A trip though the Internets

The story of the liberal bloggers who were hired by the John Edwards campaign, and then resigned after a huge public flap led by the bugle call of Bill Donahue -- President of the Catholic League -- has remained a hot-button issue for many in the photosphere. Amanda Marcotte of Pandagon shares her final thoughts on the matter and Melissa McEwan of Shakespeare’s Sister makes her public announcement of her resignation, and it will be a long time before anyone forgets journalist Michelle Malkin’s online diatribe against Marcotte via YouTube.

A new twist in the saga from Lindsay Beyerstein, of the blog Majikthise, as she shares her misgivings on the marriage of political bloggers with political campaigns as she details the offer made to her by the Edwards campaign. Up today at Salon, an offer she declined:



I don't remember who brought up Amanda Marcotte's name first. I said Marcotte was the best writer in the feminist blogosphere. If they wanted a high-profile feminist blogger, Amanda was the best.
Bob is a regular reader of Amanda's blog, Pandagon. We reminisced for a while about some classic brawls and blowups that had erupted at Pandagon.

"The thing you have to realize about Amanda is that she's got real enemies," I said. "We've all got trolls, but Amanda gets a whole different level of abuse."

I told Bob this story to give him some idea of the kind of seething hatred the campaign might have to deal with: The first time I heard Amanda on the radio, an angry caller phoned up to say, "You're Amanda Marcotte, and you're a clerical worker at the University of Texas at Austin." He had his facts wrong, but his message was clear. He was trying to get Amanda fired while leaving some darker threat hanging in the air. The host had to cut him off. Since that incident, at least one of Amanda's trolls had called her then-employer and tried unsuccessfully to get her fired.


I tried to suggest that the campaign might not want high-profile bloggers. I thought it might be better off hiring a well-connected political operative with good connections in the blogosphere.


Bob listened attentively, scribbling copious notes. I didn't feel I was making much headway. The Edwards team was obviously looking for the blogospheric equivalent of star power, but they weren't looking for another high-powered blogger/political consultant like Tim Tagaris or Matt Stoller. They wanted a charismatic audience-builder who could connect with readers who weren't political junkies.
I tried to explain this as delicately and clearly as I could: A-list polemicists are popular because they say things you don't hear on television. The blogosphere isn't just "The Situation Room" with swear words, it's a space for writers to explore ideas that are outside the bounds of mainstream discourse.
If you hire these larger-than-life personalities to blog for John Edwards, they'll have to stop espousing many of the radical policy positions and unconventional values that made them popular in the first place.


As Lindsay put it, there but for the grace of God...

The live-blogging of the trial of Lewis “Scooter” Libby at Firedoglake where Jane Hamsher and Christy Harden detail the dismissal of the art curator juror this morning:

They will voir dire the juror in question, as well as all of the members of the jury to see what that juror saw and what, if any, impact it had in deliberations. It could be as innocuous as seeing a headline.
I'm wondering if this is a product of the Toensing nullification argument special in the WaPo, to be perfectly honest.
Once they go through the discussion with the jurors on the record, there will be some determination made as to whether or not there is a substantial impact on the jury deliberations — or whether there is cause for a mistrial. If a mistrial is declared, they will have to retry the whole case.



There was no mistrial, and the jury has returned to deliberations for the day.



Bits-n-Pieces:

Steve Gilliard of The News Blog is in the hospital this week, so do leave those well-wishes for a speedy recovery for him, and from all of us here at MiaCulpa “Get Well Soon!” Steve.

Via SkippytheBushKangaroo,we discover that Karen Hughes, the undersecretary for public diplomacy, has also stepped into the world of blogging and Youtube.

At Catallarchy, Brian Doss discusses the call for mandatory HPV vaccinations for girls.

ChocolateandZucchini can spice up your home cooking with a host of mouth-watering recipes.

Don’t forget your daily dose of humor, today via Bateman365.

Fun with photography at Dependable Renegade today, as always.

The Happy Feminist shares her thoughts on Porn.

And finally, what trip to the blogosphere would be complete without music?



-Diane