As Atrios would put it: document the atrocities

Poor Erick. He wrote about Cindy Sheehan in the following terms:

… Cole responds, pointing out that Sheehan was not called a “whore” literally, but actually a “media whore”, which is a metaphorical kind of whore that doesn’t necessarily fuck people for money (Jeff Gannon nonwithstanding.) No, I won’t get out of here - that’s what he said. Go see for yourself. So if anybody thought that Erick was literally saying that Sheehan fucks people for money, please disabuse yourself of that notion forthwith! He merely meant that she behaves analogously to a whore in her dealings with the media. Please adjust your views accordingly, and remember to always beware of metaphors.

and those gosh-darn lefties have the rudeness to misquote him!! The nerve! To confuse “media whore” with “whore”. Just awful! See how they twist and misquote his words (all emphases in original):

Enter August, no major news, and a media still smarting over the President’s re-election despite everything they threw at him. Cindy Sheehan returns entering stage right—this time a left wing media whore in the form of a grieving mother.

Which has morphed into the following at Eschaton:

Um, has Michelle Malkin talked to Cindy Sheehan’s son? Has Bill O’Reilly? Has Erick Erickson, who called Cindy Sheehan a whore over at redstate.org? If they haven’t talked to him, they should shut up, leave her alone, and defend their incoherent position on the Iraq war without hiding behind Cindy Sheehan’s dead son. [Funny thing, I read through this guy's entire post and he doesn't once attempt to explain or defend the war.]

At MYDD:

Blogger Erick Erickson says Cindy Sheehan is a “whore in the form of a grieving mother”

The Poorman himself:

The proximate cause and context of all this is a little online soap opera which opens with Sheehan being called a “whore” and an Arab-loving traitor, among other things, by some dude named Erick.

And, my favorite, at Steve Gilliard’s site:

To call her a “left-wing whore” will affect how people see you and your site. Even your readers disagree with the sentiments here and their expression.

Where he just drops the word ‘media,’ but makes sure he gets the ‘whore’ part in. Funny how the metaphor looks like a literal use of the word ‘whore.’ Just one of those weird coincidences on the InterTrons!

I suppose technically, Erick is probably right, but I just can't work up much outrage on behalf of someone who uses a vulgar and insulting term like “whore” to describe the mother of a dead soldier who is in turn trying to ask the President an entirely legitimate question, i.e., “What was the noble cause that my son died for?” I suppose Erick's point is that Ms Sheehan is using the media as a megaphone to try and get her question answered.

Well I'm sorry, but the day that becomes a breach of manners is the day that America ceases to be a democracy. American citizens have every right to petition their government to redress grievances and get their questions answered.