I note that most of those criticizing Marcotte in this forum are doing so anonymously. Let's get down to basics here. Men (and women) who anonymously threaten young women with rape or death, under any circumstances, are evil cowards. So are men and women who anonymously mouth their "she deserved it" support for those who made the threats. These people are morally equivalent to the silent onlookers at a lynching. Moreover I can only suppose that most of these folks are trolls, followers of Donohoe's who have decided to come over and continue the hate campaign against Marcotte.

Evil cowards, my friends. Let's be clear who you are.

Matthew Lenoe

Not afraid to leave my name

Re: "no intention of insulting anyone's private beliefs"

Of course you intended to insult a great many people's "private beliefs" with your little joke. I'm not even Catholic and it insults me, not to mention the Virgin Mary, and the Holy Spirit. If you leave me out of the mix, I believe the word that describes it best is blasphemous. Methinks the lady doth protest too much. Most people are not unintentionally blasphemous.

Re: "coarse, comedic vernacular"

The vernacular may indeed be coarse, and you have every right to use it, but in no way does coarse imply comedic. I find coarseness rather pathetic myself.

I'm male, Caucasian, over 65. Make of it what you will.

There are perfectly civil ways of expressing pro-choice views, feminist takes on contraceptive issues, and other feminist positions in general. Had Marcotte taken that path there would have been no real fault for Donahue to latch onto. (Not that this would have necessarily stopped him from trying, admittedly, but it would have gotten no traction.)

The blogosphere doesn't have to be all prim and proper, but nor should we normalize vulgarity in the name of being "raucous and common".

Ok...I've had enough. I'm starting an organization called 'Catholics Against Bill Donohue". We're going to lobby the Vatican to get him excommunicated for routinely committing at least 4 of the 7 deadly sins. He doesn't deserve to get into heaven, even if there isn't one. We'll make him the 'bad PR' nightmare of the Pope. We'll accuse him of sodomizing young boys (not too far a stretch given his apparent hatred of women) and other such mortal sins. This guy is the modern Inquisition....a screaming meemie so non-spiritual it's a shock no one in the clergy stands up and denounces this guy, God save us from Bill Donohue.

The wingnuts must be salivating. You -- all of you -- are giving them just what they wanted.

You can keep feeding the beast, or you can refocus on the real issues. Either way, it's going to be a long campaign.

The first half of your post is informative reading that had good potential of being widely read, exposing the tactics of the right-wing thus decreasing their power.

Then you blow it. This has little, if anything, to do with feminism. They just pushed the buttons they knew would get you upset. You just bent the debate to your own agenda because you are in the limelight. If you care this little about the real issues at hand, such as the conservative machine and the blogospheres impact on politics, then you should have resigned. You just did a huge disservice to yourself, bloggers, and this race.

You willingly put yourself in the public eye. You also shot your mouth off. Take responsibility for your actions and buck up. You are not the first or the last liberal who stepped in their own excrement.

But whether she realizes it or not, that is precisely what Ms. Marcotte is trying to be, albeit an Ann Coulter who is willing to "work blue." Ms. Marcotte's "logic" and the intellectual level of her rhetoric are both eerily similar to Coulter's. If I didn't happen to know that Marcotte is a real person I'd think the right made her up as a caricature.

This is truly a sad, sad story. It is so sad that you feel like you have been persecuted by the "right wing." Do you realize how pathetic yuou look when you do that? You liberals are so out of touch with America that it is beyong funny. Now that is sad. As a matter of fact, I have never even heard of you before seing your article in Realclearpolitics. You have probably become more well known because of the "right wing smear machine" than you otherwise would have been, writing your nonsensical drivel for a bunch of lemmings to fawn over on a daily basis. And it is really sad that you make the story about how the "right wing" persecuted you, and how you are the victim. That is not sad, that is hilarious; how self-righteous can you be? Hmmmm, now I see why Edwards wanted to hire you in the first place. Maybe now you can go out and get a real job, and actually make a contribution to society.

So, "hot, white, sticky Holy Spirit" is not mocking?

Say what you will about mental midgets like the two Bills and MM - but to think your line is so acceptable that it won't insult a great many people (Roman Catholics still vote Democratic three-to-one in most states), is not too smart on your part.

I felt your comment/joke was insulting AND mocking as if you were quite pleased with yourself and your cleverness. A little too smug and typical of the anti-Roman Catholicism that seems all too pervasive within my party. You want my vote and my local's vote, heck you need it, and you spit in our faces. Not too smart.

Hal Baker

After reading what you wrote, it's remarkable that the Edwards campaign would even consider hiring you. It's not your position; it's how you chose to convey it.

The First Amendment guarantees your right to spew those crude postings to your blog. It does not guarantee that you will not have to live with the consequences of your actions. You used vitriol to call attention to yourself, but you claim it's unfair for Donohue to challenge you on your tactics. You are a schoolyard bully who wants to dish it out but can't take it.