Although Marcotte doesn’t say so directly, nearly the entire third page of her essay is devoted to the delusion that the end result of Marcotte’s writings becoming public resulted in her loss (and future feminist and female blogger’s loss) of free speech. That notion is absurd of course as a number of commentators upstream have detailed in much more eloquent fashion than I would attempt.

What is interesting however is in reading Marcotte’s essay one would come away with a firm belief that Marcotte, as a committed standard bearer for the right to freedom of speech, she would never censure an honest purveyor of truth at her blog.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Several commentators upstream have noted that Marcotte has no qualm in banning commentators and/or deleting comments of anyone at Pandagon that disagrees with any position that Marcotte takes. Let me provide a number of examples. As I detailed in my commentary just prior to this one titled: Marocotte’s World – “Birth Of A Shitstorm,” Marcotte deleted the comments of two commentators on Feb 2nd simply because they had the misfortune of appending an earlier comment of Marcotte which Marcotte decided to deleted some thirteen days after the fact. A notation such as ‘Comment Deleted Because…’ (standard practice for blog administrators) was not made during the deletion process in Marcotte’s haste to ‘clarify.’

Here is Marcotte’s current position on how to get banned at Pandagon: “Bore me [Marcotte].”

‘Bore me,’ of course in Marcotte’s World is advocating any position that is contrary to Marcotte’s worldview, particularly as it relates to the Duke Lacrosse case:

http://pandagon.net/2007/02/15/to-steal-roxannes-long-ago-post/

Here Marcotte threatens to ban ‘Vivien Thomas.’ The reason, because Vivien Thomas wrote that Marcotte and other commentators in that thread should be accountable for and should correct the multiple misstatements of fact with regard to the Duke Lacrosse players that Marcotte and the Pandagon regulars promote on an ongoing basis:

http://pandagon.net/2007/02/13/for-curious-people/#comment-359906

With the next link Marcotte gives life to the ‘Shitstorm.’ A little background: on Feb 2nd a couple of people that follow the Duke Lacrosse Rape case became aware of Marcotte’s Jan 21st rant regarding the Duke Lacrosse players. Those people then posted a number of reasoned but critical comments about Marcotte’s libelous Jan 21st post at Pandagon. Marcotte responded by deleting the critical Feb 2nd comments and quickly closing the Feb 2nd thread here:

http://pandagon.net/2007/02/02/you-know-what-i-miss/#comments

Marcotte then deleted her initial Jan 21 Duke Lacrosse rant post entirely and replaced it with the post that resides there now. The link to a screen capture of Marcotte’s initial Jan 21st Duke Lacrosse rant post (before Marcotte deleted the post) is here:

http://www.herdwatching.com/media/library/2007/02/pandagon_airport_comment.png

(See my previous comment just above in this thread titled: ‘Birth Of A Shitstorm.’)

It is worth noting that Marcotte wholesale deleted the comments that were entirely factual but were inconsistent with Marcotte’s worldview. At the same time she allows to stand the comments made by Pandagon regulars that are wholly inconsistent with the facts of the case.

Also noteworthy, the comments that Marcotte deleted were most certainly not “oddly aggressive and misogynistic” and they were not made by the “right-wing noise machine.” In fact, one of the commentator’s political perspective is well left of center:

http://liestoppers.blogspot.com/2007/02/our-collective-voice-limits-of-social.html

Other commentary regarding Marcotte commentary deletion and commentator banning:

http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/2007/02/more-airbrushing.html

http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/186032.php

http://www.overlawyered.com/2007/02/meet_john_edwardss_new_blogger.html

The result is Pandagon has become an echo chamber of parroting.

So sad!

Marcotte included in her essay a link to a Malkin video parody of Marcotte rants. The parody was funny but not Malkin’s best effort with regard to Marcotte. Here is the best (watch it to the end to get the “Where’s The Delete Key!!!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw2G2OIal2c&mode=related&search=

OK, so you don’t have to hunt for the first Malkin video, it’s here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcNbv-7sNLw&mode=related&search=

Footnote: All of the Pandagon postings and comments in the Pandagon links provided above exist at the time of my commentary post. There are no guarantees, either expressed or implied, that the postings and comments are anything more than Blogosphere fairy dust beyond that time.

As a longtime reader of Pandagon, it's very obvious that the strongest critics on this letter thread have never read the blog. People here are flinging around a lot of nasty assumptions and generalizations, most likely based on the spin they've read on other blogs or gathered from Donahue's PR campaign.

There is nothing hateful or vile or particularly vulgar about Pandagon. It's typically very humorous and insightful. It does poke fun at the powerful and the bigoted, which is one of the reasons I keep going back!

Finally, as someone who has disagreed with Amanda on her blog in the past, I say from experience that she has not banned me nor has she treated me with disrespect. The ogre people are trying to create here just doesn't exist.

The good, the bad and the UGLY - of the Internet Age, Alternative Net News, the growing blogosphere that is now so ubiquitous, and free for all political campaigns where civility and fairness are tossed out the window.

For the most part I enjoy and am entertained, enlightened or shown another view by sites such as Salon. I've been a political and current affairs student for years and generally view the internet news age as something GOOD.

Moral Highway guides though, be they religious leaders, politicians, govt. officials or parroting political pundits, that non-stop heap misinformation, malcontent and partisan spin are BAD, for the spirit of our diverse democratic country.

And then the UGLY of it all, is that veritable slide that so many in the media and blogosphere have taken to as it relates to manners and civility. Vanity, vulgarity, rudeness, sexual innuendo - using religious christian metaphors and reference to human sexual acts - and yet the authors caught in the act, report either humor, or light hearted fancy are at play; rarely is there accountability or thought of consequence.

I'm a supporter of Edwards and Robertson. I'm tired of the Clinton legacy and am not connected to Obama. When Ms. Marcotte said I will - work for the campaign - she should have known that her every act and word - be it public or private - and be it for the campaign or her private blog- would be subject to scrutiny. Her mannerism and style would reflect on the candidate and his imagery.

Amazing to me that the supposed shield of (female) gender, feminism, youth

and loose lips assunder, release Ms. Marcotte from the slightest hint of recklessness or negligence in her own commentary. It may not be fair, but it's not so suprising that the right wing and religious zealots set off on a witch hunt against the likes of Marcotte. Yes, she's the one that initiated her private slide into the dark pandoras box she seems to be trapped in. Marcotte and (Chris Hitchens?) - Queen and King at the upcomming political pandoras ball.

All hail to the tortured political tirades those of us in this country get to see in the next year and a half as the presidential races grind on. If Ewards slides, Marcotte will be nothing be a small footnote at years end. If he sustains though and lands atop the Democratic side, Marcotte on the outside, looking in, can wonder, what might have been had she stayed "a more civil course in her very abbreviated campaign.