[UPDATED BELOW]

After controversy over the foul-mouthed bigoted bloggers he hired for his campaign, John Edwards may be ready to dismiss them, according to Salon.com:

Edwards campaign fires bloggers

The right-wing blogosphere has gotten its scalps -- John Edwards has fired the two controversial bloggers he recently hired to do liberal blogger outreach, Salon has learned.

The bloggers, Amanda Marcotte, formerly of Pandagon, and Melissa McEwan, of Shakespeare's Sister, had come under fire from right-wing bloggers for statements they had previously made on their respective blogs. A statement by the Catholic League's Bill Donohue, which called Marcotte and McEwan "anti-Catholic vulgar trash-talking bigots," and an accompanying article on the controversy in the New York Times this morning, put extra pressure on the campaign.

Speculation from sources that the two bloggers might be rehired was bolstered by Jennifer Palmieri, a spokeswoman for the Edwards campaign, who said in an e-mail that she would "caution [Salon] against reporting that they have been fired. We will have something to say later."

Read it all at the link above (also access the imbedded hyperlinks). We previously reported on this story yesterday.

At the very least, Edwards has shown very sloppy vetting in choosing these two individuals. While their profane rants are red meat to the moonbats, their long cyber-trails contain more than enough disgusting screeds to turn off any decent people exposed to them.

As for Jennifer Palmeiri, I remember her best for trying to get better coverage for the DNC, when she worked there, by getting reporters drunk.

Tip o' the hat to K-Lo at The Corner for pointing to this story.

UPDATE 5:21 p.m.: Over at MyDD, Chris Bowers is ready to rant, asking Edwards:

• Do you have any loyalty to the netroots, or was it all just sweet talk, where loyalty actually only flows uphill and ["moonbat brains" - jra] actually only flows downhill?

But like I said, I am waiting before letting loose. This is a big opportunity for his campaign. Whether he stands up or backs down will be a turning point for his campaign online. Either way, he won't be tied with Barack Obama in Dailykos straw polls anymore. It will be hard in one direction or the other.

The rest is at the link above. The editing for a decent audience is mine.

UPDATE Feb 08 1:00 p.m.: Via Pajamas Media:

The Edwards campaign just released statements from Edwards and the two bloggers in the thick of the controversy (Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan), and it looks as if the two won't be fired. (Greg Sargent @ TPM Cafe)

Read the rest, including blogger reactions, at the link above.

From Edwards' campaign blog:

The tone and the sentiment of some of Amanda Marcotte's and Melissa McEwan's posts personally offended me. It's not how I talk to people, and it's not how I expect the people who work for me to talk to people. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but that kind of intolerant language will not be permitted from anyone on my campaign, whether it's intended as satire, humor, or anything else. But I also believe in giving everyone a fair shake. I've talked to Amanda and Melissa; they have both assured me that it was never their intention to malign anyone's faith, and I take them at their word. We're beginning a great debate about the future of our country, and we can't let it be hijacked. It will take discipline, focus, and courage to build the America we believe in.

Well, sure, John, why not take them at their word instead of judging by what they wrote? Edwards weighed his options and decided he needed the deranged Nutroots more in the primaries than the practicing Catholics. More of 'em in the Democratic Party, anyway.

The big remaining question is if Pandagon will now restore full access to their archives, or are they permanently "scrubbed?"