Science and Politics

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

The 'Bloggergate' and related links

Under attack, Pandagon has been down all day. But you can see here (and re-posted here) what scum of the Earth resides on the political Right in this country. This is a good time to read this again. And please find time to read all ten parts of this series on eliminationism in America. Sensing a long-term, if not permanent loss, the wounded beast of the Right is lashing at everything in sight and they are not shy to use physical force if needed.

Also on the topic, three must-read posts by Liza Sabater: Hell hath no fury like a feminist scorned, Aldon Hynes: In praise of Icarus, and Kagro X on DailyKos: Getting separated from the herd.

Two important and thoughtful posts by Chris Bowers on MyDD: Politics and the Inhuman and Why Attacks Against Bloggers Fail

Interesting discussion in the comments on this post on DailyKos: Has anyone seen Pandagon?, on Ezra's blog: Competence Matters and on Pharyngula: Edwards for President!. In all three cases, the comments are much more informative than the original posts.

Dave MB: Amanda Marcotte's Departure.

And if you haven't already done so, you can read my takes on the initial response by the Edwards campaign - On Edwards, Bloggers, and Religion, and on Amanda's resignation - Amanda now free to expose the Donohue creature

Also today, Shakespeare's Sister posted her Announcement:

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.