Disgruntled politicos, envious bloggers, and rich Late Night Shots-ers, rejoice. Wonkette has been sold, and is no longer part of the stable of popular Gawker Media blogs. Gawker overlord Nick Denton has transfered ownership to current editor Ken Layne, citing low traffic and lacking advertising dollars as key reasons to unload. The site has been in upheaval for months now, experiencing a rotating menagerie of top editors and suspicious staff firings.

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It’s somewhat known in D.C. journalism circles that TIME’s Ana Marie Cox simply adores Choire Sicha — because he, much more so than her former Gawker boss Nick Denton, worked tirelessly to help her find the Wonkette voice that ultimately launched her from obscurity (yes, it took a gay man to really make those ass fucking jokes work, kids — sorry to spoil the illusion), but that doesn’t explain why New York newspapers think Sicha has the authority to do election journalism. No, it wasn’t his recent lackluster coverage of the Barack Obama campaign that made us seriously question Sicha’s credentials, but, rather, his poorly-constructed, almost incomprehensible piece today on why single people should sleep with marrieds. His main point, that married people tend not to have time for their single friends is an old, tired one. It was boring when Carrie Bradshaw overplayed the topic years ago — now it’s just stale. Can’t single people have any fun by themselves? Why does Sicha fall so easily into the notion that marrieds are having such a great time changing diapers? His rambling diatribe ultimately comes off as jealously. Hell, if he wants to change diapers so badly, why doesn’t he just shack up with Denton and adopt a trendy foreign baby already? Yes, we’re calling Sicha a bore — and this exciting election season simply doesn’t need to be cumbered.

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Wonkette editor Ken Layne continues to take some amazing heat for firing Megan Carpentier, one of the most popular writers the site has seen since Ana Marie Cox left in 2006. Commenters have been outright rude to him on his own site (calling him “a sexist anti-gay pig” in one instance), and he’s received dozens of letters from readers expressing their outrage. In response to a query from one of Carpentier’s most ardent fans, Jason Cox, Layne wrote the following message:

Hello Jason,

There have been a half-dozen editors of Wonkette over its five years, plus scores of guest editors and contributors and fill-ins and try-outs and columnists and interns, etc. It’s just a website, part of a chain of websites employing a hundred-plus writers who come and go, myself included.

Megan was given the opportunity to say goodbye to Wonkette readers after her short stint as an associate editor, and exercised her own judgment in her farewell post. I certainly don’t speak for the company, but I can’t imagine a publisher using its own publications to provide continuous updates on a disgruntled ex-contractor.

Ken

Layne’s labeling Carpentier as “disgruntled” has not sat well with many who are still watching the admittedly insider-y media drama play out — especially with Carpentier herself, who says she is now “mad” and that she has tried to take the high road throughout.

“When I got tons of emails and comments asking why it happened, I contemplated what to say and how to say it, and went the high road, describing Ken as ‘not a dick’ and the decision as not motivated by sexism, Nick Denton or anything besides my ill-suitedness for the direction Ken wanted to take the site and even added that I agreed with his decision,” she shares on her personal blog. “When I was contacted for comment by HuffPo, the New York Times, Page 6 and BigHeadRob [Big Head DC was formerly published under that banner], I all but killed the story in every single instance when I could by saying that over and over again. I didn’t encourage my readers or supporters to engage in the boycott or drive up particular comment threads, suggested that people should simply do what they thought best and spent the vast majority of my time attempting to find a new job while continuing to do a little writing.”

Still, the Wonkette boycott has continued. The site’s numbers continue to slide. And many are questioning whether Layne made the appropriate decision. And why he made the decision he did. To date, he has not responded to requests for comment from Big Head DC.

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The first female Wonkette editor since Ana Marie Cox left Wonkette in 2006 has been unceremoniously let go from her position — and she’s hurt, claiming that her former bosses are “morons.” Meanwhile, some Big Head DC spies close to the situation claim that sexism may be involved.

Megan Carpentier, a D.C.-based lobbyist, recently left her lucrative lobbying position to write for Wonkette after anonymously freelancing for the site for several months. Along the way, she has burned several bridges (by her own admission) in the lobbying community, and she is not likely able to go back to that profession for work. In a plea on her personal Web site, she claims she needs to get drunk badly.

Many Wonkette commenters are outraged by her unexpected dismissal. They seem to agree with our earlier assessment that Carpentier had become the new soul of the site in her few months on the job. However, Gawker Media millionaire Nick Denton, in the midst of high-profile news stories alleging his blog empire has jumped the shark, apparently did not agree.

Behind the scenes, tongues are wagging that Gawker Media has become a hostile workplace for female employees. “If you’re not a gay man at Gawker, you’re screwed,” one former editor who asked to remain anonymous told us this morning. “And if you are a gay male at Gawker, you’re screwed, too. By Nick Denton’s penis. Literally.”

While Denton did not respond to our requests for comment on this matter, our tip box has been flooded with questions today asking whether we’d consider hiring Carpentier to write for Big Head DC. Honestly, she’s a good writer, but we definitely can’t afford to pay Denton dollars at this point. Still, we’d love to help her land on her feet — if our readers would like to see that happen. So, like the good people of South Carolina, it’s time for you to vote:

Earlier: Wonkette Editor Exits Gracelessly After Only Few Weeks; Gawker Empire Again In Shambles

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Jackie Kucinich’s behavior at the Dana Milbank party aside, newish Wonkette editor Megan Carpentier had a blast chatting up The Washington Post’s resident gossip, Amy Argetsinger (right). Just look at that grin. Megan’s arrived!

Earlier: New Wonkette Editor Says Hello to Big Head DC

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