I am Spartacus!

Following driftglass,

I am Spartacus.



Because I don't have time right now to compose my own thoughts, literally, I'll crib from two fine bloggers. First, the aforesaid driftglass:

Shakespeare’s Sister has announced that she is bowing out of the Edwards campaign.

Needless to say this is a very sad and sobering development.

And needless to say that she is doing it with orders of magnitude more grace and élan than either the rabid howler monkeys on the Right or the pudding-soft children within the Edwards campaign are capable of mustering on their best day.

And needless to say that the Right’s madness has manifested itself in threats of violence against my friend Shakes, because that is how the Right operates.

And then my #1 favorite blogger, Waveflux:

Melissa McEwan resigned today from her position as netroots coordinator for John Edwards' presidential campaign.

[...] Melissa's statement and her resignation demonstrates maturity and integrity, qualities starkly lacking in the bullying Bill Donohue and his Catholic League.

I don't worry about Melissa; she is tough and smart and will prosper. I do worry about the rest of us in a society where a pious demagogue can make cheap, unchallenged headlines by way of slander.

I said earlier that there was only one response to bullies like Donohue, and it doesn't matter whether they lurk at the margins of politics or at the center of civic discourse. Only one response, and needed from more than just the targets of their attacks, from more than one lone political campaign. The repsonse that's needed to counter the likes of Donohue, thugs who want nothing less than to silence you, is more speech, and better, and from all of us.

Though in a pinch, nailing bullies for violations of 501(c)(3) regulations will also do.

History here.

And here.

And here:

And here.

And here.

And death threats? That's just wrong.