Tuesday, February 13, 2007
(1:42 PM) | Adam Kotsko:
The Amanda Marcotte Affair
I don't have a lot of libidinal investment in "netroots" type of stuff nor in bloggers having an official role in political campaigns. It should be pretty obvious that while I would literally sooner die than vote Republican, I am not a passionate believer in the Democratic Party or in the specifically American form of "liberalism," specifically because of what Marcotte's firing represents. Bill Donohue is an absolutely despicable person, who in any sanely ordered society would never be allowed to make a public statement. Yet somehow he is dictating the hiring decisions in the Edwards campaign -- or at least manipulating Edwards into wasting his time on a personal statement disavowing Marcotte's "offensive" post about religion.The time has long since passed for a kind of default "fair-mindedness" toward all comers. Until a Democrat can come out and say, "Bill Donohue is basically a fascist and shame on the media for continuing to give this man a public hearing," the right will continue to maintain their stranglehold over the terms of the debate. It really is necessary to shout down people, to call them what they really are without some bullshit qualifiers like "I admire his conviction." And they need to start putting pressure on the media to stop giving a voice to these people. Bill Donohue is entitled to his freedom of speech, of course -- so let him start a fucking blog.
