Democrats Pretend to Find Religion

It's always amusing to see Democrats finding God during campaign season, especially when they try the delicate balancing act of pandering to the far-left anti-Christian lunatics while pretending to have a deeply religious core.

In the Opinion Journal today, Mary Eberstadt has Curse of the Christian Bashers, an interesting insight into the phenomenon of candidates who normally eschew religious values who now come courting those evil Christians they frequently insult.

Heavens, it's getting crowded in the pews these days--at least with Democratic presidential candidates. Here is Sen. Barack Obama in California's Saddleback pulpit at the invitation of mega-selling pastor Rick Warren. There is Sen. Hillary Clinton with downcast eyes in Newsweek, praying before the cameras in New York's Riverside Church. And there preaches John Edwards, also in Riverside Church, weaving his personal faith into everything from AIDS to the minimum wage. Clearly the push is on to show that, for now anyway, the Democratic hopefuls are just plain folks in the religion department.

All the more reason to plumb the curious episode of Amanda Marcotte, that blogger for the Edwards campaign who resigned on Monday and was followed out the door Tuesday by another technical consultant, Melissa McEwan. Both quit thanks to circulation by conservatives of some of these former staffers' Internet musings. That is to say, in Ms. Marcotte's case especially: scatological Catholic-baiting rants about "theocracy" marked by leering references to the pope and liberal use of the F-word.

So far, so unremarkable. Just being a bilious feminist with a potty mouth doesn't much distinguish one in the blogosphere these days. What does matter is something else: We have here a Rosencrantz and Guildenstern moment, in which the fate of bit players becomes emblematic of a larger drama.

For what the blogger tempest really illuminates is a fact that could come to haunt the Democrats as they vie for national office: namely, that their past few wilderness years have also been boom years for the church-loathing liberal/left punditry. As a result, anti-Christian invective now graces (or disgraces) many of the books, magazines, Web sites and blogs to which liberals, including the Democratic elite, habitually look for ideas. One motto of this cottage industry is that the most serious threat to the American republic can be found in, no, not those religious fundamentalists, the ones that first leap to mind after 9/11; but, incredibly, certain other believers--our nation's Christians.

Read it all.

Melissa McEwan Jumps Ship

The Silky Pony looks more inept than ever now that the other foul-mouthed blogger, Melissa McEwan, has resigned, as noted by Confererate Yankee. Though at least this one has a wee bit of dignity.

I regret to say that I have also resigned from the Edwards campaign. In spite of what was widely reported, I was not hired as a blogger, but a part-time technical advisor, which is the role I am vacating.

I would like to make very clear that the campaign did not push me out, nor was my resignation the back-end of some arrangement made last week. This was a decision I made, with the campaign's reluctant support, because my remaining the focus of sustained ideological attacks was inevitably making me a liability to the campaign, and making me increasingly uncomfortable with my and my family's level of exposure.

Michelle Malkin has more, including more childish nutroots babbling. See also Bryan at Hot Air.

UPDATE: More comedic gold from Iowahawk.

Silky Pony Fires Bloggers

After the New York Times story, it was only a matter of when. Now they're gone.

Surely, they'll return to their foul-mouthed tirades, and become legends of the nutroots. They fought the man, and the man won. Maybe The Pantsuit, known for her obscene tirades, will open the door for them. We can only hope.

The right-wing blogosphere has gotten its scalps -- John Edwards has fired the two controversial bloggers he recently hired to do liberal blogger outreach, Salon has learned.

The bloggers, Amanda Marcotte, formerly of Pandagon, and Melissa McEwan, of Shakespeare's Sister, had come under fire from right-wing bloggers for statements they had previously made on their respective blogs. A statement by the Catholic League's Bill Donohue, which called Marcotte and McEwan "anti-Catholic vulgar trash-talking bigots," and an accompanying article on the controversy in the New York Times this morning, put extra pressure on the campaign.

Note to other campaigns: Do a little background research on the people you hire. It will save a lot of headaches.

More from LGF and Michelle Malkin.

UPDATE: Further blog roundups on Panda-Gone from Bryan at Hot Air, Sister Toldjah, more from Michelle, Patterico and a priceless Iowahawk piece.