Seconded.

Couldn't agree more. Kudos to those who disagree passionately, civilly and intelligently - Erica in particular.

Oh, now really - If the comments in that thread (thus far, at 846pm PDT) are "actively hostile", you must not get onto Slog - or out in the real world - very much.

There were two or three bitchy comments, but the vast majority of them were very supportive.

Catalina,

Point taken. And many people in that thread similarly defend ECB's right to disagree. I was more thinking of some of the comments form the past few months. A few were shocking.

Yeah, no kidding. I *like* ECB. I don't always agree with her, and I don't always read her posts -- mostly because I just can't make myself care as much about transit as I should -- but I've never understood why she inspires such totally hatred. Keep fighting the good fight, Ms. Barnett!

When the "active hostility" was caused by ECB's own statements, the bravery is more accurately described as the integrity to continue as she started, but that doesn't take anything away from the compliment. Nice to see Slog standing by their own.

jonathan @4, comments from ecce don't count. what qualifies as "shocking" when you take his crazy ranting out of the picture? i'm truly curious about your take on this.

Well, I wouldn't say "shocking", but comments that immediately start up on whether she's hawt or nawt are pretty obnoxious, wouldn't you agree? Obnoxious, and deliberately so. Actively hostile is accurate, I think.

Meh. ECB would've made a more effective voice for Clinton if she hadn't, for example, resorted to calling him a child and his supporters deranged.

(him=Obama)

Agree w/Fnarf @8...and with Jonathan.

@9,

Now, now, she merely agreed with someone who implied that Obama was a child.

I too have appreciated the difference of opinion that ECB has brought to the debate. It's been a (mostly) thoughtful dialogue. Thank you for putting up with all the bullshit.

Good job, loyal opposition.

Agreed. I couldn't diagree with her more, but Erica's voice of dissent has been important at the Stranger. I also agree that the prolonged debate has been great because it has kept the democratic agenda at the forefront of the discussion and gave Obama some practice fighting republican tactics that he will certainly need in the general election.

I completely agree with Jonathan.

Even if you completely ignore Ecce Homo's ravings, there has been a lot of hostility directed at ECB in the last couple of months. Not just vigorous disagreement, but a lot of personal attacks. Not just one or two. A lot. Sometimes a wide majority of the comments. It has been pretty disheartening to read, at times.

Disagree all you want, folks, but that kind of vitriol will result with McCain in the White House next spring.

@16,

To be completely honest, she's put up with a lot of vitriol for a long time. She likes to stir shit up, but my impression is that she catches more flack than even Mudede or Feit.

I have to agree, it's far more fun having diverse viewpoints from Stranger staffers.

How very patronizing of you Jonathan. What, you think just because Erica's a woman she should not be held accountable for the level of immature hostility SHE FOSTERED and PROMOTED?

Shame on you.

Ah well. We can't all try to be actively against logic and reason with our ears closed to the opposition. But, we should strive for that, much like ECB.

That is, until we're proven wrong. Much like many people were on the current war in Iraq.

Sorry...bravery in the face of an actively hostile audience, maybe. But it was an actively hostile audience that she created. Were her arguments better formulated, she probably would have faced less hostility. It's the quality of her posts wrt Clinton that was lacking. Hopefully we can see ECB get back to the quality writing we've seen in the past. Take on City Hall, ECB, and let your antipathy towards Obama have a rest!

What a self-referential media circle-jerk.

ECB was never as annoying as a few of the pro-Clinton commenters. I haven't gloated very much throughout the entire primary, but what now fluteprof and McG? What was that about the race already having been decided in Clinton's favor? Where's your gracious admittance of stubborn douchebaggery?

Big Sven was cool though. Glad to have you on our side!

Um, she created the actively hostile audience? Please, do tell what she said/did that caused so many people (not just ecce homo) to tell her that she just needed to get laid. Or that she was "homely". Anybody who thinks that the commentors were actively hostile only about (or because of) her opinions and views on the election hasn't been paying very close attention.

What is this? A pity party for ECB? Poor thing. I guess if you post enough idiotic drivel on SLOG, eventually someone will start a thread where everyone feels sorry for you.

I don't recall Dan Savage ever needing any sort of affirmations from Jack Handy.

All of you who think ECB has been unfairly humiliated are probably going to tell us the GWB has been treated disrespectfully, too. Too bad. Stupidity deserves to be ridiculed. The fact that ECB makes it so easy is her fault.

I don't think watching a lot of commenters run around correcting misinformation, only to be ignored, is "interesting." Erica hardly did a good job of making the case for Hillary.

In fact the only instances I can think of on the Slog when anybody came over to her were people who were outraged over how the media treated her, rather than because they thought Hillary was a better nominee than Obama.

I kid a lot, but I seriously do not want to witness ECB trying to make the case for Obama over McCain. There are a lot of independent swing voters on the Slog, and Erica's insulting rants are very likely to send them over to the cranky old man. I hope she stays out of it now.

@25 & @26 - Well put. It's not as though ECB has been putting up intelligent posts explaining why she favors certain positions Clinton takes over those Obama takes. She puts up non-substantive attacks on Obama (and his supporters) and posts things like the video where Obama supposedly gives Hillary the finger. She has contributed nothing positive to the debate.

All said and done, I had a really fun time getting all worked up and leaving angry comments on Erica's pro-Clinton posts.

After all, what is Slog if not a source of amusement? Thanks, ECB.

Erica, while I was an early Obama convert, I really appreciated the discourse you provided over the last few months. Your posts were always interesting and well documented (full of links and sources. bravo!).

Thank you!

ECB posted many divisive stories in support of her candidate. Many posts, in fact, were anti-Obama rather than pro-Clinton and written in a condescending and inflammatory tone. I agree with ECB on transit issues, but she talks down to us proles far too much. The thick sarcasm, the gloating, the immaturity is just astounding. And it's absolutely no surprise that her comment threads mirror her antagonistic behavior.

Listen, people have been crapping on ECB long before the primary heated up. I never really agreed with those folks strongly until ECB started parroting for Clinton in such a divisive way, but since then I also read her transit, land use, and city news posts closely and notice loose reporting, coloring of the facts, and general immaturity. Probably her worst attribute is that she writes in an authoritative tone that really causes people who agree with 75% of what she's saying cast as buffoons.

There are plenty of female slog writes that do not get attacked for their sex. It's unfortunately that some of the ECB-haters use hateful words and demean her. They likely do so because he also overly-sensitive to what she thinks is sexism -- and these spiteful commenters know that.

I think the problems that the majority of anti-ECB posters have with her don't deal with the fact that she supports another candidate or that she is a woman. It's how she expresses her opinions or ideas are demeaning, often not put in the appropriate context, or just plain wrong.

Some posts I remember in particular: Middle finger Obama, saying Obama hates gay marriage, ST2 gloating, lashing out at the Seattle Times bus editorial regarding lowering bus fares, insinuating that being passionate about a candidate is some how creepy or unintellectual.

Of course, I think it's great that there is/was a voice for the Clinton supporters posting to the Slog. It kept things more diverse.

ECB's coverage of HRC's candidacy was almost as illuminating about the state of sexism in this country as the candidacy itself.

A blogger I read, Opinionistas, had this to say about the hate mail when she stopped being anonymous:

somehow I doubt that, had I been male, so much of the vitriol would be directed at my physical appearance, sexual history and personal life. Just a wild hunch on that one.

For some reason that made me think of ECB.

Oh, give me a break. Sexism is a larger issue than some blog commenters hiding behind anonymity to say hateful things. Absolutely, a male wouldn't have had the same type of comments made (regarding appearance and sexual history, in particular) but given that it's the Internet, yes a male who had a bunch of people mad at him would face some tough and immature words.

I want to make it clear that I'm not saying ECB brought the sexist comments on herself, I'm saying that she brought the vitriol and anger on herself because the inflammatory nature of her posts. So, yes, some crossed the line and uttered degrading personal attacks, but that doesn't mean that much of the criticism directed at ECB is invalidated. I never insulted ECB's sex or looks, but I have serious issue with her as a reporter and editorialist.

I wish we could discuss these issues that I and other sloggers feel strongly about with patronizing ECB with, "Oh, that poor woman." Yes, some people are not constructive, but some people are. If we're concerned abut raising the level of dialog away from sexism, why not focus on the constructive people instead of implicitly grouping them with the nonconstructive trolls as the very respectable and decent Science did in this blog entry.

(I don't blame Science for reaching out to ECB without showing the "other side of the story," because sometimes you have to be human and kind to a good person -- which I'm sure ECB is.)