Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, issued the following statement today about John Edwards’ decision to retain two staff members who have a history of making obscene attacks on Christians:
“Over the next week, we will contact hundreds of organizations throughout the nation informing them of the kind of people that John Edwards is proud to have on his payroll. We will give them the exact comments made by Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan—nothing will be censored. They will read for themselves the most hate-filled, blasphemous and obscene remarks—all of which were brought to the attention of Edwards—that have ever been written by any employee of a presidential candidate. The purpose of this communication is to ignite a national discussion on the incredible double standard that exists regarding bigotry in American life.
“We have a core list of approximately 150 Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu organizations that we have previously allied with on several issues. We are now in the process of expanding this list by adding at least another 600 organizations, many of which are non-sectarian; we feel certain that they will be as outraged as we are about this mind-boggling development. In fact we know so: We have already received support from such groups as The Blue Dog Democrats, Family Research Council, Fidelis, the National Democratic Ethnic Leadership Council, as well as from individuals like Howard Teich, former official with the American Jewish Congress. This is just the beginning.
“We either have one shoe that fits all when it comes to fighting bigotry, or we have a phony, politically correct approach to the subject. That is the ultimate issue, not John Edwards.
“Contacting our allies is only one part of our strategy. As I said yesterday, I have developed a game plan that will keep this issue afloat for the remainder of the year.”
