John Edwards has released a statement saying that, although Amanda and Melissa have written things on their blogs that offend him, he is not going to fire them from his campaign.
Links when available.
Update: Here’s a link.
The Mahablog
Politics. Society. Group Therapy.
That’s good to hear. Everybody wins, except the radical right.
Amanda (I haven’t checked out Melissa) is conducting her blog responsibilities in keeping with a presidential campaign, and Edwards has proven himself not to be a pushover.
I sent the campaign $25, and called to thank Senator Edwards for doing the right thing.
I am not being snarky here, but I wonder who decided to hire two bloggers if they didn’t know what type of blogging they are known for. I love Melissa, Shakes Sis, and I read her blog every day. I’m less familiar with Amanda, but I’ve read some of her work and I like her spirit. Their language doesn’t bother me, nor does their criticism of organized religion or political happenings.
I’m glad Edwards made the right call and kept them, but are they going to feel constrained to write within certain boundaries? I say let them be themselves.
In the end, I’m glad Edwards made his stand against the rightwing dingwads.
Edwards did the right thing, but it sounds like he went through some unnecessary contortions to get there.
Still, I’m not forgetting that he’s not the villain here. There’s a diary posted on dKos pointing out that the Catholic League, from whence this harassment originated, is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt org. Its president, that Donohue person, appears to have violated the tax code by attempting to meddle in the workings of a political campaign. Now all we need is an unbiased U.S. Attorney to…. Oh, wait.
too cool! Go John
I think Edwards handled it well. On the other hand, the early reaction in the blogoshpere makes me a bit nervous. Amanda has written some extreme things which could give fodder for gotcha attacks at crucial moments in the campaign. I would have understood if Edwards had felt he cound’t take the risk of carrying that kind of baggage. The vitriol displayed toward Edwards by the netroots after the initial reports was beyond the pale. We can’t treat our candidates this way and expect to win. We’re dealing with real world politics here, not some cloud-cuckooland ideal.
I am not familiar with the writing of Amanda or Melissa, but I don’t think either of them is under considerstion to be JE’s running mate. Is there any reason why righties can’t limit themselves to a disussion of the stand Edwards has taken on issues, the votes he has cast and other evidence of the character of the man. Or is the janitor that empties the trash for the Edwards campaign going to undergo a polygraph for the wingnuts.