In their stories about the uproar over the Edwards campaign’s hiring of two foul-mouthed nutroots bloggers, the mainstream media have been portraying the controversy as coming mainly from “right-wing Christians,” in an attempt to downplay the seriousness of the issue.

But Marcotte and McEwan’s disgraceful writings have also been noticed by the so-called “religious left”—and they’re just as disgusted as the Catholic League: Edwards Blogger Flap Discomforts Religious Left.

As the flap over alleged anti-Catholic writings by two John Edwards campaign bloggers devolves into a shouting match between conservative religious voices and liberal bloggers, some members of the “religious left” say they feel – again – shoved to the margins of the Democratic Party.

“We’re completely invisible to this debate,” said Eduardo Penalver, a Cornell University law professor who writes for the liberal Catholic journal Commonweal. He said he was dissatisfied with the Edwards campaign’s response. “As a constituency, the Christian left isn’t taken all that seriously,” Penalver said.

Democrats — and Edwards in particular — have embraced the language of faith and the imperative of competing with Republicans for the support of religious voters. His wife, Elizabeth Edwards, even sits on the board of the leading organization of the religious left, Call to Renewal. But in private conversations and careful public statements today, religious Democrats said they felt sidelined by Edwards’ decision to stand by his aides.

“We have gone so far to rebuild that coalition [between Democrats and religious Christians] and something like this sets it back,” said Brian O’Dwyer, a New York lawyer and Irish-American leader who chairs the National Democratic Ethnic Leadership Council, a Democratic Party group. O’Dwyer said Edwards should have fired the bloggers. “It’s not only wrong morally – it’s stupid politically.”

O’Dwyer e-mailed a statement to reporters saying: “Senator Edwards is condoning bigotry by keeping the two bloggers on his staff. Playing to the cheap seats with anti-Catholic bigotry has no place in the Democratic Party.” [Wanna bet? —ed.]

In a comment that several Catholic Democrats told The Politico they found particularly offensive, Edwards aide Amanda Marcotte asked, in a posting to her personal blog, “What if Mary had taken Plan B after the Lord filled her with his hot, white, sticky Holy Spirit?”

The other Edwards blogger, Melissa McEwan, has come under fire for referring to Christian conservatives as “Christofascists” in her personal blog.

The media have been focusing almost exclusively on Marcotte and McEwan’s statements about Christianity, but in truth they’re equal opportunity haters. It’s not just a religious thing; this branch of the blogosphere is boiling over with rage and hatred, directed at everyone who doesn’t follow their flavor of groupthink. Their attacks against conservative politicians and “right-wing” bloggers and commentators are every bit as vile.

UPDATE at 2/9/07 9:36:49 am:

Just to make one thing clear, I am not calling for Edwards to fire these two examples of the progressive mindset. I’ve already laid in a year’s supply of popcorn and I’d hate to see it go to waste.