This is just… eh, there’s no words for this. Found in the comments to Amanda’s post on the routine photoshopping of female images creating yet more mpossible ideals for women to feel bad for failing to live up to, comes this utter monstrosity, a photoshop makeover service for beauty pageant tots.
That is just so fucked, if I may be so uncivil.
UPDATE:
Shortly after I posted this Edwards released a statement:
The tone and the sentiment of some of Amanda Marcotte’s and Melissa McEwan’s posts personally offended me. It’s not how I talk to people, and it’s not how I expect the people who work for me to talk to people. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but that kind of intolerant language will not be permitted from anyone on my campaign, whether it’s intended as satire, humor, or anything else. But I also believe in giving everyone a fair shake. I’ve talked to Amanda and Melissa; they have both assured me that it was never their intention to malign anyone’s faith, and I take them at their word. We’re beginning a great debate about the future of our country, and we can’t let it be hijacked. It will take discipline, focus, and courage to build the America we believe in.
Mealy-mouthed, but Malkin loses as it seems they’re not fired after all – advantage liberal blogospshere. And my comments below still stand – the right set the agenda again, and the Democrats were caught on the back foot, again.
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Leaving aside the fact I consider Amanda Marcotte a friend (though I disagree with her on many things) the vicious public attack on the Edwards bloggers, led by rightwing media-slime Michelle Malkin, is interesting both as an object lesson for political campaigns on how not to handle bloggers and as an insight into the pathology of right wing female pundits.
This story has been all about how personal spite, a minor media figure’s fading popularity and a last desperate attempt by Malkin to get hers before it all goes to shit for the Republicans have co-incided, to produce the early derailing of the Edwards campaign amongst its own supporters.
It couldn’t’ve worked better had it been planned.
First a little backstory. It seems Ms. Michelle “I resent women unless they’re me” Malkin is not unaquainted with the indignity of being let go herself.
A Virginia newspaper recently got rid of her from its pages because she has, according the paper’s ombudsman“…a long history of poorly supported polemic” and because of her propensity to spout rubbish “…regardless of its factual basis or lack thereof”. Nicely and politely put, but the meaning’s clear. Malkin is a proven liar and bigot and was fired for it, simple as that. The difference between her firing and that of the Edwards bloggers is that Malkin got the boot for barefaced, easily debunked lying and no hysterical whipping-up of bloggers by liberals was required whatsoever. It was all her own work.
Malkin’s words spoke for themselves, and they screamed “Liar!”
Wherever did this harpy come from and how did she get to be so prominent? David Neiwert of Orcinus knew Malkin professionally in her early career; she left Seattle under a cloud after issues with her reporting. Her trademark viciousness was apparent even then. This is her parting shot to the city:
The Cattle In Seattle: You Guys Had It Coming
Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate Inc.
WASHINGTON – As I watched fire, tear gas and mass chaos consume Seattle last week, one wicked little thought crossed my mind: It couldn’t have happened to a more deserving city.
Nice.
What a catty little bitch of a genocidal wingnut welfare queen Michelle Malkin is. I wouldn’t normally take any notice of her, being as she is on the lunatic fringe of wingnuttia, except that she’s gratuitously attacked Amanda Marcotte.
Her nasty little video hit-piece is typical Malkin high-school bullying nastiness at it’s most infantile and childish. It sucks ass as a video too.
I wasn’t madly keen on Amanda working for Edwards, and said so at the time, and I also pointed out that when you join the political establishment you take what you get.
But this isn’t political – oh no, this is personal.
Envious much, Michelle? No Republican presidential candidate asked you to be their pet blogger? Ohhh, poor darling, you’ve tried everything including making your ‘O’ face on national TV, and still they don’t want you. What’s it going to take, pulling a train with the uncloseted members of the RNC?
And don’t anyone give me that reasonable, liberal ‘we’re all sisters under the skin’ crap. Fuck sisterhood. It doesn’t count for genocidal rightwing harpies.
If Malkin thinks the entire liberal blogosphere is just going to sit back and see one of its own abused in this way by such an unworthy heifer of wingnut-paid pundit she can think again, if her pretty little ventriloquist’s dummy airhead is capable of that without Jesse’s hand up her back.
If Ms. Malkin thinks liberal women are uncivil… oy, we haven’t even started yet. Ad feminam? You betcha.
Malkin the alleged ‘journalist’ may be on tv and may well be making a nice living but let’s face it, tv quality has declined markedly in recent years and she’s on Fox, which says it all. It barely qualifies for the name ‘news’. Any reasonably pretty woman (non-white for preference, that way they can point to their token ethnic to deny accusations of racism) who can rant rightwing talking points to camera will do for Fox. What else would explain the appearance of this ranting harpy on our screens?
Michelle Malkin is a no-talent, ethically-challenged, liar and Auntie Thomasina of an anchor baby who can’t write and who trades on her looks and the sexual fantasies of her wingnut admirers to make money from the rightwing crap her bad-tempered and reportedly violent husband can’t get published unless it has a exotic Asian babe fronting it. Eliminationist poison sounds so much nicer when there’a purty lil’ mouth spewing it.
But that’s right-wing women all over: small minded, petty jealous cows who’d tread on anyone in their discounted-wholesale Jimmy Choo knockoffs if they thought it’d get them more attention from the guys and/or push their ‘careers’. (And there was I thinking they should be at home ministering to their husbands needs and popping out sprogs by the dozen, like they want the rest of us to. Silly me.)
I predict Ms. Malkin, wannabe Bitch-Queen of All Wingnuttia, is going to wish she hadn’t made that video very soon. A lot of people like Amanda, but many more most assuredly loathe Michelle.
Pass the popcorn.
Best wishes in her new job to Amanda Marcotte of Pandagon who is (like her predecessors at the blog, Ezra and Jesse) moving on to pastures new, specifically to work as web supremo for the John Edwards’ Democratic presidential; nomination campaign. The blog of course carries on – Pam continues as senior member and a new roster of writers has been added.
I’n very pleased for Amanda and that her career is going so well: it’s always nice when nice things happen to nice people and I’m sure she’ll be an asset to the Edwards team. And I’m glad she’s not working for Hillary.
But.
I’ve been very favourably inclined towards Edwards so far, because he at least had something to say for the poor, and I’ve been insisting in argument that an Edards/Obama ticket could be a real possibility and perhaps something that wouldn’t be too bad. I had thought both were the perhaps least venal possibilities of a Democratic party that really is no better than the Republicans when it comes to being beholden to big money and special interests.
Even socialists can see the pragmatic value of opting for the lesser evil.
Bur recently Edwards showed he’s right up there with Lieberman when it comes to supporting Israeli and neocon – and therefore Bush’s – interests in foreign policy.
During a speech via satellite at a security conference last week in Herzliya, Israel, Edwards joined the chorus of those threatening the Iranian government. “Iran threatens the security of Israel and the entire world,” Edwards said, echoing a line peddled by many neoconservatives. “Let me be clear: Under no circumstances can Iran be allowed to have nuclear weapons.”
A few moments later, he strongly hinted at the need for possible US military action. “To ensure that Iran never gets nuclear weapons, we need to keep ALL options on the table,” Edwards said. “Let me reiterate – ALL options must remain on the table.”
Oh. Right. So it’s fine by him if Bush attacks Iran. He’s just another corrupt chickenhawk then. But why sabotage his carefully calculated, champion-of-the-little American and the netroots-choice image like that?
Thinkprogress:
There’s a few possible explanations. One, Edwards sincerely believes in a more confrontational Iran policy. Two, he’s pandering to win the support and money of hawkish “pro-Israel” voters and donors. Three, he’s trying to impress the foreign policy intelligentsia by talking tough.
Any of those is enough to make me drop him like a hot brick. But let’s name the real reasons: greed and ambition. Self-interested politrcal triangulation and a willingness to sacrifice lives for his political career. Remind you of anyone?
How could any self-respecting leftist support such a person, let alone work for them?
This goes directly to what I was writing about yesterday, the whole shift in blogging as the presidential campaigns and lobbyists co-opt the power of bloggers:
Power is very seductive, so I’m not at all surprised by the continuing co-option of the big blogs into the political establishment. It’s the way elites always work: co-opt, absorb and neutralise. Just so long as those bloggers co-opted remember that that they are no longer outside the system but within it we’ll all get along fine.
Still, we must all make our own decisions and lets face it, other people’s career decisions are not really my business. From the little personal knowledge I have of Amanda she doesn’t strike me as someone who’d make frivolous decisions. I’ve no doubt she’ll have weighed up the pros and cons of this move before making it. On a personal level I will never wish Amanda anything but well, no matter how much we disagree on politics.
But Edwards and his campaign, after his self-exposure as yet another Democratic stalking-horse for AIPAC, are another matter entirely.
Now Shakespeare’s Sister has joined the campaign too as netroots co-ordinator. Nailing political colours to the mast, (or at least getting paid for blogging) seems to be quite the fashion. Who will be the next to put a paycheck over principle, I wonder?
And if anyone thinks that’s harsh or uncivil, I can only repeat what I said in my previous post.
Liberal blogging is already producing its own insider elites even though it’s that which brought us to this pass in the first place. Although they’re much less well-paid (if paid at all) than the right bloggers, the money is coming. With the ascendancy of the Democrats in Congress and a record-funded presidential race on the way, bloggers are no doubt already anticipating a tasty slice of the ad-spending and political-consultancy pie. The Hillary blogads are all over the place already.
I suppose they might argue that that’s the way the system works and what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander., t’was ever thus, blah blah blah, don’t blame us, a blogger’s got to live and so on. Fine, make your living from politics if that’s what you want to do. I’ve no problem with that, it’s your choice.
But remember that the moment you start to make your living from politics you are part of the political establishment, not the counter-establishment, on the inside not the outside, and expect to be treated accordingly
This video of Molly Ivins, the acerbic Texas writer who died yesterday after a long fight with breast cancer, comes courtesy of commenter Rheinhard at Tbogg.
Ivins was no revolutionary but one of those rock-solid beacons of sensible humanity that allow us non-USanians to still have some faith in the basic decency of the majority of the American people, despite the actions of their government. She was also very funny, but never needed to resort to the teenage-girl bitchery and attention-seeking fake outrage of so many of her latter-day imitators.
She’ll be missed by a lot of people.