I don't even need to delve into my (limited) coding skills to link to all of the posts and features written about our beloved Bloggrrll Melissa McEwan (a/k/a Shakespeare's Sister) and Amanda Marcotte of Pandagon. There has been so much written about the "bloggers leaving the Edwards campaign" that it is easy to find a link via any search engine.

I have so much to say but don't know where to begin.

I will begin now, with this: these two women were hired by the Edwards campaign. They were deemed of value in the respective roles for which they were hired.

They agreed to work and support the campaign of a single (one of SO MANY now) presidential candidate, and gave that support very early into said candidacy. Amanda, taking a full-time position for the campaign, was literally in the process of moving her entire life from Texas to North Carolina. Melissa, whilst part time and working from home, had already made many provisions for her incredible network of co-bloggers to keep up her burgeoning-in-popularity weblog in order to devote her time to the more technical aspects of Edwards' netroots campaign.

Both of these women gave their 100%+, but when a far-right extremist twisted comments and made a small stink, all of the sudden Edwards was "offended" by their remarks. His remarks stating that he was "giving a second chance" to Melissa and Amanda were effete, in my opinion, because by not chastising also the radical that is Donohue, he implicitly added his support to the message that everything Donohue says/said is correct, whilst his OWN EMPLOYEES were "offensive" to him.

However, what happened then is unimaginable. Amanda and Melissa became deluged - not with bible verses or other scripture - but with death threats, rape threats, and other forms of torture or bodily harm. Minutes before a telephone conversation I had with Melissa, someone had driven up to her own home and pounded threateningly on her door, leaving after many, many fear-filled minutes.

This young lady lives in a home with a loving husband, and beloved pets. Her home has been violated, her well-being has been threatened, and ...where the “F” were Edwards or his campaign manager(s)? [That sound you hear is the group of crickets, chirping in the otherwise-silence of the room].

These two intelligent women resigned because of threats to their lives, their families, and their homes.

The Edwards campaign quietly accepted their resignations, and MADE NOT ANOTHER STATEMENT, which can only serve the violent, vitriolic spawn of the Donohue philosophy.

What youngsters like Edwards DO NOT GET is that no matter how many people he throws under the bus, he will never, as a Democrat, get the fringe vote of the Christofacists (oops, there's that durn term again, but I say if the shoe fits...).

Once again, a democrat-aligned candidate will not EVER get said votes. Their votes will never go to a "D" no matter how many gays s/he discriminates against, or how many times s/he denies a raped girl access to the morning after pill.

Now, he has lost the support, the respect, the money, and the votes of the reality-based community which, as he will likely find out this time around, are increasing in number, whilst the radical fringe who throw death threats, whose vote he is obviously courting here, will diminish, or crawl back into the holes from whence they came.

The words "fuck" and "cunt" are ugly and are going to provoke a reaction whether you use them in print, online or in conversation. This will happen regardless of the gender of the speaker/writer. There's a reason they are frowned upon in the workplace and in most day-to-day interactions, but in cyberspace, one can be as rude as one wishes. Even people who do swear, are usually selective in where they choose to do it - as long as they are not protected by a computer screen.

If you can't communicate without resorting to profanity, and even using such words as "shitstorm" in a commissioned article, then I feel sorry for you.

Once you get over your indignation at what happened, buy a thesaurus. Read it. Use it. Yes, cyberspace is a vulgar, cruel, nasty place sometimes. If you fan the flames with such language, you're going to get burned, too. Your opinions, however rational they may be, will lose power because of the vocabulary with which you chooes to express them.

I can see how folks not familiar with Pandagon in particular, and blogging in general can think that Amanda meant to offend them by her hot sticky comment. However, if you actually go look at that post, and the one before it, you will notice that no one is offended before this Pandagate crap happened. That's because she was writing to her readers, who are, by and large, liberal feminists. So, stop claiming she meant to offend you. She didn't. She didn't think you (a conservative, religious non feminist) ever read her blog, and it isn't her fault that you came to it.

On the other hand, if you are simply offended by it, regardless of her intent, it was reasonable to complain to Edwards. Just stop being dishonest about her intentions. It makes you look like an internet newbie.

Personally, I was very excited when Amanda was hired by Edwards and then more excited when he didn't fire her. But I have a hard time believing that Amanda just resigned of her own accord. If Edwards had been more supportive of her, instead of making a public statement that she was offensive, then I think this would have gone very differently for her. Edwards has gone back in my estimation to just another democrat unwilling to be openly liberal.

It is a compliment to be the enemy of the likes of Donohue and O'Reilly.

I was sorry to hear you resigned, however. It's buying into victimhood. This part of the feminist legacy is the hardest I see young women trying to deal with. Notice: Hillary is unfazed by attacks on things as personal as her hair, and her sexuality.

You had a choice to stay and fight, and you didn't take it. As time goes by, I suspect that is what will haunt you, and have you re-examine your ideology. Sometimes, if we don't get it the hard way, we can't appreciate its value.

There seems to be some sort of projection that goes on that requires a national secular "confirmation" (yes, like a ritual) in order for the culture to advance. Hence, for instance, Catholics needed a president of their own to be chosen before they truly felt equal. That's how it could be for women as well.

Maybe that is the lesson. Maybe that is what is next.