....this was an Internet campaign issue. What they wrote shouldn't have been the issue here, IMO.

I still think that a comment from Edwards at the gate to the tune of, "I respect Mr. Donahue's freedom to say what he likes, but I also respect these bloggers' rights who were not hired based on their religious views by my campaign.

As I am not one to consider suspending the first amemdment in order to satisfy Mr. Donahue's personal dismay, and as these Bloggers are not under the dictates of the Catholic church as that is not their faith, I suspect that the loud criticism is meant to attack me politically, not religiously.

Simply put, these bloggers were not hired for their religious work and their hire is in no way revelant to my own faith, nor to the faith of my supporters.

This is an non issue being blown out of all porportion by one who has himself shown little tolerance when addressing the concept of freedom of religion here in the United States, something this country was founded on.

If Mr. Donahue has any other grievances on whom I hire, I suggest that he contacts me instead of throwing a trantrum. In addition, I urge Mr. Donahue to look into the troubling matters that have occured in the hiearchy of the religious organization that he himself belongs to before throwing stones my way."

All I know is that I am very upset that these Right Wing attack dogs harassed these bloggers to the point where they felt they had no choice but to quit. I can't get past the evil of this Donahue character to think about how Edwards could have handled it better. That's truly my feelings about this right now.

Maybe as a Minister's wife, I already understand what a religious bigot looks like, and I don't believe that anyone truly sincere in their religion would even have made this an issue.

This was political, and Edwards should have called it for what it was.

Edwards allowed Donahue to do the framing, the attacking and the demanding. Even in Edwards' response once it was decided what the campaign was going to do, isn't all that. Edwards publicy chastised the bloggers instead of chastising the shit stirrer. He chose who he supported when he played Donahue's game Donahue's way. Edwards' priority was in saving face and minimizing damage done, not in the Bloggers' personal welfare nor in their reputation. That speaks tons to me.

Edwards' patronizing and defensive statement once he decided to keep the bloggers says lots...."The tone and the sentiment of some of Amanda Marcotte's and Melissa McEwan's posts personally offended me. It's not how I talk to people, and it's not how I expect the people who work for me to talk to people. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but that kind of intolerant language will not be permitted from anyone on my campaign, whether it's intended as satire, humor, or anything else. But I also believe in giving everyone a fair shake. I've talked to Amanda and Melissa; they have both assured me that it was never their intention to malign anyone's faith, and I take them at their word......."

He adds a couple of more sentences at the end to soften the blow of most of his words....but it is too little too late......and the emphasis was made clear and his was the tone of a father scolding his children.....I don't feel any respect or real loyalty to the bloggers....more like he's doing them a favor after they had misbehaved. I didn't care for the approach myself.

http://phoenixwoman.wordpress.com/2007/02/13/sow-the-wind-reap-the-whirlwind/

"Donohue’s minions think they’re being so cute by DoSing Pandagon so nobody can access the IRS form template Auguste so thoughtfully provided to nail Donohue. They reckoned without me."

“In his role as President of the Catholic League, a 501(c)(3) organization, William Donohue made national television appearances calling for the firing by the John Edwards for President campaign of two campaign employees. The Catholic League has issued press releases on Feb. 9 (http://tinyurl.com/2dx4h4) and Feb. 12 (http//tinyurl.com/ywrcr5) of 2007 specifically pressuring the Edwards campaign to fire these two employees, thus violating FS-2006-17, which instructs 501(c)(3) groups not to intervene in political campaigns. Donohue’s group has also done similar interventions against John Kerry’s political campaign in 2004; On Feb. 7, 2007, Donohue boasted to Tucker Carlson of MSNBC that he caused two Kerry campaign employees to be fired (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17049495/). Again, this violates FS-2006-17.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matt-browner-hamlin/more-potential-catholic-l_b_41166.html

"Jeffrey Feldman has previously documented a possible violation by the Catholic League of its 501(c)(3) status based on Donohue's attempts to intervene in a political campaign. That may be true, but it's also possible that Donohue has put his organization in hot water by putting false information in his IRS filings.

The Catholic League's IRS 990 filing for tax year 2005 claims to have spent no money on lobbying expenditures. Page 13 of the filing asks (PDF link):

"During the year, did the organization attempt to influence national, state or local legislation, including any attempt to influence public opinion on a legislative matter or referendum through the use of:

a. Volunteers
b. Paid staff or management
c. Media advertisements
d. Mailings to members, legislators, or the public
e. Publications or published or broadcast statements
f. Grants to other organizations for lobbying purposes
g. Direct contact with legislators, their staffs, government officials, or a legislative body
h. Rallies, demonstrations, seminars, conventions, speeches, lectures, or any other means

The Catholic League filing -- signed by William Donohue -- answers "no" to all of these questions. This is the same answer that Donohue gave in 2004 and 2003.

Unfortunately for Donohue and his Catholic League, that was not an accurate answer. He repeatedly spoke out on TV, in the press, and to his email lists on a wide range of political topics at the state and federal level. He wrote to politicians and argued for particular courses of action with regards to judicial nominees and even lobbied for a constitutional amendment at a gathering that included at least one congressman. Everything that I link to and quote below is from the Catholic League's press release archive."