Saturday, April 18, 2009

Charles Johnson "Explodes"

Charles Johnson ran a disclaimer today at the introduction to his post on President Barack Obama and Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez. The two heads of state were being photographed together hanging out like old friends. Johnson's brief caption to the photo read:

I know some people think that because I refuse to jump on the bandwagon with some of the more ridiculous, exaggerated attacks against Barack Obama, I’m suddenly on his side.

But this ... is absolutely sickening.
The obvious problem here is that a genuinely conservative blogger shouldn't have to apologize for past comments when criticizing President Obama for his sashays with brutal Latin American dictators.

I've already noted that
Andrew Sullivan's a big fan of Little Green Footballs, and that's a huge red flag to any traditionalist who's raised the battle standard against the cultural heathens on the left. But now Media Matters is on board the Johnson gravy train, for example:

Here's a key quote though, from LGF's Charles Johnson, surveying Fox News' militia media movement [emphasis added:

I just wish everyone would take a step back from this extremist brink. It can't lead anywhere good. At best, it will bring the right-wing blogosphere into disrepute, and at the worst it could lead to violence if you encourage these real nuts out there.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the unhinged anti-Obama rhetoric broadcast on so many right-wing blogs since January 21 has already drowned the community in disrepute. The Fox News-driven "tea parties" and the DHS nervous breakdown this week only cemented it.

Shorter version--as long as Michelle Malkin's at the head of any movement, it's going to be a joke.

That's not all.

Johnson's got a series of brief entries at the blog, trying to scruff off all the attention on the left to his own overboard obssession with the current outpouring of robust conservatism:

* "Heads Explode at Reddit.com."

* "
Heads Explode at Daily Kos."

* "
Heads Explode at Washington Monthly."

* "
Heads Explode at Ace of Spades."

* "
Heads Explode at Media Matters."

* "
James Wolcott's Head Explodes."

* "
Heads Explode at Fox News."

* "
Heads Explode at Gawker.com."

* "
Heads Exploding Everywhere."
As one who sees Johnson doing more harm to conservatism than the fringe elements he's scourging, I have to admit it's not like I didn't anticipate this. See my series of posts, for example:

* "On Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs."

* "
Core Cultural Values."

* "
Charles Johnson's Strange Alliance with Andrew Sullivan."

* "
Glenn Beck Hammers Charles Johnson."

Something's going to happen soon. Maybe we'll see Johnson form a 527 organization with Sully and Markos Moultisas: "The Little Green and Gay Smear Merchants Coalition."

9 comments:

rbosque said...

This shows how ant-American the left is. They have been complaining how our standing in the world has sunk to new lows, then Obama gets elected, visits other countries and instead of promoting the greatness of this country, blames us for all the evils and miseries of the world at every opportunity. What the H...?
I'm sure glad this moron is our President- I'd hate to think what he'd do if he actually hates the US.

Anonymous said...

I think LGF is just acknowledging the potential for danger in words. Glenn Beck's being irresponsible and it's paying off, ratings are through the roof, he has no reason to stop.

It takes sensible, thinking, intellectual men (like the founders) to remind us where the line is. Glenn Beck isn't a thinking man, he's a circus act. Dial it back everyone.

T.R. said...

I have to say, I once was a contributor in good standing at LGF. Back in the days before Charles spun a gear or whatever it was that happened to him. His membership has deteriorated to the point that the pure hate and utter disgust isn't even tempered by common decency and some sembelence of respect and/or manners, at all, when it comes to opposing opinions or comment contributions that aren't goose-step lock-step in line.

His blog members are a seething ocean of hate and vitriol if one dare not walk lock-step with the 'Lizard King'. Rate one of Charles' threads down because you disagree, you get banned. Rate another member's lock-step comment down, you get banned. Dare not disagree with anything at LGF if you want to particpate in the comments for long. There is no civil discourse of any kind at LGF.

To top it off, Charles has become one of the most, if not the most, narcissistic 'conservative' bloggers out there. The stars and the heavens revolve around Charles. Don't dare imply it is not so though, if you care to be a commnetor there. He's walking the precipice and I fear it won't be much more time before he goes head long full blown over the edge.

The so-called 'Lizard King' and his so-called 'Lizard Army' are a despicable and hateful lot. If anything, the interior of Charles' head will actually explode and the end of LGF will come. I don't hope for Charles' head to finally explode, he was once a kind, considerate, and thoughtful blogger. But the 'Conservative blogosphere' will be better off if LGF did whither and die on the vine, in the long run.

shoprat said...

He's done an Andrew Sullivan. No other way to put it.

Anonymous said...

Sorry T.R. that is not entirely true. It is true that if you do not agree with Charles, you will get hammered, but it is his site and you should expect his lizards to come to his defense. It is not true that you will get banned for simply disagreeing or rating his comments down. I have done that several times and I am still a member in good standing. He has a few simple rules to follow, such as don't say anything that condones or incites violence, and if you follow those rules, you will be fine. If you want a site that truly censors its members go to Daily KOS and say something like "Nancy Pelosi is an idiot!" and you will find not only are you banned, but all your comments will be erased. You see we can't have any disent on Daily KOS!

AmPowerBlog said...

Perfectly put, Shoprat!

MRWC said...

Anonymous 8:25 AM, Wrong. The steps are deleting your post, and banned if you dare defend yourself. There are no 'rules'.

Dave said...

Forget Andrew Sullivan, it appears to me that Charles Johnson is going to be the next David Brock.

I used to read LGF pretty regularly, but no-longer.

His weird obsession with Michelle Malkin is beginning to remind me of that of a certain troll (who I won't name) that has a similar problem with Gov. Palin.

(LOL-If you even only casually peruse the threads of HotAir and NewsBusters, you know who I am referring to.)

The conservative movement has to get its act together now and start figuring out effective ways to get some serious monkey wrenches into the gears of the coup that has been underway since January 20th, and that is progressing with alarming speed.

Should we fail to at least slow this beast down, whatever happens in the 2010 elections may not matter very much, as about the only private enterprise that will be left in this country by then will be your neighbor's garage sale. That is assuming the federal government hasn't managed to nationalize those as well.

So far, Obama and the socialist horde have gotten everything they have wanted, and the republicans have shown they are unable to slow any of it down, much less stop it.

Sure, they may manage to knock a chunk or two off of Obama's bank-breaking budget, but in the end, I suspect he will get most of what he wants passed.

The tea parties are a great start, but conservatives who live in districts with even "moderate" democrat reps are going to have to start letting their voices be heard and putting their congress-critter's feet to the fire.

If enough of these moderates can be picked off the Obama juggernaut, we just might have a chance at stopping the whole damn thing next year.

If Charles Johnson doesn't have the stomach to call a spade a spade and join the fight to try and save what freedom we have left in this country, then perhaps he should change the name of his blog to Milquetoast Musings and start hanging around with David Gergen.

-Dave

Anonymous said...

I'll have to greatly disagree with the Anonymous poster supporting Charles above. I've no doubt you believe what you're saying but I myself was banned at LGF with no warning on a day when I wasn't even posting anything, all because I disagreed (respectfully) with Charles on a number of recent threads days before.

He does not tolerate honest dissent. And his mindless sycophants? Don't get me started. When you can't wait to be the first to ding up Charles' overnight thread, there's something seriously wrong with you!