Tech Review

I've criticized Little Green Footballs a couple of times (here and here), but I've mostly ignored Charles Johnson's blog because 1. Johnson used to be my boss at Pajamas Media and 2. I would glance at it about once a year.

I didn't read LGF because it always seemed the shallowest of popular blogs. Compare LGF to a blog like Powerline, and you'll notice that while the smart folks at Powerline offer smart commentary; LGF, at least from the posts I've read, gives us little more than "Look at this!" extended tweets, with zero original thought or analysis; self-promoting nothings; and bad music. That he would only allow people to register on certain weekends and the rich-mistress-hand-me-down "open threads," was obnoxiously self-aggrandizing to me ("self" is the operative word here).

Johnson's thoughtless stream of anti-Muslim news offended even this Christian conservative.

The only reason people read him, I concluded, was because he was one of the first blogs, and he helped make known the fakery involved in the Army letter promoted by Dan Rather and the faux photograph used against Israel by Palestinians.

LGF is now a liberal or, more accurately, an anti-conservative blog now.

I'd like to forward the idea that LGF really hasn't changed at all: Instead of dumb posts against Muslims, Johnson now posts dumber posts against conservatives. All he did was change hatreds.

I went there today and read this today:

I’m kind of obsessive when I get interested in a subject. (OK, not “kind of” — “definitely.”)

Uhh, yeah.

Then, he offers this intellectual trifle explaining why he left conservatism (my commentary inserted):

Follow up:

1. Support for fascists, both in America (see: Pat Buchanan, Robert Stacy McCain, etc.) and in Europe (see: Vlaams Belang, BNP, SIOE, Pat Buchanan, etc.)

So, Buchanan is the most popular conservative commentator? What percentage of conservatives quote Buchanan? Are Olbermann, Sullivan, Maddow, etc. more open-minded? Should we judge a movement by its most controversial representatives? Isn't that what Beck does when he talks about Van Jones? What about Prager and Hewitt, on whose show Johnson's appeared? How do they figure in your conversion?

How would anybody like to live in Charles Johnson's world, where anybody stepping outside of his strait and narrow is forbidden to speak. That's a fascist MO, dear readers.

2. Support for bigotry, hatred, and white supremacism (see: Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter, Robert Stacy McCain, Lew Rockwell, etc.)

Ann Coulter? I don't know if Johnson is going to be a liberal, but if he wants to avoid race talk, the last corner of the lounge he'll want to eat his lunch is the one where the lefties hang out.

3. Support for throwing women back into the Dark Ages, and general religious fanaticism (see: Operation Rescue, anti-abortion groups, James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Tony Perkins, the entire religious right, etc.)

What kind of moron buys the argument that people don't like abortion because they want to oppress women? Does he know that most anti-abortion activists are women?

4. Support for anti-science bad craziness (see: creationism, climate change denialism, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, James Inhofe, etc.)

Is Creationism really a big issue? Really? Go ahead and side with the completely hinged climate alarmists, then.

5. Support for homophobic bigotry (see: Sarah Palin, Dobson, the entire religious right, etc.)

Sarah Palin hates gay people? Dobson? Can anything short of complete agreement with gay issues as framed by activists not be homophobic bigotry?

6. Support for anti-government lunacy (see: tea parties, militias, Fox News, Glenn Beck, etc.)

Doesn't putting the terms "tea party," "militias," and "Fox News" in the same sentence betray a lack of distinguishing ability? Because left wing demonstrations are so calm and sane.

7. Support for conspiracy theories and hate speech (see: Alex Jones, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Birthers, creationists, climate deniers, etc.).

Johnson is a loon. People criticized Alex Jones for being a Truther! That, sir, is a conspiracy.

8. A right-wing blogosphere that is almost universally dominated by raging hate speech (see: Hot Air, Free Republic, Ace of Spades, etc.)

Dude! Look in the mirror. Is there a more hateful popular blog than yours? The left tried to cajole Bush with love and encouragement? What a lack of self-awareness!

9. Anti-Islamic bigotry that goes far beyond simply criticizing radical Islam, into support for fascism, violence, and genocide (see: Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer, etc.)

I sympathize with this sentiment a little. That his was the leading blog on moronic anti-Muslim sentiment is lost on Johnson. Geller and Spencer advocate genocide? What do they have to say?

Charles Johnson is projecting here. His Chistophobia and conservaphobia rivals almost anyone's Islamophbia.

10. Hatred for President Obama that goes far beyond simply criticizing his policies, into racism, hate speech, and bizarre conspiracy theories (see: witch doctor pictures, tea parties, Birthers, Michelle Malkin, Fox News, World Net Daily, Newsmax, and every other right wing source)

Because Johnson doesn't call people names and disrespect people. He's absolutely the worst.

I also don't like constant bashing, but I understand the bashers' goals and am mature enough not to change philosophies because of the state of political discourse.

And much, much more. The American right wing has gone off the rails, into the bushes, and off the cliff.

This from a man who has never, even when on the right, been on the rails.

Do you notice that none of the reasons have any ideas within them? He gives as evidence, ad hominem. The evidence-less bleeding of pure emotion is no doubt the reason this post has become very popular on the left.

Johnson is a man of extremes. Whatever his hatred of the day, he goes after it relentlessly, unfairly, and without any thoughts deeper than a pig's skin.

I won’t be going over the cliff with them.

We'll see who's on the cliff next year.

In conclusion, if LGF had any value at all, it was as a clearinghouse for evil Muslim stories (links, really. Nothing original), something that never appealed to me.