The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Another ‘Anti-Government Right Wing Extremist of the Ron Paulian Persuasion’

Posted on | March 7, 2010 | 23 Comments

No, not Pentagon shooter Patrick Bedell — as described by Charles Johnson — I’m talking about that other 9/11 Truther:

Two days before his official trip to Afghanistan, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, a “big lie” intended to pave the way for the invasion of a war-torn nation, according to Iranian state media.
Ahmadinejad, known for his harsh rhetoric toward the West and Israel, said the attack on U.S. soil was a “scenario and a sophisticated intelligence measure,” Iran’s state-run Press TV reported Saturday.
The assault was a “big lie intended to serve as a pretext for fighting terrorism and setting the grounds for sending troops to Afghanistan,” Press TV reported Ahmadinejad as saying.

Mahmoud Ahmadenijad, Patrick Bedell, Rosie O’Donnell, Charlie Sheen — all those notorious libertarians!

Probably Belgian, too. IYKWIMAITYD.

ADDENDUM: For the benefit of those who’ve been reading the blog for less than six months, or who didn’t pay close attention to the Great LGF Meltdown of 2009, I will explain the “Belgian” joke and a few other things, as well.

The first clear indication that Little Green Footballs blogger Charles Johnson had slipped a cog was in October 2007, when he attacked Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs and Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch for having attended a “counter-jihad” conference in Brussels, Belgium.

Specifically, Johnson and certain of his pseudonymous commenters charged that various European participants in the Brussels conference were “ultra-nationalist” or “Euro-fascist.” Prominently mentioned in Johnson’s attack was Vlaams Belang (“Flemish Interest”), a Belgian political party that has a history of controversy, opposing the typical European “multicultural” stance toward Islam and immigration (readers of Mark Steyn’s America Alone will nod their heads in recognition).

When Geller and Spencer defended the Brussels conference and protested the guilt-by-association attacks, Johnson’s response was to launch a crusade of defamation against Geller and Spencer. Anyone who sided with Geller and Spencer in this dispute was accused by Johnson of willfully abetting “Euro-fascism.” Conservative columnist Diana West and best-selling author Richard Miniter were among the many people stigmatized by Johnson, as Geller noted.

Keep in mind that, when this dispute began, Little Green Footballs was still one of the most widely read conservative sites, a “must” on any conservative blogroll (including Rush Limbaugh’s site). By declaring Geller and Spencer to be persona non grata and condemning West, Miniter, et al., Johnson was implicitly threatening to eject from the ranks of respectable conservatism any blog that linked either Atlas Shrugs or Jihad Watch. This resulted in a drastic loss of traffic for Geller and Spencer, and damaged their effort to build a trans-Atlantic alliance against what has been variously deemed ”Islamicization” or “Dhimmification.”

And all of this, you see, because of the threat allegedly posed by Vlaams Belang, a party that mustered 12% of the vote in Belgium, a peaceful democratic nation geographically smaller than Maryland with a population less than Ohio’s. Consider, then, the extreme disproportion involved in Johnson’s crusade, during which he branded Geller a “Poster Girl for Euro-Fascists.”

Regardless of your opinion of Vlaams Belang — or whether you even have an opinion about them – is this Belgian political party really a threat comparable to al Qaeda? Is Flemish nationalism such a grave danger as to justify the crusade against Geller and Spencer? Or, as seems far more likely, does Johnson have some kind of personality flaw that caused him to go beserk when Geller and Spencer disputed his condemnation of the Brussels conference?

All of which explains why I began invoking “the Flemish Menace” when mocking Johnson’s paranoiac tendencies, his rigid categorical thinking, and his obsessive need to apply pejorative labels to his enemies (real or imaginary). His counter-factual claim that Pentagon shooter Patrick Bedell was an “Anti-government right wing extremist of the Ron Paulian persuasion” is typical of what I call Johnsonoia.

Why not merely ignore Charles Johnson? It’s never safe to turn your back on a rabid dog.

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Category: Charles Johnson, Foreigners, Iran, The Flemish Menace, Uncategorized

Comments

  • http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com Charles Johnson

    You deleted my last commment. But I love to twist the truth to my own version of events–then I mock those who do not conform to my own subjective view.

    Thus anyone who disagrees with me is a racist, or wingnut, or gets the LGF ban hammer. I have banned Wild Irish Rose and even Sharmuta. Frankly, it is liberating to get rid of those wenches finally. It is how I roll. I would fit in well in Iran.

    So yes, you, Spencer and Geller are all racists, just like Hot Air and Glenn Reynolds. Pam Geller is also an anti semite. Any Caucasian Southerner is clearly racist unless they beg for forgiveness again and again and denounce their friends and family. Neil Young says so.

    And yeah, every terrorist in America is inspired by the Teabaggers. Because I say so.

  • http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com Charles Johnson

    You deleted my last commment. But I love to twist the truth to my own version of events–then I mock those who do not conform to my own subjective view.

    Thus anyone who disagrees with me is a racist, or wingnut, or gets the LGF ban hammer. I have banned Wild Irish Rose and even Sharmuta. Frankly, it is liberating to get rid of those wenches finally. It is how I roll. I would fit in well in Iran.

    So yes, you, Spencer and Geller are all racists, just like Hot Air and Glenn Reynolds. Pam Geller is also an anti semite. Any Caucasian Southerner is clearly racist unless they beg for forgiveness again and again and denounce their friends and family. Neil Young says so.

    And yeah, every terrorist in America is inspired by the Teabaggers. Because I say so.

  • http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com Charles Johnson

    You are really starting to drive me insane McCain. The one thing I hate more than anything is mockery. I will not be mocked.

  • http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com Charles Johnson

    You are really starting to drive me insane McCain. The one thing I hate more than anything is mockery. I will not be mocked.

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  • MrPaulRevere

    Johnson really is behaving like Pavlov’s dog. Mr. McCain rings the bell, and he salivates with another fallacious ad hominem attack. Bravo Mr. Mcain, you play him like a fiddle.

  • MrPaulRevere

    Johnson really is behaving like Pavlov’s dog. Mr. McCain rings the bell, and he salivates with another fallacious ad hominem attack. Bravo Mr. Mcain, you play him like a fiddle.

  • http://www.gwbush.blogspot.com Aplusplusplus

    Charles Johnson is mentally ill and kind of stupid. I would just ignore him.

  • http://www.gwbush.blogspot.com Aplusplusplus

    Charles Johnson is mentally ill and kind of stupid. I would just ignore him.

  • pat

    OK. I am confused. While it is clear that CJ has adopted a leftist ideology, are you saying that he believes that the Iranian Clown deserves anything more than a quick drop off a tall building? And remember that I do not know what goes on at LGF. So I am all ears.

  • pat

    OK. I am confused. While it is clear that CJ has adopted a leftist ideology, are you saying that he believes that the Iranian Clown deserves anything more than a quick drop off a tall building? And remember that I do not know what goes on at LGF. So I am all ears.

  • Ken Yaman

    This here:

    Vlaams Belang (“Flemish Interest”), a Belgian political party that has a history of controversy, opposing the typical European “multicultural” stance toward Islam and immigration

    is the funniest line of horseshit I’ve read in a long time. Break out the swastika armbands, why don’t you!

  • Ken Yaman

    This here:

    Vlaams Belang (“Flemish Interest”), a Belgian political party that has a history of controversy, opposing the typical European “multicultural” stance toward Islam and immigration

    is the funniest line of horseshit I’ve read in a long time. Break out the swastika armbands, why don’t you!

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  • steve

    I appreciated Johnson’s candor and clarity.

  • steve

    I appreciated Johnson’s candor and clarity.

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  • Ed Sedar

    This is really dumb. Are you high school girls? Who cares about the he said, she said crap??? Apparently not many people though since you have, what, a dozen comments? Why don’t you two get a room? I’m sure McCain can bring fresh white sheets for the bed after all!

  • Ed Sedar

    This is really dumb. Are you high school girls? Who cares about the he said, she said crap??? Apparently not many people though since you have, what, a dozen comments? Why don’t you two get a room? I’m sure McCain can bring fresh white sheets for the bed after all!

  • vanderleun

    The begging bowl is out!

    Alas Poor Charles, his site doth increase it’s suckage daily. How do we know? Because after years of purging his readership, Johnson’s having to beg his last few readers to turn off ad-blocking to boost his stats:

    “Here’s a very interesting piece at Ars Technica, on a subject that has a direct effect on LGF: Why Ad Blocking is devastating to the sites you love.” — Why Ad Blocking Hurts the Sites You Love – Charles Johnson

  • vanderleun

    The begging bowl is out!

    Alas Poor Charles, his site doth increase it’s suckage daily. How do we know? Because after years of purging his readership, Johnson’s having to beg his last few readers to turn off ad-blocking to boost his stats:

    “Here’s a very interesting piece at Ars Technica, on a subject that has a direct effect on LGF: Why Ad Blocking is devastating to the sites you love.” — Why Ad Blocking Hurts the Sites You Love – Charles Johnson

  • http://theothermccain.com Robert Stacy McCain

    Alas Poor Charles, his site doth increase it’s suckage daily. How do we know? Because after years of purging his readership, Johnson’s having to beg his last few readers to turn off ad-blocking to boost his stats . . .

    I’ve got no problem, obviously, with bloggers doing whatever it takes to pay the bills. But I’ve always had a growth-oriented approach to blogging, understanding that a late arrival (March 2008) would have to push hard to build traffic.

    By contrast, LGF predates even the popular use of the term “blog” — which didn’t really enter the lexicon until 2003 — and was relatively huge from 9/11 onward. At some point in 2007, however, it appears that Johnson became dissatisfied, decided to destroy perceived rivals (e.g., his attacks on Geller and Spencer) and in the process of pursuing that mad crusade, destroyed his traffic base.

    As a business model, “growth by subtraction” is insanity. Johnson evidently took his traffic (and revenue) for granted until he had gone too far down that path. He has no one to blame but himself for his current predicament, having thrown away more opportunity than most people ever get. He doesn’t believe in God, but I do, and I believe that Charles Johnson has brought down the curse of God on himself by his vicious ingratitude. There are other people in the blogosphere (not the sort to boast of their religious faith) who believe Johnson to be quite literally demon-possessed. I’m not saying I share that belief, but given his evident appetite for self-destruction, neither is it a possibility that can be peremptorily dismissed.

    If there is a moral to the LGF story, it is this:

    Never make the mistake of thinking you’re so important you don’t need other people.

    Sometimes I become so absorbed in my own work as to be neglectful where I should be more courteous (e.g., I’m waaaaaay behind on thank-you notes to tip-jar hitters) but success is never a solo project. People who forget that fact . . . well, look at Chuckles.

    Sad. Very sad.

  • http://theothermccain.com Robert Stacy McCain

    Alas Poor Charles, his site doth increase it’s suckage daily. How do we know? Because after years of purging his readership, Johnson’s having to beg his last few readers to turn off ad-blocking to boost his stats . . .

    I’ve got no problem, obviously, with bloggers doing whatever it takes to pay the bills. But I’ve always had a growth-oriented approach to blogging, understanding that a late arrival (March 2008) would have to push hard to build traffic.

    By contrast, LGF predates even the popular use of the term “blog” — which didn’t really enter the lexicon until 2003 — and was relatively huge from 9/11 onward. At some point in 2007, however, it appears that Johnson became dissatisfied, decided to destroy perceived rivals (e.g., his attacks on Geller and Spencer) and in the process of pursuing that mad crusade, destroyed his traffic base.

    As a business model, “growth by subtraction” is insanity. Johnson evidently took his traffic (and revenue) for granted until he had gone too far down that path. He has no one to blame but himself for his current predicament, having thrown away more opportunity than most people ever get. He doesn’t believe in God, but I do, and I believe that Charles Johnson has brought down the curse of God on himself by his vicious ingratitude. There are other people in the blogosphere (not the sort to boast of their religious faith) who believe Johnson to be quite literally demon-possessed. I’m not saying I share that belief, but given his evident appetite for self-destruction, neither is it a possibility that can be peremptorily dismissed.

    If there is a moral to the LGF story, it is this:

    Never make the mistake of thinking you’re so important you don’t need other people.

    Sometimes I become so absorbed in my own work as to be neglectful where I should be more courteous (e.g., I’m waaaaaay behind on thank-you notes to tip-jar hitters) but success is never a solo project. People who forget that fact . . . well, look at Chuckles.

    Sad. Very sad.

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