I hope Edwards learned from this, but politically this won't stick.  His final response is adequate, even though his initial response was entirely flawed.

I mean no disrespect to Smith, but am simply pointing out that  political memories are short.  I hope the next time they lob mud at him, he reacts much better.

Weren't the initial reports about the firings unsubstatiated? If so, the "final" response is the only one that's accurate, hence no reversal on the part of Edwards.

I am a bit confused on the initial reports and if they were wrong or not.  Were they fired and rehired?  I'm actually not certain that they were re-hired (if they were ever fired) but that seems to be implied.

Can someone set the record straight?

...but they're back on board now, regardless.

The shills for the Bush administration are reduced to giving thumbs up or down to the Democratic presidential hopefuls. I guess that's all they have left to do now. Yes, Bush is really facing down those mad mullahs in Afganistran and Iraq. (1)Helicopter down! (2)Helicopter down! (3)Helicopter down! (4)Helicopter down! (5)Helicopter down!

Michelle should take a helicopter tour of Iraq to get a better view of what's going on.

So, the battle lines are set. Michelle Malkin is no one to be throwing stones. I predict this goes the way of Allen's attacks on Webb's novels.

I thought I'd share this nugget of humor from Wonkette and the Des Moines Register.  Chuck Grassley was doing a conference call with reporters:

Grassley, who has said he will wait a while before endorsing anyone, discussed the presidential field with Iowa reporters on a conference call Wednesday. He said he has not yet talked with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani about his decision to form a presidential committee.

"But I have, for instance, the week before, Huckleberry -" said Grassley, then stopped.

"Who?" asked the reporter.

"Whatever ..." said Grassley.

"Huckabee?" the reporter prompted.

"Huckabee. Don't put that in your newspaper," Grassley said.

are always better with a picture of Queen Crazy herself.  Thanks!  :)

I am not following this closely.  Did Michelle Wanna Be A Wingnut & Co start a rumor about Edwards firing his bloggers so it could make Edwards look foolish when he "rehired" them or basically said they are still on staff?

This political climate is disgusting and it does not surprise me that a lot of people say they don't want to vote or aren't interested in politics.  It gets too damn confusing.  Some Republicans seem to want only the motivated voters who they know are with them going to the polls.

On that note, I am glad that Obama  introduced legislation that criminalizes  some of the conduct we've seen during campaigns recently.  I'm talking about intentional deception and so on.  Ben Cardin was on WAMU this week talking about Steele busing in those guys from Philly.

You have to wonder about some of these people.  Did they grow up in a home where their parents taught them right from wrong?  What the hell is wrong with Michael Steele?

Seems to me that in upcoming Dem and non-partisan lawyers safeguarding the voting process are going to have to turn up the heat big time.

I actually draw a different lesson from this.

By ultimately refusing to pander to Donohue, Edwards dealt appropriately with the kind of two-bit dictators that Malkin mentions.  My concerns with Edwards aren't in whether he'll stand up to Kim Jong-il or mad mullahs.  He obviously will.

I also think the Edwards campaign showed very adept political skills in its counterspin and course correction by containing the political damage that this incident might have caused.

I think relawson hits the nail on the head here.  Edwards initial campaign launch was overshadowed by external events (Sadaam's execution).  In this instance, Anna Nicole Smith's timing--another external event--couldn't have been better.

I still have fundamental concerns about Edwards as a candidate.