Libelblogger Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs has been blogging daily for around ten years now, and in all that time has contented himself with a few lines of comment on news stories he has blogged about; he has never written a single stand-alone, full-length article about anything -- until now. Columnist Johnson makes his debut today in The Guardian's Comment Is Free section in a characteristic way: by spreading lies about my colleague Pamela Geller.
This is what this man has allowed himself to become: after betraying all his principles and alliances, he is despised by the Right and held in contempt by the Left, while he himself stands for nothing at all except the destruction of those principled individuals alongside whom he used to fight. And their destruction is the chief cause to which he devotes his time nowadays; hence this present hit piece on Pamela. As I said yesterday, "It is testimony to the effectiveness of my colleague Pamela Geller, in raising awareness of the issues surrounding the Islamic supremacist mega-mosque at Ground Zero and Islamic supremacism in general, that the mainstream media is gunning for her with relentless fury." Johnson is no Reuel Gerecht, and doesn't even approach Jeffrey Goldberg, but since he is spreading this nonsense in The Guardian now and not just at his rapidly sinking hate site Little Green Footballs, it warrants setting the record straight.
"Pamela Geller and the bloggers of hate," by Charles Johnson in The Guardian, October 14 (thanks to James):
Johnson spends most of his piece retailing Leftist scare words about conservatives, so as to semaphore to Guardian readers that Pamela Geller is Not One Of Us and thus not to be trusted. Thus without explanation he calls her an "extreme rightwing blogger" and claims that she has "arguably done more than anyone else to incite fear and hatred over the so-called 'Ground Zero Mosque.'" He offers no evidence for this; he's just slinging smear words with no content. Maybe he thought the Guardian site was called Content Is Free. And with a puritanical distaste that he would deride if it came from any conservative, he claims that the New York Times profile of her last Sunday featured a photo of Pamela "posing in her bikini." This, too, is false.
Then Johnson claims that through him "Pamela Geller got her start on the internet":
One thing you'll discover in the article is that Pamela Geller got her start on the internet by commenting at my site, Little Green Footballs. She posted more than 6,000 comments at LGF in our earlier days, when our comment moderation policy was much more laissez faire than it is now.As I said to the Times, in those days, Geller was often the first one to take the rhetoric over the top, and the target of her rage was usually (but not always) Muslims. And not just militants or terrorists, but all Muslims; Geller was quite clear, and stated often, that she didn't believe in the idea of a "moderate Islam" at all. (Ironically, this is an opinion she shares with the leaders of al-Qaida, who insist that all Muslims must follow their extreme interpretation of Islam.)
Johnson here confuses moderate Islam with moderate Muslims. In Ibn Warraq's lapidary formulation, there are many moderate Muslims, but no moderate Islam. In other words, there is no traditional, mainstream sect of Islam or school of Islamic jurisprudence that does not teach warfare against and the subjugation of unbelievers. But that doesn't mean that every Muslim is with that program, any more than Jesus' teaching means that every Christian turns the other cheek and loves his enemies. The teachings of a religion are one thing and the way every individual believer puts those teachings into practice is quite another.
This is an elementary distinction, but it seems to elude Johnson and other Leftists, whether because they cannot see it or do not wish to. In any case, Johnson, bent on destroying Pamela Geller, tries to portray her as targeting "all Muslims," rather than standing up for freedom against Islamic supremacists as she does. Here again, he lies.
Several years ago, I made a very public break with Geller and her allies, such as Robert Spencer, because of their increasing radicalisation and willingness to make alliances with far rightwing anti-Islam parties in Europe, such as Belgium's Vlaams Belang and Britain's English Defence League.
This is Johnson's Big Lie, which he has spread for years now everywhere he could, and has hoodwinked many people into believing. In reality, neither I nor Pamela Geller ever made any alliances with Vlaams Belang or the EDL. That should not be taken as a repudiation of either group; at the same time, however, I refuse to accept the Leftist contention that I must be responsible for everything anyone connected with either one ever says or does because I refuse to denounce them as a whole. I don't believe they're neofascist white supremacists, as Johnson claims. There is no way that Pamela Geller or I would ever work with, endorse, or approve of any genuine neofascist or white supremacist individual or group in any way, shape or form. But because we would not denounce people Johnson demanded we denounce, he denounced us, and claimed we were far closer to them than we ever were. The whole controversy was manufactured by Charles Johnson.
Indeed, when Geller held her anti-Islam rally in Manhattan this year on 11 September, she invited representatives of the English Defence League to attend. This turned into a bit of an embarrassment when one of the EDL leaders was refused entry to the United States because of "entry form irregularities", and the others had their hotel rooms searched by the FBI.
Yes, because we all know that the immigration authorities and the FBI are always and in every case on the side of the angels.
There's a much uglier side to Pamela Geller, however, that was missed by Barnard and Feuer and needs to be pointed out: in addition to her anti-Muslim activities, Geller often supports and glorifies people who can only be described as white supremacists and genocidal war criminals.
Why did the New York Times reporters Barnard and Feuer miss this? Because it's false. Barnard and Feuer are hardcore ideologues and hardly objective reporters, but even they knew that they couldn't retail this nonsense even in the New York Times. Read on and you'll see why.
For example, last April, Geller defended South African apartheid advocate and convicted terrorist Eugene Terreblanche, blaming his murder on "black supremacism" and warning that it was the start of "white genocide" in South Africa:"The white genocide is heating up in South Africa: South Africa race tension grows. The whites in South Africa are keenly aware of the plans to kill them, better known as 'The night of the long knives'. They expect it to happen very soon after the death of Mandela, but to tell this to the world is a waste of energy. Atlas has been reporting on this horror that the savages in the media ignore."
Here's something Pamela wrote about Terreblanche that Johnson didn't quote: "Insofar as my sanctioning of white supremacists in South Africa -- that is a blatant libel. I do not -- this coming from proponents of Jewish genocide and the annihilation of Israel. I vehemently disagree with Terre'blanche's ideas, but I don't believe he (or anyone else) should be viciously hacked to death for their ideas by supremacists. Does CAIR go after Malema for singing "kill the Boer farmers"? No -- because Jihadis Incite South African Blacks to kill all Whites."
She wrote that last April. Not time enough for Johnson to find it, however -- it has only been seven months.
Johnson missed more, too:
And in July, Geller posted an ode of support to genocidal Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic.
Actually, she posted a piece that said quite clearly: "I am not defending Radovan Karadzic..."
The most troubling thing about a person like Johnson, like Islamic supremacist hair stylist Reza Aslan and so many others, is that they don't seem to care a whit for the truth. All they care about is destroying their enemies.
Just ignore this little angry child.
He should consider visiting Sudan or Saudi Arabia to experience "moderate Islam".
Seriously, who cares what he has to say? Why elevate the value of his ramblings with a response? Anyone who follows him is not going to read your rebuttal nor do I think anyone on JW cares what he has to say in the first place. I agree with Cuda, just ignore him.
Too bad. LGF used to be such a fun site with so many funny and clever responses by so many people. It was a fun online community that I looked forward to reading and participating. I stopped at about the time you mention, Robert, when CJ was fighting with everyone and blocking anyone who disagreed with him. The first to go and one of my favorite posters was Fjordman. After that it went downhill and off the cliff.
Charles who?
LGE,
Little green envy.
Johnson's just a perfumed fart. Along with Reza Aslan.
Why answer?
Because it's in the Guardian, not just at his shrinking libel site.
I am not going to let these false charges circulate unanswered any longer.
Cordially
Robert Spencer
Thank you Robert, for standing up for Pamela. Like ping pong balls under water truth matters and eventually rises to the surface. In this case, why wait?
You are truly one of the knights of old.
"Islamic supremacist hair stylist Reza Azlan"
I know this is serious stuff but I can't stop laughing at that one. Muslims are very committed to their beliefs, except when they are not. Wasn't it the Ayatollah Khomeini who said, there is no hair gel in Islam?
Slightly off topic, a little at least, but has anyone else wondered how the events we saw in Chile with the miners were trapped might have played out in a country following Islamic ideology, such as say Saudi Arabia?
1. Would the same efforts have been made to rescue the miners. Or would their fate have been assigned to Allah, and would they have been left to a long lingering death deep below ground?
2. Would the media have been allowed to report on such an event?
3. Would men and women have been allowed to mix at any equivalent of Camp Hope? Or would women have been driven away with beatings if necessary?
I think the contrast between a non-Islamic culture and an Islamic one is profound. This is what people like the turncoat Johnson deny.
"Here again, he lies.
Several years ago, I made a very public break with Geller and her allies, such as Robert Spencer, because of their increasing radicalisation and willingness to make alliances with far rightwing anti-Islam parties in Europe, such as Belgium's Vlaams Belang and Britain's English Defence League.
This is Johnson's Big Lie"
I scratch my head about the internecine fueds going where parties oppose those who are allies and support those who would lop off their heads. This excuse for a very public break, public to readers of blogs at the time I guess, sounds very rational but I suspect it is clothing an emotional reaction to some event.
Pamela got upset at GoV, Debbie has it in for Pamela, not only both anti-jihad bloggers but also both Jewish with an additional bond, and now Robert, but is still onside with Andrew who has it in for Robert and so on. Meanwhile the crowd over at loonwatch are rubbing their hands with glee.
Given the material being dealt with in the various blogs it is not surprising that these things happen for they happen in life when stress wears down one's ability to maintain a calm exterior. It is still distressing though and unfortunate that they have gone on for so long.
It's an interesting point that Robert makes about Johnson's lack of output. He is not a blogger in the accepted sense in that he is not a writer. He doesn't contribute essays or well written opinion pieces and this Guardian piece shows that he is unable to construct a serious logical argument. As shown, it is all too easy to dismantle his 'article'.
I admit that I occasionally visit the site when someone mentions it; it is about a year since I last went, but it is true that it was always comment driven (as Allat suggests). But I did notice that not only have the number of views dropped considerably, but the comments section is drivel. The Pamela Geller piece is littered with posts about pretzels and where to buy them. Plus a lot of ego stroking of Charles that contribute nothing,; not anything. There's no expertise, no knowledge, no insight. This may have some 'laddish' charm but is hardly a serious forum.
In general, it has no value.
It's a very high price public defenders of freedom must often pay to defend freedom. Pamela Geller pays this price over and over again, as does Robert Spencer. Heroes in my book, both of them. Villains in Charles Johnson's. I'll leave it to future history to decide who is right here and who is wrong. As long as truth isn't annihilated as we move further into an uncertain century, I will remain confident that approbation will lie with Geller and Spencer and scorn with the Johnsons of the world. Can't also help but note that having Robert Spencer as a friend, as Pamela Geller does, is one of the great gifts of life.
Considering the Guarding is a far leftist newsrag and the people who read it aren't the type to visit JW or believe in what Robert is trying to do.
Let the little twit twist in the wind.
Johnson is a mentally incompetent sack of sheet. A horrible little man who took his midlife crisis and in conceited revenge turned on the truth with his tiresome lies.
But with the recent financial success of the reality movie The Social Network, you can bet somebody will make a movie of him. My vote is for Michael Moore to be the director.
The Lamestream Media need Chuck. He's filled to the brim with exactly the product in which these news entertainers deal: total, unsubstantiated, easily refutable, libelous dung.
She should sue. But given that the lawyers-in-robes absconded with our Constitution in 1966, that probably wouldn't work.
This is the first article I've seen written by CJ where the comments with opposing views weren't summarily deleted.
As a proud member of the Banned By LGF Club, I contend that almost everything that comes out of Charles' mouth is a lie. Take for example his characterization of Pamela's commenting back in the day "when our comment moderation policy was much more laissez faire than it is now." I can attest that his comment policy was never anything like laissez faire. He leads the uninformed reader to conclude that he's gotten a handle on outrageous commenting, when the fact is that he himself totally switched sides, hard left from center right, and now Pamela, Robert, and the rest of us are unwelcome, no matter what we're saying. It's not at all that he simply started punishing abuses.
BTW, I was banned for something that is neither a right nor left, neither conservative nor liberal, position. All I did was suggest that one can believe in evolution and remain a believer in God. I testified that I adhere to what can be described as theistic evolution. I insisted, in fact, that although theology has no place in science class, neither does scientific knowledge have much relevance to the spiritual realm. I concluded that theology doesn't help us to understand the workings of the physical world, but neither can science provide the meaning of life or lead us to the promised land.
Pretty outrageous stuff, after all, so I was banned. I might add, since Robert noted that CJ seldom writes more than a blurb, that partially what's at work here is Charles' inability either to comprehend the well-written word or to draft much of a verbal polemic in response to ideas which he finds threatening. His only alternative is to shut down the discussion.
He may have just recently joined the leftist nut ball clique, but Charles Johnson has always been superficial, intolerant, and functionally illiterate.
I don't get it. I was on his site some years ago, but left due to the left swing. Things were not "right"
People should go over to the Guardian's Johnson article and note the comments. In my reading of them, the first batch are all pro-Johnson anti-Geller. Then the tide seems to swing and the latest comment far more critical of LGF and Johnson.
These anti-LGF/Johnson posts are garnering a goodly number of "Recommendations".
Would be worth going over and adding your voices and votes.
The Grauniad (thus named in “honor” of its frequent errors and typos) is a useless leftist/jihadist/anti-Semitic rag that is unfit even to line the bottom of a vulture cage.
The Grauniad Does Not Get It
Oh, and by the way, Chucklehead’s “contribution” is nothing more than a glorified letter to the editor.
I got banned from LGF back in 2007 for supporting the Serbs against trumped-up charges of war crimes that were being used as excuses for perpetrating REAL war crimes against the Serbs.
I can see that the Chucklehead is still singing that same old tune.
Back in the day, I predicted that if nobody stepped up to defend the Serbs, then pretty soon the Jews would be the next victims of false accusations of war crimes, along with bombings and other terror attacks.
Nothing has changed since then.
Radovan Karadzic is guilty of nothing but trying to defend the Serbs against the jihadis in the Balkans. The US supported the Balkans jihadis against the Christian Serbs, simply as a way of trying to appease Saudi oil interests and various Muslim leaders. We all know how well this dhimmitude has worked out.
Everyone should be so lucky as to have a friend like you, Robert Spencer. Your defense of Pamela is so well done that it is an education and a pleasure to read. I rarely comment, but as one who has met Pamela Geller and understand and support her work I must say that this lunatic attack on her is a real shame and your counter to it is admirable. In Spanish a person like Charles Johnson is known as a "sin verguenza", literally "without shame".
It is a mystery what caused Johnson to go off to the dark side as he has. I suspect some sort of 1960s related personality disorder which has yet to be fully understood but may have something to do with mixing leftist politics and LSD. This snippet by Johnson could provide a peak at the inner Charles:
"I’m starting to wonder if the CIA is conducting a secret experiment on the effects of powerful hallucinogenic substances on highly placed Republican politicians. How else can we explain GOP leader John Boehner’s call for a one-year moratorium on all Federal regulations?
That’s the kind of idea you get when the acid really kicks in, and the trees start melting. “Dude! Let’s just shut down the whole government for a year! The colors … I can taste them all!” "
In the early 1970s a big topic of speculation was what the long term effects of heavy LSD use would prove to be. I think studying people like Johnson, Bill Ayers and a number of Hollywood leftists may provide an answer to this medical question. Or he could just be plain nuts.
Here's my caricature of the little green rat
There sure are a LOT of deleted comments.
Jesus Murphy not "him" again..This morally decrepit dickwad arsewipe of ordurious ignorance..One article,the first read,was all it took to come to this conclusion as to his character.
Why on earth does CJ have to toss in South Afica? Talk about throwing the book, or what. Anyone, who wishes to be informed has heard of "Whitewash Day" for years. Believe or don't believe. Why have the blood of a St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre dripping from your hands? Maybe CJ has suggested the Islamic model of the slow, grinding, unrelentless campaigne to rid yourself of minorities. Seems to be working; and nobody gets caught "red handed". Two monks in Thailand, three schoolgirls in Indonesia, a Chinese storeowner in Malayasia, two Coptic teenage girls in Egypt, a divorced woman in Iran, drunk stewardesses in Saudi Arabia, kidnapped aid workers in Afghanistan; oh yawn. Just human interest media fluff stories. Nothing going on there. Yawn, time for bed.
I came across a nice little Propanganda scam by CAIR/CAIR-canada.
They each cross-promoted the BOGUS muslim hate-crimes with shocking Headlines and vague report made by the cut-n-paste method to create the news and not report it.
CAIR-Canada would post a story from the USA as if it happend in canada,and CAIR-USA posted Canadian news as if it happens everyday in canada.
But I do the real research for these claims and in 2 cases there was one Muslim arrested and charge for Insurance fraud for Arson on his own failed business and even spray painted swastika's for that Racism touch,the second Islamophobic attack which was at a Mosque( old 1-storey office with no ID for it as a Mosque) where the Muslim custodian just happened to be there at 3:00am to call 9-1-1 after all the damage was done,but the call wasn't made until AFTER the custodian smelled smoke from the female entrance torched by those Bigots.
Hmmmm????
Today, that pro-Saudi/Whahhabi Mosque has a big new "Cultrual-Centre" they insist is not a Mosque to replace the old one.
Right, the Police and Fire Dept. didn't have enough building damage to make it unsafe and then by-pass the build codes to re-build it as a mega-Mosque on land not Zoned for mulit-level business structures because it was among small houses and it was a back road that could not handle high car traffic .
Nice scam they got there, torch your own Mosque or Muslim business, blame jews or Christian bigots for the Insurance money or to rebuild the Mosque taller than the Zone-codes.
Meanwhile,the Police and Politicians fear exposing these bogus Hate-crime in hindsight when the facts come out. It's far better to exploit the Infidelophobic rants and hatred to appease the potential Jihadist that might go Jihad on them one day.
I even caught a Federal MP on a Mosque video posted for the Anti-Racism meeting they had and the Catholic MP Dan McTeague took the Mic and actually denounced Jesus as the messiah for Christians and he praised Allah and Muhammed as the true Prophet and god for all people.
It stayed posted on a Islamic anti-west website until I complained to the MP, I guess Dan didn't know he was on video that night,suddenly the 22 min vid was 14 mins but it still hate some hate-filled rants by Muslim clerics, soon the video was pulled for good.
But I did post it on blogs for others to see, and one Muslim Politician was also on the video and told the crowd that islam allows for Revenge-Attack on those harming Islam, BUT...Allah is please when you choose Peace.
WOW....so 1.2 billion Muslims CAN go Jihad....buyt Allah is plaesed when they don't.
I feel much safer now.
Just ignore these idiots, Robert. Don't waste your energy on them.
It's time for a national unification of western alliences with the US taking the lead, Pull out all Military and western nationals out of the middle east, agree on a definitive multilateral stand against global Jihadism, deliver with no uncertain terms ultimatums to the OIC specifically Riyahd, Islamabad Sanaa and take out Tehran's nuclear capability to make it known that we mean business
The hatchet job on Pamela Geller is in full swing in Blighty. Here is an article by Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens (you can tell by his pompous double barrel name who his father is, I guess) in Standpoint – a very little known British magazine (readership perhaps, ten).
I think on this occasion someone using the name (but who hasn't heard of "paragraphs")Pamela Geller has responded, read her comment below.
BTW, I have nothing against Standpoint, after all Douglas Murray contributes here sometimes. Meleagrou-Hitchens is an odd fellow (he is a yank, after all) in that he sometimes gets it, and sometimes doesn't – just like his dad, who the audience is, I suppose.
http://www.standpointmag.co.uk/node/3362
Mr Johnson has found a natural home at Guardian - a well known abode for reptiles.
And here is good old Harry's Place inviting folk to write a caption for a photo of Pamela Geller and Lord Pearson (he remember was the one who invited Geert Wilders to the House of Lords).
Of course, the more disparaging and insulting, the better.
No wonder islam will win out in the end…how does it go exactly…that ends with…divided we fall…
http://hurryupharry.org/2010/10/15/caption-competition-10/#comments
Robert, I would have asked the Guardian for equal time as it were for either you or Pamela. If they accept, fine. If they don't, post their refusals here for all to see. This sniping back and forth between you guys is getting a bit old. I mean, do you really want to let this man, and I use the term loosely, drag you into the mud with him? I believe you're above that.
If not, you can always take him to task for promoting a company that chooses to abuse poor asian people. OMG! CJ is a white supremacist!
http://www.ordinary-gentlemen.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/CJ.jpg
islam wont be winning anything in the end! As the truth always has and always will win in the long run.
Its time we step it up a bit however as people like iman rauf and rasan 'the boy-wonder of Cair,seem to be quite afraid of the massive tide of knowledge and muslim disgust washing over the USA now. They are clearly scared and running their mouths off so fast as to combat the ever-growing American (yes even Worldwide) repulsion of islam, they cant even refute facts without distortion and lies. no surprise there.
CJ,the traitor that he is, has made his bed and now he must sleep in it, his smear campaigns are like that of the cair and park51 scumbags, distorted baseless lies with NO evidence!
"ITS NOT ENOUGH TO BEHEAD THE SNAKE (islam)...WE MUST ALWAYS AND FOREVER BE ON CONSTANT VIGIL"
Allat the Original to Allat however you are:
Clever comment- and I should take the credit for it..it's that good. But it's obvious not the same writing style.
I've been hanging around for some years now, so YOU, take another name.
Gellerwoman is under attack by the forces of Ming...But the Mingians will not prevail...It is not Spencerman alone who will
shield her, but millions of anti-Mingians, to whom she is emerging as a heroine...She is already nearly bulletproof to the dismay of Mingians like CJ, and the poison pen writers of the MSM and certain blogs...They are shooting all their cannons off at once...The shells are now spent, and there is nothing left for them to do but call names...Gellerwoman will emerge more powerful, and credible, with more people...The Mingians made one fatal error...Americans always sympathize with the underdog...
By characterizing Gellerwoman as an underdog, they are helping with her popularity...The more liberal/leftist/Islamic, Mingians smear her, the more popular she gets...
So sorry allat. The app did not indicate that there was a duplicate name. I have changed it to the name I usually blog under.
Hopefully no one else uses this as well or else I have to keep changing my name and that is too much to think about.
"Hateblogger Charles Johnson lies" ...
Hateblogger? Liar? ...that about sums it up!
Robert, you say you answer the charges because they appear in the Guardian. The appropriate place to counter Johnson's is also in the Guardian, not on JW where most of the readership already agree with you and Geller. If you want to preach to the unconverted that's where you need to start positioning your work. People already dismiss your work because it appears in "right wing" publications, however wrong that may be, it is a reality to be dealt with if you want to combat lies, propaganda and the like.
Not sure if you followed my advice or did it off your own back, but the piece in the Guardian is a good move. Regardless of the misconceived comments there it is a sensible thing to take the fight to where it is most needed.
The Guardian is not an adult newspapers. It's just for eternal student types. Best not waste your time with it.