Melissa McEwan of Shakespeare's Sister has decided to leave the Edwards campaign. Both she and Amanda Marcotte, who resigned yesterday, write that they have been inundated with hate mail from people who claim to be Christians, Catholics, and other Defenders of the Faith.
Thus the people who say that they have been saved in the name of Jesus Christ have been launching attacks on both of these people and using the same vulgar language -- or worse -- that they said was unacceptable for a staff member of a presidential campaign. These people who say liberals are "full of hate" are giving us a wonderful example of situational irony, and they are demonstrating in graphic detail just what these misogynistic and baleful wingnuts are truly like in their heart of hearts. Not only that, these same people who worship the Prince of Peace have been making threats of physical violence against both Amanda and Melissa. That, in any other venue, would be considered a felony.
I've been watching the comments threads over at Shakespeare's Sister since this story broke last week. It is clear that many wingnuts feel that by the sheer dint of repetition (and misspelling) of talking points that echo back to everything from second-rate Rush Limbaugh ciphers to first-rate misogyny and theological bunkum, they can somehow intimidate the left into doing their bidding. After all, it has worked in the past, and they have drawn blood. But this time around methinks they have woefully underestimated their prey. (The same logic infiltrates the Bush administration -- topple a statue of Saddam Hussein and hey, presto! Mission Accomplished!) At the risk of offering advice to the opposition, it would be a very big mistake on their part to claim victory because two people have decided that they will better serve the campaign by removing themselves from it. Many a bully has come to grief because of the mistaken impression he has won. He has only put off his comeuppance for a short time.
I am sorry that Melissa and Amanda will not be a part of the campaign, but in a way I am relieved. Both of them noted that now they are no longer restrained by their positions with the Edwards campaign. And as was noted when Amanda left, the righties have but a very short time to enjoy this moment, because now that the pretense of political correctness, something that neither Melissa or Amanda adhered to, is gone, the battle is joined. To quote the immortal Bard:
Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!Or as Melissa might say, "Game on, bitchez!"
