Posted on 01/23/2010 1:25:34 PM PST by DogByte6RER
Right-Wing Flame War!
By JONATHAN DEE
Published: January 21, 2010
Charles Johnson has been writing a blog for almost as long as the word “blog” has existed. A bearish, gentle-voiced, ponytailed man who for three decades enjoyed a successful career as a jazz guitarist accompanying the likes of Al Jarreau and Stanley Clarke, Johnson has always had a geek’s penchant for self-education, and in that spirit he cultivated a side interest, and ultimately an expertise, in writing computer code. His Web log, which he named “Little Green Footballs” (a private joke whose derivation he has always refused to divulge), was begun in February 2001 mostly as a way to share advice and information with fellow code jockeys — his approach was similar in outlook, if vastly larger in its reach, to the guiding spirit in the days of ham radio. His final post on Sept. 10, 2001, was titled “Placement of Web Page Elements.” It read, in its entirety: “Here’s a well-executed academic study of where users expect things to be on a typical Web page.” It linked to, well, exactly what it said. The post attracted one comment, which read, in its entirety, “Fantastic article.”
The next 24 hours would transform his blog and, ultimately, his career. “I grew up in Hawaii,” Johnson told me recently when we met in his Los Angeles home, “but I was born in New York. After I moved away at age 10, I would read the news stories about how the World Trade Center towers were getting closer to finishing. When they were attacked that day, that really hit home for me in a way that reached back into my childhood.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
True. I recognized that the documents were fake when they were flashed on the screen during the report and posted as soon as it was over. My assessment was based on format. Having spent many years in the Air Force, I new what a memo should look like.
Buckhead later supplied a thorough analysis based on fonts. That assessment was more conclusive, I think.
LGF was in the mix too. It really was in iterative effort.
Watching Johnson’s disintegration into batshit craziness, is like witnessing a slow trainwreck.
From something I posted on my blog back in April, 2009:
I am one of the latest posters to be banned from Charles Johnson’s site, Little Green Footballs. I removed him from my blogroll and will no longer link to or visit his site. Charles was never a really a conservative… he is a 9/11 Democrat.
About 2 years ago, he got on an anti-creationist tangent that pretty much consumed his daily life. I’m agnostic, so it didn’t bother me.
But since then, he’s gone into the abyss of a pre-9/11 mindset, and it’s flooded every niche of his blog.
It’s a shame because LGF used to be a good site. Johnson was one of the bloggers who exposed Dan Rather’s ‘genuine’ George W. Bush National Guard memos, and the enhanced Iranian missiles fauxtography.
I was booted for supporting the Tea Parties, and critiquing the downward spiral of his site:
“I watch Glenn Beck and visited LGF for basically the same reasons: to get commentary, information, and news on politics and issues that as a Republican, I feel are important.
I’m not sure when the turning point was, but LGF has morphed from a site where united conservatives could gather against the lunacy of the MSM, to something unrecognizable. It’s now comprised of a lot of backbiting targeted at people who take national security, Islamofascism, and the socialist Obamanation seriously. There are some people on here who think because I’m an Iraq War/Army veteran, outspoken Obama critic, anti-illegal alien, and a gun owner, I’m a “security threat” to the Obama State.
It’s sad and pathetic.”
His erratic behavior has alienated him from people like Pam Geller of Atlas Shrugged and Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch. He’s also attacked other prominent sites and bloggers: Ace of Spades, Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, Protein Wisdom, Powerline, Mark Steyn, Geert Wilders, and Dennis Praeger.
He tolerates no dissent, real debate is forbidden, and his enemies list rivals Bill Clinton’s FBI files. He sees nazis behind every door, and probably hiding under his bed. And those are just the people who don’t agree with him 100%. He’s been known to ban people for disagreeing with him on other sites. The man’s paranoia level is skyhigh.
Johnson has become increasingly sycophantic towards Islamofascism, which is ironic given the fact that he received death threats from jihadis, right around the time when CAIR wanted to get LGF classified as a “hate site”.
He has whole-heartedly embraced Janet Napolitano’s idiotic “right-wing” threat assessment, assigned creationists to be bigger villains than terrorists, and disparages ordinary citizens who protest Obama’s socialist policies.
Just what the leftwing needs; an Andrew Sullivan clone.
You know it’s bad when the New York Times thinks he’s nuts.
>> What a pathetic attempt to glorifying Johnson <<
I didn’t read the article that way at all. Up until a few minutes ago, I knew almost nothing about the LGF controversy. But now, after seeing the NYT’s take, I can only conclude that CJ is a raving maniac.
Who are you really? :-)
Either Buckhead gets blame or LGF gets praise. I remember that it was a few people that raised questions. Thanks for the refresher. :-)
What was your posting name back then?
I did not post back then, and would not be stupid enough to claim that I did if I had. I have followed FR, Lucianne, the Kos, DU, Huffington, Red State, and a number of other blogs/bulletin boards since before the "internet" was anything other than a bunch of fidonet hubs.
Sure.
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