Christine O'Donnell's Career, RIP (Power Line)

Powerline Blog ^ | SEPTEMBER 17, 2010 | John

[RobinMasters]

Christine O'Donnell's campaign went off the rails today when Bill Maher announced that he has previously-unseen clips of O'Donnell from the late 1990s when she appeared several times on his show. In one clip, she says that she once "dabbled into witchcraft."

I dabbled into witchcraft -- I never joined a coven. But I did, I did. ... I dabbled into witchcraft. I hung around people who were doing these things. I'm not making this stuff up. I know what they told me they do. [...]

One of my first dates with a witch was on a satanic altar, and I didn't know it. I mean, there's little blood there and stuff like that. ... We went to a movie and then had a midnight picnic on a satanic altar.

[altair]

My trusty Oxford English dictionary says a witch is “ a woman thought to have evil magical powers “ . A warlock is a “ man who practices witchcraft. “

That's nice, except that you have the wrong country. Try a dictionary of American English, like Merriam Webster. I see in Webster's dictionary of American English: "a follower or practitioner of modern witchcraft; a Wiccan priest or priestess."

[LibFreeUSA]

-"Well at this point it is a little late, but that alone should have raised some red flags. "

The only "red flag" any self-respecting American should be worried about in Delaware right now is the one being carried by her opponent to be planted over our red-ink-drowning country!

[sergeantdave]

I appreciate you reporting that for me:

The creep obuma flubbed the line. And the jerk couldn’t bring himself to say “by their creator.”

You know well that this freak doesn’t believe in a creator but worships a child molester named Mo-Ham-head.

[sushiman]

If you really want to get technical , “ the word ‘Wicca’ has been derived from the Anglo-Saxon word wicce, which means to have wisdom, so as to bend or shape, like a wicker for a basket. Wicca stands for a male witch, while a female witch is called ‘wicce’. With the passage of time wicca has gained currency for both male and female witches . “ : )

[Heart of Georgia]

If that weasel maher has it on tape from his idiotic show, she obviously wasn’t making any effort to hide it. I believe I read that the show didn’t air. Wonder why?

[Snuph]

Yes she was young and a liberal, so was I. Then I had to earn a living and pay bills, raise a family. It didn't take long to see the error of liberalism. I give her a total pass on stupid things said and done when she was young. As anyone who looks in the mirror will also do.

[altair]

The only thing that could stop this is strict term limits.

It was tried in the second American Revolution. It was ruled unconstitutional - you'll need a constitutional amendment.

I don't think it would really make much difference. In the recent past, California passed term limits (which I voted for, btw). If that's made a measurable improvement in the quality of governance, I've failed to detect it. At least Willie Brown is gone, which is the only reason I voted for it.

The danger of term limits is that you throw out the good with the bad leaving behind an ever entrenched bureaucracy.

The folly of term limits is that you're solving the wrong problem. The solution is to use your mind in the election season, select the proper candidates and then do your part to get them elected.

In a very real sense, I disenfranchised the voters in Willie Brown's district. They appeared ready to keep him as their rep for life. So, since I couldn't vote against him directly, I voted for bad legislation (in my opinion) that took the decision out of their hands. I feel kind of bad about that in a way.

[Heart of Georgia]

“With all the kids reading Harry Potter books, I’m sure that more than a few have dabbled. Like trying to turn the cat into a bird using Mom’s wooden spoon as a wand.”

I believe you’re right, this is nothing and if left alone it will go away. Long before the Harry Potter craze - one of the most checked out books in my high school library was on casting spells.

[Gene Eric]

The Left would celebrate 'witchcraft dabbling' as a diversified form of courage and progressiveness.

I was never big on the Goth or Judas Priest intrigue. On the other hand, I do like SRV's cut of Voodoo Chile.

[Gene Eric]

>> People really are amazing. Admitting to witchcraft is bad but admiTting to communism is ok?

Yeah, but we don’t know yet if she was dabbling in bearded witchcraft.

[altair]

Wicca stands for a male witch, while a female witch is called ‘wicce’. With the passage of time wicca has gained currency for both male and female witches . “ : )

Touché. :-)

[babble-on]

I thought by “doing something stupid” that was referring to going on TV and saying she’d dabbled in witchcraft.

[chris_bdba]

I’d say more Powerline has lost their minds.

[chris_bdba]

Really th truth! My question would be does this mean we get to talk about Obama’s cocaine use when he was older than she was?

[Hacklehead]

Conservatives are those who outgrow youthful stupidity, liberals are those that dont.

[Ronaldus Magnus]

Wait, how or why would she even have been on Maher’s show in 1999, and which show was it?

I was curious about that to. I found this explanation from an obscure, liberally biased website:

After graduating in 1987 from Moorestown High School, O'Donnell attended Fairleigh Dickinson University, where she initially aspired to a career in the theater,[13] and did course work toward a B.A. in English and Communication.[17][18] She did not grow up as a strict Catholic, and came to a turning point during college when she found herself drinking excessively and engaging in promiscuity.[13] (She would later say of this period, "I know what it's like to live a life without principle.")[19] She became increasingly interested in both politics and religion.[16] She became an evangelical Christian, began preaching sexual abstinence and joined the College Republicans.

...

Following college, O'Donnell went to work for Enough is Enough, a Washington, D.C.-based anti-pornography group.[19] She then spent two years working in conservative issue advocacy and for the Republican National Committee.[21] She served as a spokesperson for Concerned Women for America, a Conservative Christian political action group which opposes abortion,[22]and which seeks to apply biblical principles to other issues of public policy, as well.[19][23] In 1996, she attended the 1996 Republican National Convention in San Diego, California.[19]

O'Donnell then founded the Savior's Alliance for Lifting the Truth (SALT) in 1996 and served as its president.[19] The organization lobbied the U.S. Congress on moral issues[4] and focused on advocating chastity and other Christian values in the college-age generation.[24] O'Donnell made a number of high profile television appearances as a representative of SALT. In 1996 she appeared on MTV's show, Sex In The 90's, and advocated "sexual purity" when dealing with our "God given sexual desires". O'Donnell also publicly opposed masturbation, biblically equating it with adultery.[25] Two years later, O'Donnell appeared on Bill Maher's show Politically Incorrect, and argued that since America "took the Bible and prayer out of public schools" the country was "having weekly (school) shootings". She also remarked that the 1960s "sexual revolution" led to the AIDS epidemic.[26] She became a regular guest panelist on Maher's show, appearing in a total of 22 episodes. During another Politically Incorrect appearance, in a segment unaired until 2010, she described a previous experience with witchcraft, stating "I dabbled into witchcraft [but] I never joined a coven."

These statements came long after her religious conversion and while she was working for and founding conservative lobby groups. This is a non-issue.

[Truthsearcher]

Of course it’s a non issue, this is one the level of irrelevancy of the GWB DWI.

[Truthsearcher]

Exactly right.

I am so glad she beat Castle, if for nothing else than allowing all the fake conservatives to reveal their true colors.

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

These statements came long after her religious conversion and while she was working for and founding conservative lobby groups. This is a non-issue.

I agree, but if there's anything 2008 taught us, it is to never underestimate the power of stupid voters in large numbers...

[Jerusalem1099]

I can ill afford to send 100 bucks up to Delaware (cause I have a local Alabama race of interest and am sending a contribution to Sharron Angle in Nevada) but tonight I am so ticked off about these idiotic backstabbing attacks on O’Donnell that I swear I am sending money up to her campaign as well.

I’m sick of these milk toast conservatives running in fear because we have a conservative who is not as square as Jesse Helms (I’m using square in the good clean background sense of the word and love the late great Helms). I’m convinced our young Delaware Miss will vote right over 95 percent of the time and that is what counts.