 The Little Green Footballs logo | |
Type of site | Independent,[1] liberal (post-mid-2009) blog; right wing (before 2009) |
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| URL | littlegreenfootballs |
Little Green Footballs (LGF) is an Americanpolitical blog run byweb designerCharles Foster Johnson. In its beginning years, the site had aright-wing orientation and was known for its advocacy of thewar on terrorism and theIraq War, as well its strident criticism of political Islam. The blog moved away from the right around 2009 and has become focused mainly on posts about music of Johnson's liking.
The site originally had a "right wing"[2] orientation. It was one of the most well-known and vehement pro-War on Terrorism websites in the early days of the blogosphere. Johnson stated in 2006:
I'm not pretending I'm giving equal time to both sides. But I do think what I'm advocating, and what I believe in, is the right side.[3]
After eight years of being a leading right wing blog, LGF started condemning racism and the far-right (especially the Belgian partyVlaams Belang). According to American journalistDavid Weigel, the site abruptly switched sides, having become "better known for the various fights it picks with many on the right".[4] During the transition period, Johnson deleted many of his more extreme past entries on the site, deleted entire comment sections, and banned many of the former right wing commentators from the site.[5]
More recently, in 2009, Johnson stated
I don't think there is an anti-jihadist movement anymore. ... It's all a bunch of kooks. I’ve watched some people who I thought were reputable, and who I trusted, hook up with racists and Nazis. I see a lot of them promoting stories and causes that I think are completely nuts.[4]
On November 30, 2009, Johnson blogged that he was disassociating himself with "the right," writing: "The American right wing has gone off the rails, into the bushes, and off the cliff. I won't be going over the cliff with them." He has been heavily critical of conservatives andlibertarians since then.[6]
Earlier, afterthe September 11, 2001 attacks, Johnson—who has described himself as "pretty muchcenter-left before 9/11"[7]—transformed his blog into a discussion of Islamist extremism and violence.
LGF won the "Best Israel Advocacy Blog" award from theJerusalem Post in 2005.[8] In 2004 Gil Ronen, a reporter for Internet news outletArutz Sheva, stated that "If anyone ever compiles a list of Internet sites that contribute to Israel's public relations effort, Johnson's site will probably come in first, far above the Israeli Foreign Ministry's site."[9]
In theUnited States, LGF is perhaps best known for playing a key role in exposing the fraud of theKillian documents regarding PresidentGeorge W. Bush,[10][11] which preceded the resignation ofCBS'sDan Rather. The site won theWashington Post's reader poll for Best International Blog in November 2004[12] and played a role in bringing attention to altered photographs in theAdnan Hajj photographs controversy.[13] In July 2008, LGF identified that photographs of Iran's missile test had been altered,[14] and was credited by much of the media for this.[15]
The name "Little Green Footballs" has not been explained by Charles Johnson. The most he has said about it is:
I am at liberty to reveal that it has something to do with an incident in my youth that happened in Japan.[16]
In early September, 2010, it was discovered that Johnson had begun altering some posts and deleting others which expressed sentiments which were substantively similar to the ones he had recently been condemning others for. In one example, Johnson had been condemning opponents of thePark51 project as "bigots", though he had expressed similar opposition to the proposedFlight 93 memorial, which he described as an "Islamic Shrine". Johnson was discovered to have deleted these posts without acknowledging their deletion.[17] Johnson had also described the lead figure in the Park51 project,Feisal Abdul Rauf, as an "Islamic Supremacist," but later revised that description from the post without acknowledging the change.[18]
The software for the website was written by Johnson himself[when?] inPHP. Until Spring 2007, all data was stored inflat files. The website now usesMySQL.[19]
LGF was one of four sources, along with thePower Line andAllahpundit blogs and theFree Republic discussion forum, who conducted the initial investigation ofDan Rather's assertions on60 Minutes that the Killian documents were genuine.[citation needed]
Little Green Footballs supporters have helped raise thousands of dollars forSpirit of America's "Friends of Iraq Blogger Challenge".[20][21] Supporters also donate pizzas forIDF soldiers.[22] In the immediate aftermath ofHurricane Katrina several registered users also offered their direct services donating and transporting goods to the hardest hit, inviting contributions from other readers.[23] Johnson also posted a number of links to charitable efforts[24][25] and thanked his readers for their response.[26]
In late 2005 Johnson, along with blogger and authorRoger L. Simon launched a news site calledPajamas Media (briefly calledOpen Source Media) featuring mostlyconservative andlibertarian bloggers and journalists (e.g.,Michelle Malkin,Glenn Reynolds,Michael Barone,Tammy Bruce,John Podhoretz,Michael Ledeen,Cathy Seipp) with someliberal participants (e.g.,David Corn,Marc Cooper). The name refers toJonathan Klein's comment about bloggers working in their pajamas.
As of 15 September 2009, Johnson has removed all links toPajamas Media sites[27] from Little Green Footballs.
On August 5, 2006, LGF showed how a photograph ofBeirut after an Israeli air strike taken byReuters photographerAdnan Hajj was manipulated before being published by Reuters.[28][29]
On July 10, 2008 the website documented alterations to photos of Iranian missile tests.[30] Fox News credited the website for discovering the doctored photos.[31]
Little Green Footballs once had two annual awards; The Fiskie and The Fallaci. The Fiskie was named after journalistRobert Fisk, in a blog post[32] where Johnson notes that, after having been captured and beaten by Afghan refugees, Fisk claimed he sympathized with them. The award was given to people who in the previous year best embodied the "Idiotarian" worldview. The Fallaci was named after the lateOriana Fallaci, and given to people who in the previous year best embodied the "Anti-Idiotarian" worldview.
Johnson had previously allowed his users to nominate and vote on candidates for both awards. The Fallaci was discontinued without explanation after 2007. Johnson quietly removed a link to her memorial site from the blog during his ideological shift in 2008. The Fiskie was discontinued after 2009. That year, rather than allow the community to vote,[33] Johnson unilaterally awarded the Fiskie toGlenn Beck.[34]
Discussing slang terms used by Johnson and his readers, Paul Farhi, a writer for theWashington Post, notes:
...Little Green Footballs doesn't always traffic in subtlety and nuance. Dissenting points of view often are dismissed as "idiotarian" or "LLL" (for "loony liberal left"), and Islam is mockingly referred to as "RoP", meaning "religion of peace".[3]
Charles Johnson's posts on LGF frequently call attention to what he regards as unethical revisionism on the part of rival blogs.[35][36][37][38][39][40][41]
Charles Johnson's posts on LGF frequently cited the writing of authors representingNeoconservative viewpoints, such asVictor Davis Hanson,Charles Krauthammer,Mark Steyn,James Lileks, and Oriana Fallaci. Johnson has expressed a strong disdain for theTea Party protests. Since his strong break with the right, he has come to openly criticize many of those same writers. He frequently references climate blogger Peter Sinclair[42] in posts about global warming.
Johnson often posts photos taken by Associated Press and Reuters photographers, among others, of Palestinians dressing their children in paramilitary uniforms, or in clothing emblazoned with violent slogans such as "Death to Israel." These children are often shown carrying real guns and even wearing mock-ups of the explosive belts used by suicide bombers. Johnson refers to such photographs as evidence of Palestinianchild abuse.[43]
Johnson has stated many times that he is disgusted with media coverage of the death ofInternational Solidarity Movement activistRachel Corrie, who was killed by an Israelibulldozer inRafah, a town in theGaza Strip.[44] Johnson disputes the ISM's account, holding that Corrie, who was regularly mocked as "Saint Pancake" on his website, was "trying to 'protect' a house used for drugs and weapons smuggling".[44][45] Johnson states:
Rachel Corrie was emphatically not a "peace activist". She sided with terrorists and criminals, and advocated—in fact, was excited by—violence and mass murder.[46]
In support of this view, he has cited[46] a diary entry[47] from Corrie, which Johnson characterizes as expressing the view that Palestinian violence towards Israel is justifiable and laudable.[46]
In posts about her on LGF, Johnson often features a photo of Corrie burning a hand-drawn American flag and surrounded by Palestinian children.[44]
LGF has been empirically opposed toIntelligent Design, and Johnson regularly posts to criticize the subject[48] and those who endorse it. He is particularly critical of Louisiana GovernorBobby Jindal on this point. In 2009, he stated that the Republican Party's having visible advocates of Intelligent Design is one of the reasons that the Democrats were in power.[49]
Johnson has been critical ofEdward Snowden and hisdisclosures. In 2014, he asserted that "Snowden himself committed a truly massive violation of civil liberties."[50]
Johnson has put[when?] in place a filter which stops LGF members from using certain derogatory and racist terms in their posts to the site. Johnson stresses that the number of comments filtered in this way are "minuscule." The filter is intended to prevent abuse going unnoticed.[51]
Johnson and LGF "regulars" (the self-proclaimed "Lizardoids") have engaged in a number of high-profilefeuds andflame wars, pitting LGF supporters against readers of other blogs (e.g.,Daily Kos and laterHot Air) and alternative media sites (e.g.,Fark andDigg).[citation needed]
As of 2014, one of Charles Johnson's main targets is analt-right figure and well-knownInternet troll with the same first and last name as him. When speaking ofCharles C. Johnson, the LGF owner takes pains to point out that this doppelganger "is not me."[52]
Johnson often redirects incoming links from sites critical of LGF to theIsrael Defense Forces homepage.[53][54]
Following a news release whichCAIR sent to pay-for-play organization PRNewswire.com, Johnson redirected the news release's link traffic to a site regardingCAIR's alleged ties to terrorist organizations.CAIR responded by having the links removed from the press release.[55]
Little Green Footballs has moved, over the space of a few weeks, from mercilessly mockingRon Paul and banning him from its straw polls to putting him at the center of a conspiracy for worldwide Nazi domination.
Johnson's allegations were picked up in theNew York Times "Medium" section, whereVirginia Heffernan cited LGF's coverage of claims byBill White, writing:[63]
Little Green Footballs, the hawkish and rigidly empiricist blog that first furnished evidence of memo-forging in the Rathergate case, has started due diligence...
In the wake of the Brussels Counterjihad 2007 conference held on October 17–18, 2007, Charles Johnson became openly critical of theVlaams Belang andSweden Democrats, political parties he believes to be fascist or neo-Nazi in character.[64]
This site is the focus of considerable controversy for its focus (and particularly the focus of the constituents in its comments section) on Islamic culture and dogma as the source of Islamic terror. As a popular, active, and well presented site, it is worth checking out, but some may find its content hateful or even racist.
I'm losing patience with this notion, surely one of the most successful mediaBig Lies of the past few years, that Charles runs a racist hate site. By now it's been repeated so often that even normally reasonable people believe it.
Call me independent, and I won't be unhappy. I have bones to pick with both sides, and big issues with the extremists on both sides. And if you're a politician, you need to prove to me that you deserve my support, because it's not a given just because you're on "my team."
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