O’Donnell the witch… probably not

By now, you’ve no doubt heard that Delaware’s Republican candidate for the Senate, Christine O’Donnell, is taking a lot of heat for having backed out of a number of network interviews that she’d agreed to do in the wake of her surprise primary victory over the favorite of the Republican establishment, Congressman Mike Castle. It seems as though Bill Maher’s untimely release of video footage of O’Donnell in the 1990’s, admitting to having dabbled in witchcraft made her rethink her press strategy… Anyway, for the past few days, those of us on the left side of the political spectrum have been having a field day, pointing our fingers and laughing at the Tea Party dopes in Delaware who were stupid enough to push a corrupt, uptight witch into the national spotlight, and into a battle for Senate that the Republicans likely would have won against the Democratic challenger with Castle. And I, just like everyone else, have enjoyed the spectacle. But, I think the time has probably come to step back a bit and state the obvious – that Chrstine O’Donnell, regardless of what she may have said in the 90’s, was likely never in the presence of a blood-soaked Satanic alter. I know. I know. It’s not nearly as much fun to poke fun of a liar, who just pretends to have dabbled in witchcraft, but I think that’s pretty clearly the case here. The truth of the matter, I’m almost certain, is that she made the whole thing up in order to make a name for herself if the competitive world of professional Christian fear mongering.

As you’ll recall, there was a lot of that going on at around the same time – Christians stepping forward to give graphic testimony about having seen or participated in all kinds of unspeakable acts in honor of Satan. A friend of mine that I was discussing this with yesterday, reminded me that Christian comedian Mike Warnke made similar claims in the 90’s, which were later proven to be untrue. Warnke made a good living before the bottom fell out, traveling around the country, and warning concerned Christian parents about the dangers facing their beloved children. And, then there was Ruth Bailey, the rehabilitated Satanist who published under the name Rebecca Brown. She too had escaped demonic powers, to expose a worldwide network of Satanic training camps. And then there was Lauren Stratford, who wrote the book Satan’s Underground. Like Warnke, though, both of these women were eventually exposed as charlatans.

To my knowledge, and I’ve spent my past few evenings looking around the internet for related news stories, there’s never been a so-called reformed Satanist who hasn’t proven over time to be full of shit. And, for all the panic in the 90’s about the ritual killings of babies on Satanic altars, I don’t believe any evidence of such things actually having happened have ever surfaced. There was, of course, the case of the three goths in West Memphis, Arkansas who were arrested for the murder of three young boys in 1993. It was speculated at the time that they killed the children as a tribute to Satan, but most folks now seem to think that they’re innocent of the crime, and were just targeted for the way they looked.

So, while I suppose I could be wrong – and that O’Donnell may have once been near something that she was told was a Satanic altar – I think it’s far, far more likely that she made the whole damned thing up, which, personally, I find a lot more troubling. And, I find it odd that no one in the press is questioning her claim. Everyone seems content to just take her for her word that she dabbled in witchcraft, without even suggesting that it could have been a lie meant to further advance her career as a Christian activist.

The bottom line is that O’Donnell saw an opportunity to make a name for herself nationally when she was young, and she took it. And she built a little business catering to the fears of Christians. And, now, fifteen years later, she’s doing the same thing all over again, on a much bigger scale, with the Tea Party movement. She saw an opportunity to make a quick buck at the expense of some frightened people, and she took it.

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21 Comments

  1. Knox
    Posted September 22, 2010 at 6:04 am | Permalink

    We have a greater likelihood of beating her if we label her a witch, but I agree that the whole thing was probably. Also, I think she probably masturbated like a boss the whole time she was speaking out against it.

  2. Peter Larson
    Posted September 22, 2010 at 6:55 am | Permalink

    Regardless of the stupid and offensive comments she made on Maher’s show, I can’t wait to see what comes out next from this moron. Maher claims that he will release a video a week until she agrees to appear on his show.

  3. Robert
    Posted September 22, 2010 at 7:14 am | Permalink

    Seriously, are there so few real men left that not one is available or willing to step up and bring some authenticity into this poor woman’s life?

    Before I get attacked for being sexist, I want to make it clear that the reason I say this now about this woman and have never said something similar about a crazy man needing a good woman in his life, is because I believe women are much more responsive to good things.

    Men seem to be unsalvageable for the most part. When a good woman enters a crazy man’s life he usually just drains her of that which she has to offer and continues down his destructive path, taking her with him. But when a good man enters a crazy woman’s life, far more often than not, she seem to come to her senses somewhat.

  4. Posted September 22, 2010 at 8:04 am | Permalink

    You’re reading of this is spot on Mark. When I saw the video the only thing I could think of was how much of a fraud she was.

  5. Andy C
    Posted September 22, 2010 at 8:17 am | Permalink

    I’m offended that MarkMaynard.com lumped being a witch in with being corrupt and uptight. The corrupt and uptight came in with Jesus. Watch yourself there. The witch lobby is almost as powerful as the librarians.

  6. Edward
    Posted September 22, 2010 at 9:24 am | Permalink

    I like how people like Michelle Malkin are coming out to defending her for having been a witch. Can you imagine what they’d say if, for instance, Hillary Clinton had some out and said that she’d dabbled in witchcraft? There would be riots in the streets. But, you’re right, all this talk is meaningless, as O’Donnell never dabbled in anything but an intense desire to be rich and famous.

  7. Alt
    Posted September 22, 2010 at 9:48 am | Permalink

    Elect a witch, and the bone skipper returns from extinction. A coincidence? I don’t think so.

    This week: a mythical beast, not seen for more than 160 years. A nocturnal animal that feeds on the rotten flesh of large mammals. A species active only during the winter months that reportedly emits a luminous glow from its large, orange head. What new horror is this?

    It’s a fly, the bone skipper Thyreophora cynophila, and it is back from the dead. Considered globally extinct until now, the first fly to be killed off by humans, the bone skipper was first described by an entomologist who found it on the carcass of a dog in 1798. Last seen in the 1840s, it has now been rediscovered by Daniel Martín-Vega and colleagues of the University of Alcalá in Madrid, Spain. The fly turned up in baited traps in woodland around Madrid and in La Rioja province.

  8. Kim
    Posted September 22, 2010 at 11:16 am | Permalink

    It’s funny that Obama is the one being asked to renounce Lucifer.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/21/jerome-corsi-wants-obama-_n_733688.html?ir=Politics

  9. Robert
    Posted September 22, 2010 at 1:39 pm | Permalink

    Since her college days, O’Donnell has also claimed to be – like Thyreophora cynophila – a “bone skipper.”

  10. Ivant Urblood
    Posted September 22, 2010 at 1:41 pm | Permalink

    I would love a reporter to ask O’Donnell the name of the fellow she had the picnic with on the satanic altar of blood.

    It seems like being willing to verify the event took place would be a small thing to ask of someone who is so passionate about not being a liar.

  11. Ted
    Posted September 22, 2010 at 2:02 pm | Permalink

    I had her pegged as a bone smoker.

  12. Ted
    Posted September 22, 2010 at 2:04 pm | Permalink

    And, yes, she was passionate back then about not lying. Even to the point of saying that, if Hitler asked her where a Jewish family was hiding, she’d tell him. You’ve got to love a woman with morals.

    Video for those who are unbelievers.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph7jb4humhE

  13. Jules
    Posted September 22, 2010 at 7:56 pm | Permalink

    Yesssssss! Excellent post, Mark, every single point. I’ve also been flabbergasted that the MSM is acting as if witchcraft is REAL. Y’know, even if one believed that O’Donnell was telling the truth, the point is she believes the shit is real. Christ almighty, why can’t we get a better press? We are so fucked.
    And I’m not talking about Wicca. Just to be clear.

  14. Kim
    Posted October 8, 2010 at 9:01 am | Permalink

    If anyone needs evidence that the Tea Party is our version of the Taliban, I give you the following quote from Christine O’Donnell.

    “I’ll tell you, I just came back from the Middle East and it was refreshing, with all that is going on, it was refreshing not to be constantly bombarded with smut all the time.”

    source:
    http://www.seattlepi.com/connelly/427726_JOEL04.html

  15. Meta
    Posted October 11, 2010 at 4:23 pm | Permalink

    SNL had a good parody of the witch ad on Saturday.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/09/kristen-wiig-parodies-chr_n_757116.html

  16. Chaely
    Posted October 14, 2010 at 1:15 pm | Permalink

    I’m glad you mentioned the West Memphis 3. I’ve been a supporter of theirs for years & always feel extra smug when I wear my FREE THE WM3 shirt around town because it always makes people stop and ask me what in the hell that’s all about.

    The real irony of the whole “satanic panic” is that no amount of sacrificing small animals on an altar is anywhere near as terrifying (to me) as any of the major religions and the systemic brainwashing of their disciples.

  17. Ed6
    Posted October 19, 2010 at 2:30 pm | Permalink

    O’Donnell also doesn’t know that the constitution prohibits the establishment of a state religion.

    http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/10/19/video-proof-odonnell-is-unaware-of-constitutional-separation-of-church-and-state/

  18. Kim
    Posted October 19, 2010 at 4:07 pm | Permalink

    The good news is that Coons is really pulling away in the polls. It looks like he’ll win by a landslide.

    http://elections.nytimes.com/2010/forecasts/senate/delaware

  19. Posted October 19, 2010 at 4:38 pm | Permalink

    It’s like these people get buyer shock. They vote these morons in during the primaries, then have second thoughts after they see what they’ve done. Rash generalizations aside….

  20. Posted October 19, 2010 at 5:59 pm | Permalink

    That’s a funny race as it almost assuredly would have gone to the guy that O’Donnell beat in the primary. It’s a shame that all of these races didn’t play out the same way, with Tea Party Patriots winning primaries, and then a vast majority of people coming out on November 2 to vote on the side of reason.

  21. Stella Jones
    Posted February 1, 2013 at 4:27 pm | Permalink

    I had forgotten all about this!

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  1. […] puritanical views on masturbation, and we shared some laughs over her confession to having “dabbled” in witchcraft. Oh, and then there was that thing about her believing that scientists had […]

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