skippy the bush kangaroo: snap! collins sez hamsher's so fat, when she sits around blogtopia, she sits around blogtopia!

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

snap! collins sez hamsher's so fat, when she sits around blogtopia, she sits around blogtopia!

oooh, fdl throws down at the sen. collins re-election campaign:

washington, dc august 15, 2007 - on the same day that susan collin’s senate reelection campaign chief of staff steve abbott was pronouncing that “we have long prided ourselves on our efforts to maintain a civil level of discourse over the course of spirited political campaigns,” collins’ director of internet strategy, lance dutson, launched a false and offensive attack against the highly respected blog, firedoglake, best known for its groundbreaking liveblogging of the scooter libby trial.

firedoglake’s founder, jane hamsher demanded an apology and the firing of dutson for his characterization of the blog as “the foul-mouthed fem-blog firedoglake.”

“i’m deeply offended that senator collins would speak about professional women in such a degrading and offensive manner,” said hamsher. “it is well beneath the dignity becoming a sitting senator to engage in such coarse and misogynistic rhetoric.”

christy hardin smith, featured fdl blogger, said: “the sexist undertones used on sen. collins’ blog are appalling – the use of “fem-blog” is erroneous and dismissive. citizens in this country have a right — an obligation — to hold those who ask us for our votes accountable. women have just as much right as men to speak up for their country and their families, whether senator collins likes that or not.”

firedoglake, one of the leading progressive blogs with over a half million readers per week publishes posts by jane hamsher, christy hardin smith, trex and pachacutec — both male bloggers — and guest posts by an additional 4 women and 6 male bloggers. firedoglake received critical acclaim with its in-depth coverage of the valerie plame case culminating in the blog’s live gavel-to-gavel coverage of the scooter libby trial – coverage that drew applause from leading journalism professionals. the new york times, in a page one story noted that “the firedoglake ‘live blog’ has offered the fullest, fastest public report available. many mainstream journalists use it to check on the trial.”

[ed. note: fdl corrects itself in a later post, noting that they

identified steve abbot, who wrote the letter on behalf of the collins campaign calling for a “civil level of discourse,” as collins’ campaign chief of staff. in fact, abbot is her senate chief of staff. correction duly noted.

it does, however, raise an interesting question. what is abbot doing working on the campaign? is this something he is doing in his spare time, or is he being paid by the federal government to do so?

it raises a more interesting question: what does skippy have to do to get in the middle of a good ol' blog war?]

Labels: fdl, senate