Hillary supporters touting Teddy-bashing op-ed by Joan Vennochi. That sets a dangerous precedent.

[beachmom]

Joan Vennochi is a nasty, nasty person who writes nasty op-eds about everyone. She has no shame. She loves hating on Democrats, and is especially attracted to pitting one Democrat against another.

I think Digby had it right about Vennochi, and DUers should NOT be quoting her:

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/03/excuse-me-by-digby.html

In a post that started with, "Excuse me but just who the hell does Joan Vennochi think she is?", Digby quoted what I think is the ugliest article Joan has ever written. It was written in the wake of Elizabeth Edwards's breast cancer coming back, and here is an excerpt from Joan Vennochi, who some Clinton supporters think it is fit to quote from:

But as a political observer, I also find it hard to read "Saving Graces" without noticing the frenetic new life she and her husband invented after their son's death.

John Edwards ran for the US Senate, then for president, and then for vice president as John Kerry's running mate in 2004.

Elizabeth Edwards had two more children, a daughter and son, who are now 8 and 6. She took on the daunting task of new motherhood in her 50s; they also have a daughter, Cate, 24.

Elizabeth Edwards also immersed herself in every aspect of her husband's political campaigns, all the time thinking how much Wade would have relished the adventure. The Edwardses are building an extravagant 28,200-square-foot dream house, west of Chapel Hill, N.C.

This is not a judgment on the way this family chose to deal with their loss. Still, the memoir reveals a desperate effort, especially on Elizabeth Edwards's part, to fill her life with anything -- speeches, travel, lofty goals for America -- that will fill the void left by her son's death. She never will; no mother could. But she will keep on running until someone makes her slow down.

That is where John Edwards could step in, or should. But, for whatever the reason -- her strong will, his strong ambition -- the two keep racing forward.

I have never been an Edwards supporter, but I thought that column Joan wrote was despicable. Between that and her gleeful posts when Kerry lost the 2004 election, can't we all agree that her columns are not fit to quote on DU?

I'll end with What Digby Said about Joan Vennochi, who by the way LOVES to gossip about the Clinton marriage:

I love to gossip as much as the next person. It's part of being human to want to feel superior to others and experience all kinds of delicious schaudenfreude. But when it comes to politics and policy this gossipy "character" nonsense is a destructive distraction that has become a useless proxy for figuring out what citizens want their government to do and whether they think certain people are capable of doing it. Dissecting politicians' marriages will not get them there and it's time for the chattering classes to get off their well-fed behinds and start writing interesting stories that might actually educate and inform the citizens of this country. People can get plenty of nasty gossip elsewhere to fulfill their need to feel superior and virtuous. National political opinion columns should have a slightly higher calling.

...

And can I just say how dreadfully inappropriate and cruel it is for Venocchi to write this column just days after Edwards announced she is fighting for her life with stage four cancer? What possibly made her think this was necessary?