« Apple Screws up | Main | Forced Disappearances are bad... »
February 07, 2007
L’Affair D’ Marcotte:
Every now and then, I’d tell Amanda that she ought to run for office. Every time I suggested as much, she’d tell me that she can’t: she’d get crucified. I always thought she was kind of a coward, overstating the obstacles to excuse herself from doing an unpleasant duty. Boy, was I wrong...
Amanda Marcotte is exactly the sort of smart, passionate person this country needs. She and I disagree on many issues. Religion, yes. Space travel, yes. Her views on abortion are (somewhat) to the left of mine. But arguing with her, conversing with her, reading her... She’s a smart woman; John Edwards did well for himself when he picked a blogmaster...
The Far Right has been throwing shit up against the wall ever since the news broke. First, there was the simple shock of it all. Bloviating about nothing at all. Next came the Case of the Missing Posts (server malfunction), then Michelle Malkin started reading random passages of Pandagon—ones where Amanda accused the Bush Administration of letting New Orleans die. Now the claim is being made that she’s anti-Catholic...
None of this has anything to do with how she has handled her responsibilities with the Edwards Campaign. You may agree with her opinions. You may not. Agreement or disagreement has nothing to do with her ability to do her job. That job is to say the sorts of things about John Edwards that John Edwards thinks will get John Edwards elected President...
Is she capable of doing that? There is probably no one better capable of doing it. Should she be fired from her current job for things she has said before taking that job? Not if John Edwards believes in Free Speech. Free, in this case, meaning—yes—consequence free...
So there it is. If John Edwards fires Amanda Marcotte, he won’t be getting my vote. I cannot possible vote for anyone who holds such a low opinion of free expression...
Posted by Andrew at February 7, 2007 04:09 PM