Where It Began

Barack Obama announced his presidential candidacy in Springfield, Illinois on February 10, 2007.

Hat tip to Melissa McEwan.

Quote of the Day

(Chuckling) "And I stopped beating my wife just a couple of weeks ago…"

John McCain, on why Gov. Jim Gibbons is not the Chairman of his Nevada campain.

As Melissa McEwan noted: McCain was making a joke about the old Beltway gotcha question of when did you stop beating your wife. Why a presidential candidate would even make such a comment shows what an out of touch Beltway insider McCain is.

Shakes has a list of bizarre McCain comments. It's a long one.

Stop Celebrity Self-Help Experts

Dr. Phil McGraw rushing to Britney Spear's aid and then unethically talking about her medical condition was sleazy. I'm glad that Spears' family came to the same realization.

A source close to Dr. Phil McGraw said it was Britney's parents who cut him off, furious he blabbed about her mental state after visiting her in the psych ward at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

"As soon as Jamie realized Dr.Phil was making public statements about Britney, including assessments of her condition, he got angry," the source told Life & Style magazine. "He started making phone calls to everybody in the family, telling them not to cooperate."

Dr. Phil is telling the media "because the Spears situation is too intense at this time, and out of consideration to the family." Whatever.

Melissa McEwan shares my contempt of Dr. Phil.

In other news: why should Dr. Drew Pinsky get a second shot at rehabilitating Jessica Sierra? Didn't he do enough damage by having Sierra on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew?

Pinsky explains his reality show.

"We're like the Aztecs. We tear someone's heart out every day," said Pinsky, who was in a Florida courtroom this week to help persuade a local judge that more rehab, not jail, time was in Sierra's best interest. "Instead of it being up on a big temple, we do it on television."

Circuit Judge Daniel Perry reluctantly allowed Pinsky to take Sierra to California. We can count on the trashy tbt* to cover every moment.

Happy Happy Third Blogiversary to Shakesville

Go over and wish the Shakers a happy blogiversary. Melissa has done a lot to help to blogging efforts of Tas, Litbrit and myself. We gained greater exposure because of her. Thanks, Lis.

Caption Shakes Photo

Shakes has a hysterical photo she wants captioned.

Meet the TNR Iraq Blogger

It's amazing how much time the Right spent trying to scream that the soldier who wrote under the pseudonym Scott Thomas didn't exist. The Weekly Standard and the National Review lead the charge. It didn't matter that they had no actual evidence or did no responsible investigative reporting. Ideology and pro-Iraq war support came first.

Now Scott Thomas has come forward and revealed his real identity as Scott Thomas Beauchamp.

I am Private Scott Thomas Beauchamp, a member of Alpha Company, 1/18 Infantry, Second Brigade Combat Team, First Infantry Division.

My pieces were always intended to provide my discrete view of the war; they were never intended as a reflection of the entire U.S. Military. I wanted Americans to have one soldier's view of events in Iraq.

It's been maddening, to say the least, to see the plausibility of events that I witnessed questioned by people who have never served in Iraq. I was initially reluctant to take the time out of my already insane schedule fighting an actual war in order to play some role in an ideological battle that I never wanted to join. That being said, my character, my experiences, and those of my comrades in arms have been called into question, and I believe that it is important to stand by my writing under my real name.

Will the Weekly Standard and National Review stand by their writing or just pretend that the controversy they started never happened? I'm betting on the latter. Both publications should of had a major editorial review of how they wrote such factually inaccurate articles. Instead, they attack a soldier they claimed never existed here and here. Real classy.

Other lefty bloggers share their thoughts.

"That's just crazy. All these people need to stop," writes Matt Yglesias. "They need to apologize to the people at TNR who've wasted huge amounts of time dealing with their nonsense."

The Right bitches about the "liberal media." People would take their complaints more seriously if they didn't have tv and radio host throw on-air temper tamtrums and print journalists that posted corrections. Instead, they have a noise machine.

Shakes makes a great point.

Which is why I think we should hold Foer and TNR to some account. It was obvious how all this would play out. Any of us on the Left who share the stories of antiwar soldiers, or soldiers just telling the ugly truth of war, need to be prepared. Better prepared than that, anyway.

The rightwing noise machine will attack. It's not important if the Right makes a valid point. What they want to make of is that people don't hear the other side make valid points. They want you to believe it's a shiny happy people world.

Melissa McEwan Quits Edwards Campaign

Melissa McEwan has resigned from the John Edwards campaign. Lindsay Beyerstein reports that her sources told her neither Shakes or Amanda Marcotte were fired by the John Edwards campaign.

"This was a decision I made, with the campaign's reluctant support," wrote Melissa. "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." What that might be about is the death threats both bloggers have received from these Christian followers of Donahue.

The ramifications of Bill Donohue and the Catholic League's reckless rhetoric has materialized in the form of death threats to bloggers Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan. This is what happens when the ultra-right wing is given the megaphone of mainstream media. It is also a complete break down in the responsibility that the media has in vetting those who are given a platform to spread a message.

This is also evidence that ultra-right wing organizations that create messages based on hate and fear find sympathetic audiences with people who think more like citizen-militia than the loyal Catholics that Bill Donohue claims to represent. It is no wonder that there has been no mainstream Roman Catholic group, nor the Church itself, to step forward to support Donohue in his illegal, unethical scalp-seeking tirade against Senator Edwards' bloggers.

Huffington Post blogger Lane Hudson is challenging Bill Donahue to rescind his comments and ask people to leave Melissa and Amanda alone. That is more than fair. Considering that both bloggers are no longer with Edwards. Considering Donahue's long history of hateful comments - I doubt he will show the leadership to ease up on the bloggers. It's not only the right thing to do. It's what Jesus would do. I hope otherwise.

You can call Donahue's office at 212-371-3191. Tell him to lay off Amanda and Melissa.

Spin Zone

Bill O'Reilly goes on his fair and balanced attacks on Melissa McEwan and Amanda Marcotte. It is really something to hear Michelle Malkin to attack other bloggers for "unhinged diatribes." I've lost track of the times Malkin has had to print retracts for her diatribes. Considering that Malkin led the attacks to get both bloggers fired; is pathetic that Fox News would breing her on as an unbiased commentator.

Support the Edwards Bloggers Petition

BlogPac.org has an online petition you can sign to show your support for Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan.

Lindsay Beyerstein talks about the noncontroversy on the Taylor Marsh Show.

Shakes & Amanda Stay On

The wingnuts lost. John Edwards is going to keep Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan on the campaign.

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.

Michelle "Blockquote Queen" Malkin takes time out from writing half-hearted disclaimers and corrections to go on a blockquoting frenzy. She let's us know the thoughts of several other conservative bloggers on Marcotte and McEwan being retained. Malkin was at ground zero at this shit storm. Doesn't she have any thoughts on the subject? She makes a living as a columnist. I'm not asking for prose the length of the Iliad.

Malkin does say, "Hear me now, believe me later, Johnny E.: If you lay down with nutroots, it will be hard to get back up."

Wow. That's so deep. Perhaps she should stick to blockquoting. Raise your hands if you think Malkin would have blockquoted a positive post if Edwards fired Amanda and Shakes.

Dear reader, not counting Ann Coulter, name another syndicated columnist who would make a video like this?

The Liberal Media Strikes Again

The Bill Donahue rampage against Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan continues. Isn't Donahue suppose to be keeping us safe from Marilyn Manson?

Curse that liberal media for bringing no one on the panel to counter Carlson or Donahue.

Melissa & Amanda Hang In Limbo

The Situation Room covers the noncontroversy of John Edwards bloggers Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan. The Edwards campaign will not comment on rumors that both women have been fired.

Personally, I don't see it as a good sign if the Edwards compaign are issuing no comments. Chris Bowers does a good job stating how lefty bloggers feel.

I also wish to make something else clear. While there is no way I will support Edwards with Amanda and Melissa are fired, I will immediately become a staunch Edwards supporter if they are not fired. Consider the heinous reporting that is being done in this story, where bigot William Donahue is somehow an authority on what defines hate speech, it is clear that the Edwards campaign will take a lot of flack from outside the netroots if they do not fire Amanda and Melissa. Keeping them on would show a willingness to take risks and stand up to the media in a way that most Democrats just are not, all because the campaign will be doing so in order to defend the netroots.

It's no secret that this blog is a strong supporter and has a member who contributes to Shakespeare's Sister. If Edwards balks then I hate to see what happens when he really gets slammed by the Right.

For those of you wondering who William Donahue is; he staged silly protests against the motion picture Dogma. Donohue has never seen the film.

Lame Attacks On Amanda Marcotte

I see the attacks on Amanda Marcotte have begun. The conservative bloggers are going to be making nasty and sexist comments about Amanda and Shakes. The reason is they have been hired to write on the John Edwards blog. Fortunately, Jill has their back covered.

You don't have to agree with Amanda or Shakes politics. (I do.) Making comments about their appearances is just childish and tacky. Sandbox mentality arguments won't impress many, but the already converted.