Or at least a few of them. Since Ms. Marcotte’s accession to the position of chief blogger for the John Edwards presidential campaign, speculation has been rife about the often caustic opinions she has expressed, and whether or not Senator Edwards is in agreement with an important media player in his campaign on issues such as the nature of Republicans and conservatives in general, the role of Southern culture, religion, and so forth. Here are some of the quotes which I have found from Ms. Marcotte’s blog, Pandagon. (Update: Please note that the bolded headlines are my own distillations of the quotes; I believe them to be accurate summations, but they are not Ms. Marcotte’s. Only the material in actual quote marks is Ms. Marcotte’s.)
The Republicans are a Misogynistic, Homophobic, Racist Party
[In discussing wooing conservative voters away from the Republicans and to the Democrats] “Voters who are motivated by misogyny, homophobia, and racism aren’t going to leave a racist, misogynist, homophobic party for one that is all those things but just less so.”
NASCAR is an Emblem of Southern White Supremacism (same link)
“There’s no real reason that NASCAR has to have a political edge to it, much less be some weird symbol of Southern male white supremacy and yet through careful Republican marketing, it has become just that.”
If You Value The Traditional Canon, It’s Because It Upholds White Supremacism
“The main issue is that many wingnuts both don’t know shit-all about history or literature, but they are also fed a steady stream of conservative opinion pieces about the value of the traditional canon, which they enjoy for patriarchal white surpremacist reasons.”
Christian Supporters of Israel Hate Muslims, Seek the End of the World…
“Religious wingnuts, under the leadership of a San Antonio minister who’s close to Tom DeLay and pulls himself quite a bit of cash in the business of feeding right wing politics and fairy tales to the sheep, have formed a political organization called Christians United for Israel. CUFI has had multiple meetings with the White House to offer foreign policy advice. From the article, it appears that on top of the usual motivations behind Christian Zionism—hatred for Muslims, a desire to bring the end of the world, political opportunism and a chance for ministers to make their congregations feel like they are a part of something dramatic and important so their pocketbooks fall open—is seems to bug John Hagee, the founder of CUFI, that he most powerful lobby is D.C. is a Jewish organization, not a Christian one”
…But Are Still Eager to Kill Off Some Jews, As Well
“The truth of the matter is that this disdain and disregard for actual Israelis infects the Christian Zionist worldview and makes them very eager to sacrifice Israeli lives to fulfill their two missions of ushering in Armageddon and killing off Muslims.”
The Crucifixion of Christ Makes Fundamentalists Yearn To Torture Muslims
“The paradox was this—how can anybody look at the figure of Christ on the cross and think that’s anything but a condemnation of torture? For the thinking person, it clearly is. But for the fundamentalist, that image creates anxiety about death and makes them cling to their hierarchical values even more, and those values include the belief that Muslims are inferior, not-saved, and eligible for torture. They’re going to hell anyway, by the fundie logic, and why should god get all the fun of punishing them and making them suffer?”
Religion Is Bad For Society, and Charity is an Excuse To Harm the Weak
“The favorite defense of religion, even the more odious Bible-thumping kinds, is that it’s a great source of charity and has a positive overall impact on society. I’m skeptical, particularly for reasons like the above where the actual behavior of religious people, particularly the hardcore ones, demonstrates a pattern of using religious charity as a way to bolster tribalism, create damaging hierarchies, and leave the neediest members of society out in the cold.”
There are literally hundreds of other posts with opinion content that most Americans would find an interesting display of Ms. Marcotte’s views, if perhaps not a compellingly persuasive one.
A legitimate criticism can be made that I am simply listing out-of-context quotes; guilty. Obviously, I cannot reproduce Amanda’s entire blog. And in fairness, Amanda tends to write long and involved posts. Readers curious to understand Ms. Marcotte’s comprehensive worldview should, by all means, not limit themselves to my quotes, and should read her extensive body of work. I’ve made sure to include links in the subheads to the relevant stories on Pandagon, so that the reader can put the statements in context. Assuming, of course, that the posts remain in the Pandagon archive, and don’t disappear as have other problematic statements. (Update: the disappearing post issue seems to have been a migration problem, not a scrub.)
This post is cross-posted at Creative Destruction.
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13 users commented in " The Interesting Opinions of Amanda Marcotte "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a Trackback[…] The Blogger News Network today released a brief compilation of some of Marcotte’s radical opinions–see below. After Marcotte’s elevation to the post I wrote to her wishing her well, and I meant it, but I’ll be surprised if she lasts very long in her new job. I’ll be happy to be wrong. […]
[…] Edwards’ second mistake was a gross failure to do due dilligence on the campiagn blogger he hired, Amanda Marcotte. […]
[…] I often say to myself: Self, there’s simply no way you’d ever score a cushy job as a blogger for a political campaign or interest group or any other sort of respectable paying blog-gig because you’re a crazy-ass gun nut. That, and you’re an accountant. But there’s hope. Seems some lefty with a history of saying some crazy things is now blogging for The Breck Girl. […]
Her style smacks of someone who’s never really done anything. Spending time with this person is probably painful. Her insight into everything reveals the true depths of her ignorance. Her parents must be ashamed.
You - and the rest of the right-wing bloggers who have whipped themselves into a self-created frenzy over one of Edwards’s staffer’s blog posts - appear to believe that it’s reasonable to make decisions about a candidate for President on the basis of the personal opinions of one of his technical staff on a personal forum unconnected to the campaign, expressed before the campaign even began. Ironically, what you object to on those posts is her belief that right-wingers are reactionary, easily misled, and driven by superficial personal animosities! All you need is a NASCAR bumper sticker and you’d be one of Amanda’s blog posts, not just a commentator on it.
As Amanda reasonably points out, the behavior of right-wingers - in this case, you - is so far at odds with their claimed rationalizations for that behavior that we are entitled to seek more reasonable explanations for what they do. You cannot possibly be engaged in a serious analysis of the fitness of candidates for the Presidency. No rational person would go about that important task in the way you are doing. But your behavior is in perfect keeping with the swiftboat tactics that have become the dominant right-wing strategy - to create a peripheral issue of your own choosing and scream about it relentlessly in right-wing forums until somebody finally pays attention, then claim your attacks are an actual campaign issue. In this case - unlike that of Kerry - you cannot even be bothered to invent an issue that involves the actual candidate. And why did you just happen to join an organized campaign of personal hostility toward an outspoken feminist blogger who rejects religious patriarchy? The question answers itself.
An organized campaign? Who’s running things, ktkeith?
I’ve not made any statement against Edwards, or against Ms. Marcotte, for that matter. I’ve simply reproduced some of her opinions, and urged people to learn more about her if they are so inclined.
It’s fairly obvious to everyone involved that Marcotte’s rants were intended purely for consumption within the left’s echo chambers. Oops!! Methinks that if ktkeith didn’t immediately recognize the deranged character behind Marcotte’s prose - and how poorly it reflects on someone who might select her to help represent him to the electorate - s/he wouldn’t be hyperventilating so loudly and irrationally.
New Flash for ktkeith (and ilk): it is *most certainly reasonable* to make decisions about Edwards based on the caliber of person *he selects* as a steward responsible for the infrastructure used to represent him and his views to the electorate. And that goes *double* for opinions expressed before the campaign began, which ought to have figured most prominently in Edwards’ selection process… don’t you think?
I can hear your teeth grinding, ktkeith.
When any politician adds a staffer to his campaign, people take notice. They look into that individual’s pedigree for any number of reasons. That pedigree often includes writings offered for public consumption. In those writings, we see the views held publicly by that individual. Those views may give better insight into that politician’s breadth and depth of the issues. You know this. The political discourse has gotten to this level. If the tables were turned, the left would be skewering Ms. Marcotte’s political opposite right now.
In the case of Ms. Marcotte, those public offerings were the narrow-minded sophomoric prattlings of an angry young woman. Probably the result of too much self-esteeming stroking and not enough genuine love.
But that’s neither here nor there. Her opinions were made public in a forum open to the public, so I reject your claim of “personal opinions” etc.
I believe bnneditor compiled these posts to expose Ms. Marcotte’s tendency to the reactionary, the ease by which she misleads herself and her superficial personal animosities. I didn’t read any declarations about Edwards as a candidate in this post. Maybe I missed something and if I did I would appreciate you pointing it out to me.
Further, what his post exposes is more and more mainstream political candidates cozying up to the shriekers - be they from the far left or the far right.
What’s most telling about your comment and the posts of Ms. Marcotte is the condescension and arrogance employed. There’s a lack of humility and persuasiveness. Honest debate is traded for lock-step agreement. Superficial labels are employed to demonize the non-believers and feet stomp in righteous declarations, insinuating that those who disagree are the enemy. And that argument sounds a lot like “You’re with us, or you’re against us.” It’s easy to become what you hate.
Cute.
First ktkeith tries to downplay the importance of the position itself (”a staffer” - you know, like the kid who does the coffee run…) while simultaneously trying to downplay a blatantly chronic pattern of behavior (’one’ of her posts? please.), then spins back around to say that the publicly-demonstrated-and-self-espoused opinions & character of a person hired into a political campaign shouldn’t reflect on the person who hired her!
ktkeith - sit down for a minute and take some ibuprofin - you MUST have pulled a muscle, there!
Stop and think about this for a moment - this is the campaign of the guy who was Kerry’s running-mate (okay, so up until that moment, Kerry repeatedly stated that he didn’t think Edwards was qualified to BE in politics, but let’s put that aside for a moment).
Edwards wouldn’t have hired this woman as his blog-mistress (oh, the Clinton jokes that leap to mind…) unless he was CERTAIN she was advanced enough in her BDS affliction.
It was his decision and he was clearly aware of the particulars when he made the decision - just let him suffer the consequences like any other adult would have to. We are ALL judged by who we keep near us.
On the bottom words are shallow.
On the surface talk is cheap.
You can only judge the distance by the company you keep.
- Joe Walsh
- MuscleDaddy
Edwards apparently has a death wish for his WH bid since he scraped the bottom of the barrel to get his “smart women writers.” Maybe I’ll copy Amanda’s formula: hole up in my bedroom and blog about politics and cultural issues from my perspective as a whiny, middle class white girl. Please. Maybe Obama is looking for discombobulated, diary-grade content …
[…] Oh no - there’s no intent to malign this wingnut Christofascists! Not that those poor white surpremacists should feel insulted (See here for all these poor, misunderstood comments). These savage haters of Muslims should not feel any insult or intent to malign their religion simply because the cross is a symbol of hatred. No, of course they shouldn’t. And we all can understand how “odious Bible-thumping” is simply a reference to Christian Rock, not an insult to those who hold their faith dear. […]
[…] It’s easy to smear her with labels, but when you look at what they claim is radical… […]
Agreed, that bnneditor did nothing more than hang Amanda Marcotte’s words up in the wind like soiled garments. bnneditor is not to blame for the way it smells.
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