Little Green Footballs was one of the first big right of center blogs. It used to provide much needed and refreshing commentary and links to the world outside the MSM. But, as with so many relative nobodies who attain fame, LGF has gone off the rails lately in what can best be described as its own dictatorial moment.
Charles Johnson, grand Duke of LGF, has developed a propensity for black balling anyone or anything whom he disagrees with ... even if it is only a single issue. He's steadily putting himself into the awkward position of rejecting people entirely based on only one aspect of their belief system. What's worse, as I've discovered for myself, is that he seems to have deficient reading comprehension. I've read and re-read some of the essays and posts that he's black balled people for, and for the life of me I never come to the same conclusions he does.
Now, I may be lacking in any number of things ... but reading comprehension is not one of them.
Consider that Johnson seldom if ever posts an original or creative thought, and you begin to get the picture. In essence, he runs a conservative chat room (with a very large following), and simply links to others. We all do this as bloggers ... but most of us offer up some thoughts of our own ... some commentary ... some punditry. Not Charles.
For example, Johnson refused to give any coverage of the Berg challenge to Obama's birth credentials because Berg is a Truther ... a 911 denier. No matter the news worthiness, no matter the legitimacy, no matter the relevance of the Berg case ... Johnson firewalled his readers based on one distasteful aspect of Berg's persona. I call that intolerance. Under the Johnson rules, truth is based on "who" tells it ... not on "what" they tell.
Imagine how limiting our world becomes then, when we only disseminate that which comes from people who share our world view almost exactly ... or worse yet, ignore entirely that which comes from those we have a quibble with. I'm not sure what to call this ... intolerance ... or just ignorance. Are we to ignore damming facts about say .. McCain, simply because they come from MSNBC?
Furthermore, anyone questioning Johnson on his black balling is quickly struck by the incredible arrogance and inflated ego that he has ... not to mention some of his groupies. Johnson and his following believe that they are at the center ... nay, at the pointy tip of blogging on the right ... that the rest of us (as I've been told by them), can't be without them ... that we "need" LGF. I suppose that this superciliousness is a result of creating a blog that is likely the greatest echo-chamber on the right. Dissent is not tolerated and those who quibble are expelled ... it's all rather weird.
Pamela ... another fascist according to Johnson ... has more:
There is a sickness on the right (although that's to be disputed if it is really the right ............... do not blogroll fighters of the counter jihad movement. Just for knowing Atlas readers, I stand with Robert Spencer, Paul Belien, and the courageous souls fighting for free men. Viva the queen, the queen is the dead ( the dinosuars of the blogosphere) peddle your irrelevant bullying in your creepy sandbox.
EXCOMUNNICATED Robert Spencer, Jihadwatch
I'm sorry to say that my old friend Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs has written this:
I'm done with Robert Spencer. And very, very disappointed in him.
And:
Jihad Watch and Dhimmi Watch are out of our RSS feeds. I'm not going to support people who link to vile sites like Gates of Vienna and Brussels Journal.
Update: Even more, from BirdBrain:
Since October 2007, Charles Johnson of LGF has waged a stupid and pointless war against European political parties that he perceives as "fascist." Anybody who questions his judgment, even if they do not support the parties and just want to promote reasonable debate, have been branded "fascist." I'm going to say right now that I'm a huge supporter of Vlaams Belang, the party that Charles and company seem to reserve the most hatred for.Update: ... and from the reeking sewer:
And Gates of Vienna has turned into a reeking sewer of racism. I’m done with Robert Spencer. And very, very disappointed in him.Up-Update:
What I find morbidly amusing is that at the end of the day, the post that called him out and started it all, was no exaggeration.
I feel sorry for Charles. While my taking a stand at the time not to paint all European parties with one brush did hurt Atlas initially - my readership was cut and none of the big boys would ever link to me again (not Instapundit, Malkin, Hot Air - or little boys like Pajama Media) - it didn't matter. Atlas did it on her own. My readership has skyrocketed on its merit ..... and LGF has gone nowhere (and rightly so.)
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