Well, the unfortunate thing is the resignation. That’s the most unfortunate aspect because it only emboldens him. Because Donohue won. And that makes me furious.
It’s also like Mara Vanderslice; she worked for the Kerry campaign as his religious outreach person and Donohue discovered that she had once been in a demonstration with [AIDS activist group] Act Up, and he then went after her, with exactly the same kind of language: “I’m going to get her fired,” etc. She didn’t lose her job and didn’t get fired, but she was totally isolated within the campaign; she couldn’t make public statements or be used well anymore. And he writes about how “I got her.”
There is something about this man and his attacks on women that is frightening. There was a while when I refused to go on air with him [for television appearances] because — you know I am a very strong person — but I felt physically threatened by this man. He never physically threatened me, but I felt like I was in the presence of an abuser. So for a long time I just refused because it was too degrading to be in his presence. I got over it eventually and have done a few things with him since. I understand that he is so offensive that he does himself damage; as long as I can maintain my equilibrium with him attacking me in the most vicious ways possible — that only does me credit and makes him look like the abuser that he is. But the glee with which he went after Vanderslice and the glee with which he has gone after these women marks him as an abuser.
Word.
Oh, she’s so delightful. :)
There are local crazy-cons who do the same type of thing as Donohue. One here in North Dakota will call you at work and at home multiple times if you write anything at all about his craptastic newspaper, the Dakota Beacon (which is legendary for its far, far right-wing attacks on Democrats – even saying the Dems supported eugenics).
He doesn’t physically threaten you, but he makes vague overtones towards threats that sound like he’s going to bust in the window at your house with a brick or something. It’s pretty scary – the last time I got a call from him at work I left the building for about an hour.
The thing to remember is that these guys are not able to effect you unless you let them. Calling up opponents and verbally harassing them into silence is a tactic straight out of Karl Rove’s playbook. It puts you on the defensive and it’s incredibly uncomfortable.
Amanda made the choice she felt was right and I support her on that. I just wish Edwards would have stood up and, in much stronger language, said Donohue is just another crazy right-winger that lies about people.
[...] r views were actually worthy of consideration. Frances Kissling says she feels Bill Donohue is an abuser, and I would tend to agree; cer [...]
I was saddened to find out that Amanda had resigned but I can’t criticize her for her decision. I can criticize Edwards, for the reasons that everyone else has; He either should have known who he was hiring in the first place and either not hired them or stuck by them. Period. He has only proven to me that he has no spine and is willing to acquiesce to the crazy nuts in the right wing.
*sigh*
Onto Obama…
Yes, after receving death threats and torrents of abuse, both Amanda and Melissa resigned.
Whoo! A win for Team Jesus! High five!
Donohue reminds me of all of the reasons I left the Catholic Church after 30 years of being an at least quarterly Mass-goer.
I *heart* Rebecca Traister, Salon writer, too, for her consistentl feminist writing.
Thanks for pointing this out!
Besides Vanderslice, he also got Rev. Brenda Bartella Peterson fired from a job as religion adviser to the DNC. The pretext for that was that she supported the lawsuit to remove ‘under God’ from the pledge of allegiance.
Interesting that the people he has fired all seem to be women…
http://youtube.com/watch?v=neDyIWRyiXQ
:D