A lovely perfume

Apology is a lovely perfume; it can transform the clumsiest moment into a gracious gift.

~Margaret Lee Runbeck

Chuckles Johnson should really take a leaf from Roger L. Simon's (not so best selling) book. Sometimes, it's best admit you were wrong and apologise. Even to Markos Zuniga. Even though it probably hurts.

How to be a complete asshole without really trying (Part One)

Chuckles the Clown doesn't like Juan Cole. Big deal. It's quite obvious he doesn't. After all Juan is an expert on the Middle East with years of experience, travelling and languages. Chuckles is a immature hack of the highest order. Full stop.

The proof of this is very evident in this post were he encourages his moronic little attack drones to leave messages on Juan Coles petition to apply the same 'Freedom of Speech' principles to Walt-Mearsheimer that Johnson wanted for the Mohammed cartoons.

Here’s where you can read the signatures, and even leave a note of your own to show how much you appreciate Professor Cole’s efforts: Freedom of Speech on the Israel Lobby - Signatures.

Oops! Looks like only certified college professors are invited to leave signatures. My bad. Please don’t post any signatures there, unless you’re a genuine, fully peer-reviewed college professor.

UPDATE at 4/27/06 7:19:45 pm:

The LGF stalkers are going nuts over there. Probably not certified college professors. But you never know.

How old is this man again? This is childish nonsense. Hypocritical nonsense at that. Remember, this is the man (with the aid of others) that promised Pajamas Media would be the 'new Media' and the death of 'old Media'. I reckon the MSM are sleeping easy, don't you?

Squeaky and "The Hat" Slapdown

Yesterday, Charles "Squeaky" Johnson posted this:

• Daily Kos Nutroots Manifesto Stiffs

• According to Drudge Report (based on Nielsen Bookscan figures) Markos Moulitsas “Screw Them” Zuniga’s magnum opus, the turgid, unreadable work of progressive sci-fi Crashing the Gate, has sold a whopping 3,630 copies. (Hat tip: Chris.)

And on his turgid site, Roger "The Hat" Simon parroted the Drudge falsehood.

Today, Glenn Grenwald administers a stinging slapdown and analysis of the defective thought processes of Bush cultists:

"There are so many data holes and misleading omissions in this item that it is literally and wholly useless in determining whether the book is a success. I want to emphasize that what matters here is not whether the book really is a success (I have no idea if it is or isn't), but how the baseless Drudge assertion became gospel fact among Bush followers, a distorted and corrupt process which generally governs how they come to think about the world with regard to virtually every issue."

But really, read the whole thing.

SK.

The racism of Charles Johnson

Charles Johnson has a habit of focusing on murder stories coming from the other side of the globe, but only if the alleged perpetrators are Muslims.

So it came as no surprise that when the virulently Arabophobic Brussels Journal posted a story about the killing of a young Belgian at the hands of 'North African' youths (code for Moroccans or Algerians), Charles Johnson picked it up with gusto.

The thing is, although some news reports mentioned the 'North African' link, and although the Muslim community was prominently mentioned as having condemned the killing, Charles Johnson went a step further - he came right out and blamed Muslims for killing 17 year old Joe Van Holsbeeck:

There were huge demonstrations tonight in Belgium, for a teenager stabbed to death by Muslim immigrants

Of course, you might say Charles Johnson was justified in blaming Muslims. But stop and think for a moment about the circumstances of this story: Even allowing for the fact that Johnson is such a pathetic blogger that he'll take every MSM report at face value (if it suits his agenda) and add a little bit of his own inimicable spice to it, ask yourself whether he would have posted this story if it had been clear from the start - as it now appears - that the culprits were of Polish origin. This fact, not his error in overplaying the story, is what makes Charles Johnson and his merry band of little green footballs such a sick - and dangerous - entity: his willingness to pluck a human tragedy out of context, from a country he has probably never been to, whose newspapers he doesn't read and probably can't understand, whose people most likely despise everything he stands for... all to suit his racist agenda.

It doesn't matter that he misread the news reports. What matters is why (because his is a world in which Muslims/Arabs are to blame for everything), and what effect it has on others. You need to look no further than his own comments section to see where Charles Johnson's racist demagogery leads:

14

Poimanester 4/23/2006 09:05PM PDT

A rope and a light pole. That's all that's needed. Well, maybe a splash of hog's blood for drama.

Hellbent on war

A former leading CIA official said yesterday that the White House deliberately ignored intelligence that showed that there were no weapons of mass destruction in the run-up to the war in Iraq.

Tyler Drumheller, who was once the highest-ranking CIA officer in Europe, told CBS's 60 Minutes programme that the White House shifted its focus to regime change in the months before the invasion.

"The policy was set. The war in Iraq was coming and they were looking for intelligence to fit into the policy," Mr Drumheller said... (link)

Sound familiar? If Iran starts complying with the IAEA, if it starts letting in inspectors and promising it won't develop nuclear weapons, do you think there's any chance the hawks in Washington will back down? No way. Their's is a juggernaut administration that simply can't change direction. The only question is, how many of us will go down with it, because go down it will...

Whatever happened to Afghanistan?

If you're one of those wingnuts who get their world news solely from LittleGreenFootballs.com, then you might be forgiven for thinking that Afghanistan is a peaceful, thriving democracy with a little apostasy problem.

Over the last month, Charles Johnson's coverage of events in Afghanistan has been patchy, to say the least. He mentioned the Abdul Rahman case a few times, because it neatly encapsulates the barbarity of Muslim apostasy laws, and he mentioned the ex-Taliban who now studies at Yale (how ironic) as an example of America pandering to extremists.

He mentions the happy memories two Afghan boys have of their time in the Cuban Gulag, oh, and Charlie J even finds it in himself to refer - ONCE - to the fact that there is a guerilla war going on in Afghanistan, five years since the invasion.

Luckily for his readers, it's a hero story about Canadian troops securing Helmand province. No mention of casualties, Canadian or American. Or that remnants of the US-created warlords armies are regrouping to attack foreign troops. Or that around half of the Afghan economy is based on opium growing, the end product of which kills infidels from Los Angeles to Melbourne (a large chunk of the other half is foreign aid). Or that Osama bin Laden is still alive, merrily broadcasting his anti-western propaganda to the delight of violent young radicals.

No, Charles Johnson has moved on. For every mention of Afghanistan, there are now three mentions of Iran on LGF. Never mind a job botched in one country (and we haven't even mentioned Iraq!). Let's focus on the next target...

Dear Mr. President

This is a fantastic song by Pink picked up via Crooks & Liars.

Strange sources

Charles is extremely fond of reproducing MSM articles about Iran that paint the country as essentially one big terrorist state.

What CJ rarely points out, though, is that many of these stories about of suicide bombers lining Tehran streets, ready to hurl themselves at western targets, and secret nuclear weapons programs are sourced from an organization that has itself been designated as 'terrorist' by many European countries: the Mujahedin-e Khalq

So, lizard kids, next time you read scare stories about Iran on LGF, remember that there might be an agenda behind the 'information', namely the overthrow of the Iranian government. Oh, wait, you want that too? Then you'll have no problem working with Marxist-inspired Islamists whose biggest supporter until recently was...Saddam Hussein.

Anybody surprised?

Do you remember the right wing of the blogosphere going nuts over soon to be released documents linking Saddam to terror? Do you remember their shrill cries of 'we told you so'? Do you?

Well it seems the documents, like the case for war in the first place are a load of bunk.

The first surprising thing we find in the documents, which are available here through the U.S. Army Foreign Military Studies Office’s Joint Reserve Intelligence Center, is that they are not necessarily from, or even about, Iraq…

Whether intentional or not, the conflation and confusion of materials has been more than sufficient to convince bloggers on the political right that there were, as Bush officials insisted, operational links between Saddam’s Iraq and al-Qaida.

Anybody surprised? We're not.

Good news from Iraq

Yesterday Chuckles Johnson happily reported that teachers had been beheaded in front of school children in Iraq. It goes without saying that the comments attached post went from just plain nutty to genocidalist claptrap in a matter of entries. Another day another hissy fit over how Islam as a whole is to blame for Iraq. Except for one thing. The story was bullshit. So for once, Chuckles has some good news from Iraq. I doubt it will be worth cutting and pasting in his book. Here's some of the lovely reactions from those brave, loveable 'Lizards'.

1 Jewnami 4/19/2006 08:03AM PDT
koranimalia.

9 Spiny Norman 4/19/2006 08:07AM PDT
Can someone please explain to me why we are "practicing restraint" with these swine, this human filth?

20 ghengis was a wuss 4/19/2006 08:11AM PDT
I think a US soldier school monitor is in order.

And castrating the terrorists when we catch them so they can't enjoy the virgins when they die, shooting them in the knee with Israeli bullets, and using a firehose filled with pigs' blood to give them a bath.

Then send them to "Allah" , er, I mean satan.

35 jaynumber13 4/19/2006 08:21AM PDT
Can we carpetbomb Mecca yet?

46 SevoGuy 4/19/2006 08:27AM PDT
Shame on any American who believes that what we are trying to do in IRAQ is a mistake.

The only mistake we have made thus far is that we aren't KILLING enough of the Islamists.

That also goes for killing clerics, imans, mullahs, shit stains and anyone who believes that shiri'a law should be instituted.

The day will come when we Americans are going to have to drive out islam from our shores.

48 Axiom 4/19/2006 08:28AM PDT
Look, I don't know why they are beheading people. Here in the west, to get us to change our ways they merely have to hold a rally and kill eachother. That's enough to get us to change.

Do these koranimals actually think it is necessary to behead teachers in front of students to induce change?

89 sms111 4/19/2006 11:03AM PDT

Cindy gets an orgasm from this. More to blame on the evil U.S. and the evil Joooos.

99 jwbaumann 4/19/2006 03:12PM PDT

Their depravity continues because it is Satan-driven, until Jesus returns.

Our job in the meantime is to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute. And to try to convert them. More souls for Heaven! Wouldn't that tick old Lucifer off?

106 transferthem 4/19/2006 06:59PM PDT
Wish they'd behead cindy sheehan.

Slowly, with a rusty old blade

Here's the MSNBC report on how the truth went MIA in Iraq. It would be nice if Chuckles would update his post and all the bile spouted as a reaction to it. Not likely I know.

"We sent a crew and they spoke with witnesses in front of the school, and they say nothing happened. We spoke to the guard at the school who says 'I was here from early morning until they (the kids) left, and nothing happened," said a representative of one of the agencies.

"We went to both schools and no one confirmed it. We even went to the local police station and they denied it happen. This thing you can’t hide. The kids saw nothing," said the bureau chief of another news agency.

Our NBC bureau called the Ministry of Interior, and they had reports on the incident.

In the back of my mind I was wondering, what is this Ministry of State for National Security? Usually such reports come out of the Ministry of Interior.

"Another job for another thug," one of my colleagues said, suggesting that perhaps this Ministry of State for National Security exists just as much for patronage as for security.

The ministry is in fact a legitimate part of the government, but why would a ministry ever put out such a statement that's so inflammatory? And if this is so official, and so dead wrong, who can you trust out here?

Steve Bell in today's Guardian.

Open Hypocrisy at Little Green Footballs

This is what Chuckles Johnson has to say about this cartoon.

Several LGF readers emailed about this one; the New York Times ran an openly antisemitic advertisement in Sunday’s Week in Review section, from a group trying to capitalize on the Walt-Mearsheimer paper “The Israel Lobby,” featuring this lovely cartoon

[...]

And if the antisemitism isn’t obvious to you, here’s more of the hate-filled work of the cartoonist responsible for the above drawing: Palestine - Bendib Cartoon

Fantastic Charles. You've surpassed yourself. Getting tetchy over a cartoon, how silly is that. C'mon, you were the knight in shining armour when it was a cartoon insulting Muslims, what's wrong now? Have you lost the taste for battle when it comes to freedom of expression? Is it because it doesn't suit you or your 'message'?

I also love the way that you claim the cartoon as anti-Semitic, but then (just in case anyone challenges you) can only back that up by posting a link to the cartoonists other cartoons. C'mon Charles, is the cartoon anti-Semitic or not? I think we all know the answer and it's incredibly dishonest of you to suggest the cartoon is anti-Semitic because of the cartoonists other work. I think you're employing a more dangerous anti-Semitism in this type of post. The anti-Semitism that equates all criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism, the anti-Semitism that equates all Jews with Israeli and especially Zionist politics. Pamela at Atlas Shrugs may claim you as a 'righteous gentile' (I doubt there has ever been a bigger insult to those who bravely aided the Jews in WW2 than to have their title tarnished like that), but everyone else thinks you're a schmuck.

UPDATE: Chuckles has updated his post to cover his ass just that little bit more.

At the risk of repeating myself, if you doubt the antisemitic intent of the above drawing, check out the artists’ depictions of Jews as money-obsessed America-controlling cannibals.

That's a bit of a turn around isn't it. First the cartoon was anti-Semitic now it has 'anti-Semitic intent' because of the other work of the cartoonist.

'the New York Times ran an openly antisemitic advertisement.....' -

Chuckles Johnson - Little Green Footballs

So openly anti-Semitic he had to update his post. So openly anti-Semitic that even some of his loyal lizards were scratching their heads. So anti-Semitic he had to explain twice and still didn't point out how the cartoon was anti-Semitic. So anti-Semitic.......well, you get the drift. If ever there was an award for cheapening the accusation of 'anti-Semitism' Charles would be up there with the best of them.

By the way, if you want to see the kind of cartoons that are deemed acceptable to both LGF and Pajamas Media have a look at some of the work of Chuckles favourite cartoonists. He has often used their work and linked to them on his site, check these out (Click on the 'Cox & Forkum vs. The Nazis' slideshow in the left hand sidebar).

The overuse of the 'H' word

Glenn Greenwald writes excellently, accurately here describing the madness of the pro-war, pro-Bush right.

As Bush followers gear up for another election year campaign to start a war, they are using exactly the same rhetorical tactics and are revealing precisely the same mindset to which we were subjected during the 2002 campaign for the Iraq War. What is starkly apparent from this repetition is that their awareness of history and knowledge of the world is sadly confined to one singular event, which is all they know and which, rather bizarrely, they have a need to live over and over and over again.

To pro-Bush war supporters, the world is forever stuck in the 1930s. Every leader we don’t like is Adolph Hitler, a crazed and irrational lunatic who wants to dominate the world and who can’t be reasoned with. Every country opposed to our interests is Nazi Germany. From this it follows that every warmonger is the glorious reincarnation of the brave and resolute Winston Churchill.

And one who opposes or even questions any proposed war becomes the lowly and cowardly appeaser, Neville Chamberlain. For any and every conflict that arises, the U.S. is in the identical position of France and England in 1937-faced with an aggressive and militaristic Nazi Germany, will we shrink in appeasement and fear from the grand calling of history duties, or will we stand tall and firm and wage glorious war?

With that cartoonish framework in place, war is always the best option. It is the only option for those who are noble, strong, and fearless. Conversely, the sole reason for opposing a war is that one is a weak-minded and weak-willed appeaser who harbors dangerous fantasies of negotiating with madmen. Diplomacy and containment are simply elevated, PC terms for appeasement. War is the only tool that works.

[...]

The now well-known principle, Godwin's Law, holds "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler" increases and that once such a comparison is made, "the thread in which the comment was posted is finished and whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically lost whatever debate was in progress." That principle should be applied 100-fold to foreign policy choices, especially decisions about whether to start new wars.

LGFers: make up your minds

One of the most frequent criticisms we get from Charles Johnson's 'Lizard minions' is that we "cherry-pick" comments from his site that aren't sanctioned by him, and falsely attribute those comments to the Lizard Overlord.

Perhaps these sanctimonious mini-lizzies should be looking closer to home: Charles Johnson regularly (1,2,3) takes comments made in the open publishing section of Indymedia sites and presents them as the opinion of Indymedia as a whole, ignoring the fact that Indymedia sites don't even require registration and that the comments are not prompted by Indymedia activists' articles (the way CJ's minions are prompted by his own hint-heavy ramblings).

So, kids, what's it going to be? Is Charles responsible for what his commenters write, or not?

Blogging from the frontline

Charlie J recommends a blog called Hollwood Interupted to his readers with the simple statement: "Western Journalists Aiding the Global Jihad". CJ doesn't bother to put a question mark at the end, or put the sentence in quotes. No, he presents it as a straightforward fact, and his source for this 'fact' is a former Hollywood agent turned blogger (you know, one of those people who live in the 'real' world, like Roger 'the Hat' Simon).

You have to grant Pat Dollard, the man behind Hollwood Interupted, two things:

a) He has the guts to go over to Iraq and see for himself what's going on (unlike Chickenhawk Johnson) and

b) He doesn't gloss over the fact that Iraq is a big fucking mess, three years since the invasion (unlike Head-in-the-sand Johnson, who thinks it's all going just fine over there)

Where Dollard fails is in his analysis. To him, it's all the media's fault. Because the media doesn't get 'on message' and parrot what the Pentagon tells them, because some people in the media are critical of Bush's War (tm), and because some of them question the premise behind whole war on terror enterprise and don't fancy putting their lives on the line for someone else's mistakes (if you wanted to do that, you'd have joined the National Guard), they're effectively aiding the enemy, according to Dollard.

This black-and-white, good-vs-evil, Democrat-or-Republican partitioning of the world doesn't help win the war, it doesn't provide us with any insights, and it won't make America great again. All it does is show that Chuckie, Pat and Co are prepared to blame anyone, ANYONE, for the fall of America from the world's most powerful and respected nation to a cesspit of corruption and incomptence, but the man in charge. Thanks for that insight buddy, but we're not convinced, Ramadi holiday or not.

Bush tries hypnosis

"....and when you wake up, you'll think there's no wiretapping scandal. You'll think that there were WMD's. There is no Iraqi civil war. Afghanistan is fine. I did not leak anything, at any time, anywhere....."

Pajamaline Pammy Hearts The Walrus

Proving the old Kissinger adage about how weak-minded reactionary women are strongly attracted to posturing blow-hards in undeserved (and in this case, unconfirmed) positions of power, "Atlas", aka Pammy, pens another mash note to her favorite Bush asshole:

"I happily interrupt my Passover holiday to express my unabashed admiration for John Bolton. Yes, again. A fine man indeed. Intestinal and testicular fortitude in one giant of a man. The left hates him because he makes them look so positively small, spineless, petty and limp wrist-ed. Which of course they are....

(Usual idiotic Pammy blather edited out). The "punchline":

"If it's not Cheney/Rice in '08, it's got to be Bolton...."

And then Pammy could marry The Walrus (who would surely dump frumpy Frau Bolton) and take her rightful place as First Lady Bolted-On.

The Id of Charles Johnson

"Sam was living at my parent's house. Sam was my strong right hand, my consligiori as it were. He handled my affairs in South Carolina while I tried to be a student at FSU.
The long and short of it is there was an attack on my parent's house. Sam loaded the shotgun and called the police.

I was in Tallahassee at the time. I knew of none of this until after his death.

I came home for spring break. Hell, we even went shooting. We didn't take the gauge.

Again, the long and the short of it. On Wednesday, we were just hanging out. I picked up the gague, and was kinda playing with it. Sam walked in the room, and I threw it over my shoulder.

And hit the trigger. He took a BRI armor-piercing sabot through his chest.

He died about 30 minutes later. "

.

Idiocy of LGF Corrie haters documented

One Amp Fuse blows his top at the latest LGF stupidity viz Rachel Corrie: link

And the award for Political Analyst of the Year goes to....

.....Charles Johnson. Unlikely I know, especially in light of this fantastic essay written by Chuckles on the topic of the Italian elections. No need to go to LGF this is the entire transcript.

This is not good news, as Italy seems to be taking a big step toward appeasement and Communism: 2 Exit Polls Show Berlusconi Losing.

'A big step towards appeasement and Communism' or a step towards voting out a man who's been accused of embezzlement, tax fraud, bribes (Theresa Jowell's husband comes to mind), false accounting and using his own media companies to spread propaganda? He's also a supporter and admirer of the fascist Alessandra Mussolini (which last time I checked isn't a good thing) and his party has neo-fascist parties as part of their coalition.

If that wasn't enough he's also a full time joker!

Berlusconi has made a number of controversial jokes, often (perhaps inadvertently) causing offence to different groups and individuals, and being seen as embarrassing to his office. The jokes could also be seen, however, as a way of showing that he has not lost touch with the common Italian, as well as providing a stark contrast to the perceived dullness of many contemporary politicians.

On April 4 2000, from his electoral ship, he shared a joke about AIDS; A man with AIDS meets his doctor and asks him: "Doctor, what can I do for my illness?". The doctor answers: "Have a mud bath". "But doc, will that really do me any good?" "Not really, but you'll get used to being buried!".

In February 2002, at a European Union summit of foreign ministers, Berlusconi, present since the replacement of his previous foreign minister, Renato Ruggiero, had not yet been appointed, made a vulgar gesture (the "corna") behind the head of the Spanish foreign minister, Josep Piqué, indicating he (Piqué) was a cuckold, exactly at the time of the taking of the official pictures. This is a common joke among Italian pre-teens, and many felt it was utterly out of place in an international meeting. He later explained that he "was joking", and was trying to create a relaxed climate, that this sort of meeting were meant to "create friendship, cordiality, simpatia and kind relationships" between the participants, and that he wanted to amuse a small group of Boy Scout bystanders. [17]

On July 2, 2003, one day after taking over the rotating presidency of the EU Council of Ministers, he was heavily criticised by the German Member of the European Parliament Martin Schulz (from the SPD) because of his domestic policy. Berlusconi replied:"Signor Schulz, so che in Italia c'è un produttore che sta montando un film sui campi di concentramento nazisti: la suggerirò per il ruolo di kapò. Lei è perfetto!" (Translated: "Mister Schulz, I know a movie-producer in Italy that is making a movie about Nazi concentration camps. I will suggest you to play the role of a Kapo (concentration-camp inmate appointed as supervisor). You are perfect!" Even though Berlusconi insisted that he was only "joking", his comparisons with the Nazis caused a brief diplomatic rift between Italy and Germany.

In mid-May 2005, while opening the European Food Safety Authority in Parma (after the location had previously been preferred over one in Finland and Berlusconi had accused Finns of "not knowing what prosciutto is"), Berlusconi claimed that he had to "dust off my English-language playboy arts" with the Finnish president, Tarja Halonen, to convince her to locate the EFSA in Parma. This caused criticism from both Italy and Finland, with the Italian ambassador in Finland being called by the Finnish foreign minister. [18]. Berlusconi later 'retracted' the comment by saying that anyone who had seen a picture of Halonen must have been aware that he had been joking.

Before that, speaking to a group of Wall Street traders, he listed a series of reasons to invest in Italy. The first of them was that "we have the most beautiful secretaries in the world". This resulted in an uproar back home, where. for a day, female deputies in Parliament took part in a cross-party protest. Sexist jokes are considered bad taste in Nordic countries: however, they are part of a macho image in Italy, and are therefore more accepted, although far from being classy.

In March 2006, Berlusconi defended accusations he made that the "Chinese Communists used to eat children", by responding with claims that "...read the Black Book of Communism and you will discover that in the China of Mao, they did not eat children, but had them boiled to fertilise the fields". He later admitted "It was questionable irony, I admit it, because this joke is questionable. But I did not know how to restrain myself". His political opponent, Romano Prodi, told the press, "the damage caused to Italy by an insult to 1.3 billion people is by all means a considerable one", and that Berlusconi's comments were "unthinkable".[19]

On April 4, 2006, less than a week before the oncoming Political Elections in Italy, during a speech given at the National Chamber for Trade Silvio Berlusconi stated that he holds "too high esteem of the Italians' intelligence to think that there are so many coglioni around voting against their interest", coglioni being a vulgar term literally meaning 'bollocks', commonly used as an insult towards people considered stupid. Later he apologized for the "rude but effective language".

For these reasons I think it's quite understandbale that there are those in Italy that have had enough of their leader! But of course, all those millions of people are appeasers and Communists according to Chuckles.

Chuckles the Clown

Chuckles in happier times, before the accusations of racism.

Chuckles Johnson is angry. Someone is calling him and his demented followers 'racists' . How dare they?

The anti-LGF lefty smear machine is kicking into gear again. Firedoglake says I’m a racist, and all my readers are racists, and by extension all “conservatives” are racists too. “Racist,” in this case, being defined as “critical of Islam.” And they’ve found someone who has no life to cherry pick through 2,634,139+ comments to prove it.

Is this the same Chuckles Johnson that constantly cherry picks the ummah.com messageboard to prove that Muslims are evil? Is this the same Chuckles Johsnon who cherry picks the Daily Kos to prove how bad those nasty Democrats are? Is this the same Chuckles Johsnon that cherry picks the 'Mainstream Media' to show how all Muslims are plotting the downfall of the west? Of course it is. At his hypocritical and laughable best.

This is the great closing quote from Firedoglake that lays into Charles.

If Charles himself is not racist as he claims, though I emphatically disagree, LGF certainly is a “safe haven” for racists. It is a website that “harbors” racists. Readers that claim a moral, religious, racial and cultural superiority are consumed with an unfathomable hatred for Muslims and Arabs. They are provided with a forum where there are no consequences for their words. Instead, such responses are encouraged and thinly covered-up. Racism is what lies beneath.

We couldn't agree more.

UPDATE: Welcome to readers of Crooks & Liars

UPDATE: Welcome to readers of Sadly No! Please pop over there to read non-cherry picked quoted from everybody's favourite genocidalist Iron Fist.

More fables of the reconstruction

"The 'good news' never gets reported" cry the chickenhawks and warmongers. Well, perhaps if there was some it would help. The reconstruction of Iraq is supposedly the 'noble cause'. So why the hell is it grinding to a halt at the cost of American and coalition lives? The answer.....we're turning Iraq into one bloody big prison.

In their makeshift offices in a former Baghdad palace, a small army of American builders and engineers, oilmen and budgeteers is working overtime on last-minute projects to help reconstruct Iraq.

Their time is running short, their money running out.

After three years in which the U.S. government allocated more than $20 billion for Iraq reconstruction, a bill now making its way through Congress adds only $1.6 billion this year, just $100 million of it for construction - not for building schools or power stations, but for prisons.

[...]

The ambitions of 2003, when President Bush spoke of making Iraq's infrastructure "the best in the region," have given way to the shortfalls of 2006, in electricity and water supply, sanitation, health facilities and oil production. A University of Maryland poll in January found strong majorities of Iraqis hopeful about their country's future in general, but only one in five thought the Americans had done a good job on reconstruction.

Even after billions were spent on power plants and substations, electricity generation still hasn't regained the level it had before the U.S. invasion of 2003. When Fallon's experts keep the lights burning late, they're relying on emergency U.S. generators in their "Green Zone" enclave, since the rest of Baghdad gets power only a few hours a day.

Barely one-third of the water-treatment projects the Americans planned will be completed. Only 32 percent of the Iraqi population has access to clean drinking water now, compared with 50 percent before the war, according to the U.S. special inspector-general for Iraq reconstruction.

About 19 percent of Iraqis today have working sewer connections, compared with 24 percent before 2003.

Of more than 150 planned health clinics, only 15 have been completed, under a contract ending this month.

Oil production, meanwhile, has stagnated, averaging 2.05 million barrels a day in mid-March, short of the 2.5 million-a-day U.S. goal, and far short of Iraq's production peak of 3.7 million in the 1970s. Fewer than one-quarter of the rehabilitation projects for the oil industry have been completed.

Taken from the AP Wire

Prison? It's a holiday camp!

The level of disconnect in Charles Johnson's brain is astounding sometimes. Take a look at the latest propaganda piece he's posted on his little green blog today: 'Brutal Torture Camp Turns Afghan Boys Pro-America' (http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=19999).

OK, so plucking a bunch of dirt-poor Afghani boys out of a warzone, giving them regular meals and even letting them snorkel a bit has made them quite fond of the old US of A, and now they're nostalgic for their time in Gitmo. It's plausible.

Presumably once the grunts dropped the boys off on America-sur-Caribbean someone realised these were kids and decided to treat them appropriately. Does this mean there's no torture going on at Guantanamo? Does this mean it's right to deprive people of their freedom for months - even years - on transparently flimsy grounds? Only in Charlieworld does it make any sense to present this as some sort of heart-warming story about the virtues of America without asking: why were these kids in a prison camp in the first place? If you wanted to treat them to the delights the USofA has to offer, why not send them to Disneyland or, even better, give their families Green Cards!

But no, CJ's can't see that far. Neither does he see how ludicrous it is of him and his minions to lambast every ex-hostage who makes it out of Iraq alive and dares to say they were treated well, while at the same time presenting this piece-of-crap justification for installing extra-judicial prison camps on foreign soil.

Roger L. Simon's Hat Dance of Wankery

Performing some flatulent contortions, hack writer Roger L. Simon attempts a distracting hat-dance for his fellow wingnuts over vile comments on the release of journalist Jill Carroll. Simon sets us straight: all those nasty things said about Carroll, wasn't really that much. About two:

"This time the cause célèbre is supposed blogospheric disappointment at the release of journo Jill Carroll by her Islamofascist kidnappers. Goodman cites two examples out of thirty-three million for this, but never mind. Those are just 'Damn Statistics'. No doubt she's right - in the sense of the famous Pirandello title Right You Are If You Think You Are. Of course some of us have a different view. As a honcho at Pajamas Media, it is my job (which I often fail at miserably) to keep an eye on what bloggers are saying and I didn't notice one person with this kind of ugly attitude toward Carroll unitl I read Goodman's article. "

As a "honcho" at Pajamas Media, Mr Simon might want to take a look at his flagship blog, "Little Green Footballs", run by his partner Charles Johnson. Careful to avoid overt hatemongering, Johnson has a cadre of long-time blog assistants who call themselves "Lizards" or "Lizardoid Minions". With a little adroit prompting from Johnson, they post about Jill Carroll:

#2 Ward Cleaver 3/30/2006 08:50AM PST
She's probably coming home with a suitcase full
of cash (her kickback) and a dose of the clap.

#14 Kragar (proud to be kafir) 3/30/2006 08:58AM PS
When asked how she felt about her captors, Jill went on record as saying:
He never calls, he never writes.

16 Earth to Satan 3/30/2006 09:00AM PST I've been watching this traitor bitch fawn all over her captors this morning. "Nice furniture, safe, nice clothes, they NEVER threatened me". I'm very glad you were so comforatble while working to undermine our efforts in Iraq. Now, wipe that muslim DNA from your face and confess to pre-planning this?

Johnson is a facile liar, like the Bushies he admires so much. In defense of the vile comments he hosts on LGF, Johnson claims not to be aware of "every comment". But anything even mildly critical of Bush is gone in minutes. Guest blogging on Firedoglake, David Niewert of Orsinis makes this point in an excellent post:

"...The first thing you’ll notice is that right-wing bloggers are generally careful to never express any overt or naked racism. Instead, what they do is act as a transmitter, taking an old far-right appeal or idea and present it as a fresh, if "politically incorrect," way of thinking."

Johnson's M.O. is a little different. He expresses himself almost entirely by cut-n-pasting the work of others, a meta-message of hate. He then tightly controls the registered membership of LGF to provide the right mix of center-rightists (very few) and rabid ratfucks (plenty) to say what he dare not. Niewert continues:

Thus, the editors at sites like Little Green Footballs, Free Republic, or RedState provide few substantive instances of outright racism — but plenty of examples of repackaged extremism. Their commenters, however, are another story altogether; as we’ve seen, their audiences are all too glad to revel in the underlying bigotry.

And advertisers (GO NAVY, for example) seem happy to pay for the eyeballs. Of course if "GO NAVY" succeeded in actualy recruiting any Lizards or LGF fans to the war they love so much, it would be a miracle. Niewert goes on:

"The end result is a poisonous environment in which not merely the ideas, but the endemic attitudes and worldview, of the racist right receive not just fresh clothes but a whole new generation of adherents. This is why, for instance, so much naked eliminationism aimed not just at illegal immigrants and Muslims but, generically, "treasonous" American liberals has become inextricably interwoven with right-wing rhetoric in recent years."

Exactly so. And it's why sites like this one will never let the atrocities go uncondemned. As for Roger L. Simon, let's put it in his hero's words, kind of:

"If you give bandwith to the genocidists and racists, then you are equally guilty as them".

That's you, "Hat".

Fables of the reconstruction

“We are dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction and relatively soon.”

Paul Wolfowitz (3/27/03)

“And a year from now, I’ll be very surprised if there is not some grand square in Baghdad that is named after President Bush."

Richard Perle (9/22/03)

“[T]he American part of this will be $1.7 billion. We have no plans for any further-on funding for this.”

Andrew Natsios (4/23/03)

“I think they’re in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency.”

Dick Cheney (06/20/05)

Propaganda wars

Editor & Publisher reports on the controversy surrounding the 'Grandma in Iraq' blog, which has been posting items from a U.S. Army public affairs officer since September. The thing is she never fully disclosed her ties to the military. Now I'm not sure this is a bad thing. If I wanted to read US Military rubbish, I'd far prefer to read bullshit propaganda from the horses mouth than recieve it second hand from the horses ass (Pajamas Media, LGF, Michelle Malkin, Atlas Shrugs etc etc).

Quoting an anti-Semite

Strange to see Chuckles Johnson quoting H.L. Mencken today for one of his 'open threads'.

“Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.”

Strange in that we're used to seeing Charles quote anti-Muslim writers constantly. It seems strange for him to suddenly quote an anti-Semitic Holocaust denier. Here's another Mencken quote that the 'Lizards' may not be aware of,

"The Jews could be put down very plausibly as the most unpleasant race ever heard of. As commonly encountered they lack any of the qualities that mark the civilized man: courage, dignity, incorruptibility, ease, confidence. They have vanity without pride, voluptuousness without taste, and learning without wisdom. Their fortitude, such as it is, is wasted upon puerile objects, and their charity is mainly a form of display."(Treatise on the Gods)

UPDATE: If proof was ever needed about how stupid your average 'Lizard' was check this out.

117 Murqtaad 4/6/2006 05:17PM PDT

There is a real nice anti-semitic post on his shitty little blog under his H.L Mencken story.

Can these people read? The anti-Semitic quote (not Post) was taken from H.L. Mencken. It is quoted because Chuckles Johnson chose to use a quote from an anti-Semite on his site. No doubt if someone had quoted Mencken on Daily Kos, a hand-wringing post entitled 'Daily Kos quotes anti-Semite' would be on LGF in a second. It's amazing that a writer is only considered anti-Semitic if he's quoted on another site, if he's quoted on LGF nobody in their comments section a) notices or b) cares.

Classic Johnson

Sometimes you just can't fault Chuckles, here's a classic. I defense of his bigot-in-arms Mark Steyn he remarks,

Whew! I’m glad I’m not the only Islamophobic racist hatemonger Klansman bigot on the web! I’ve got your back, Mark.

You forgot Arab baiting wanker, Charles and nobody's accused you of being in the Klan. Although a certain poster of yours has been verbally masturbating over the concept of lynching people recently so I'd guess he's either a member or in the process of tbecoming one.

'I just love the interwebbyblogosphere'

Mike Power takes a pot shot at Pajamas Media and makes some cutting and funny remarks about one of their 'contributors'.

I pop over to the Nightgown Media Empire now and then just to remind myself how to spunk three and a half million bucks, should I ever be on the receiving end of such largesse. It's still a pile of shite. Some people just don't know how to spend money do they? Looking around for something to read I came across this "essay" on anti-Americanism by a tennis-pro/freelance writer (I love these multi-taskers, welder/self-employed sci-fi editor, Wal-Mart shelf packer/ poet ...) called Kathy Krajco.

[...]

Boy I just love the interwebbyblogosphere. How did we manage before? What did we do with ourselves. Oh, I remember. We socialised, had sex, read good books, listened to music... Now we waste our time reading middle-aged tennis players dribbling on about the demented twitterings of a follower of the Left Hand Path, or WANKER for short. And to think, some multi-millionaire coughed up three and a half million dollars so Ms Krapco's intellectual masterpieces could reach a wider audience.

Well done Mr. Power. You do realise though that you are the ONLY person reading that site?

Glass house dweller throwing stones

It seems Charles is having a pop at the New York Times for spending a lot of money on their new website. I'm sure it cost a fraction of the money Aubrey Chernick and chums wasted on Pajamas Media.

PS is PJM still going?

UPDATE: A graph is worth a thousand words...

Enslaved!

It's a sordid tale of abuse in which two young women are held as slaves for 13 years. Iran? Saudi? Southall? No, North Carolina:

US police are searching for a woman who allegedly kept two British girls as slaves for 13 years.

Mercedes Farquharson, 60, made Jasmine and Holly Lloyd work 20 hours a day at her North Carolina home until they were freed in December, police said.

She is wanted on three counts of involuntary servitude, police in Monroe, North Carolina, say.

Read it all and ask yourself why Charles F Johnson isn't interested: could it be the lack of a 'Mooooslim' angle?

The War on Terror (tm) or 'What about...'

Freedom Forever!

London's independent art radio Resonance FM conducted interviews during the recent March for Free Expression in Trafalgar Square.

If anyone is in doubt about what the event was about, they should listen to the program here. The first two speakers in particular, Maryam Namazie and Peter Tatchell, make absolutely clear why this wasn't an anti-Islam event and why every decent liberal should support the cause of free speech.

"...220 Lbs Of Death Made Flesh"

Popular LGF blogger and genocide enthusiast "Iron Fist" describes his early life:

"Hell, I'm 220 lbs of death made flesh. I was being taught how to use a shotgun and pistol before I was 10 (I had to be able to hit a man-sized target at 7 yards reliably before my parents would allow me to stay home alone with my younger sister).

At that time I was three foot something, and was expected to kill anyone who broke into the house, or, in the extreme, die protecting my sister.

Killing has been my first priority since I was a child. Blame my parents for that."

FLASHBACK: "Iron Fist" was inspired by the 2nd inauguration of George Bush to write the following inspirational:

"Fire and Force, Fist and Faith, let our friends draw strength from us, and our enemies tremble. I think they are about to find out what an angry America is really capable of."

Iraq Is Becoming A Country That America Should Be Ashamed To Support, Let Alone Occupy...

Here's a interesting editorial by The New York Times. The headline says it all really. Remind us again, what 'noble cause'?

Iraq is becoming a country that America should be ashamed to support, let alone occupy. The nation as a whole is sliding closer to open civil war. In its capital, thugs kidnap and torture innocent civilians with impunity, then murder them for their religious beliefs. The rights of women are evaporating. The head of the government is the ally of a radical anti-American cleric who leads a powerful private militia that is behind much of the sectarian terror.

Nazi Pajamas

Mobius at Jewschool has taken a well deserved shot at Michelle Malkin and her irresponsible and frankly racist backing of The Minuteman Project.

Right-wing blogger, columnist and Fox News analyst Michelle Malkin has recently been going to bat for the Minuteman Project, a self-described “citizens’ Neighborhood Watch on our border,” which has conferred itself with the authority to secure the US’s southern border from infiltration by illegal immigrants. Well-known to be overrun by White separatists, Klansmen and Neo-Nazis — as is thoroughly documented in photographs and testimony — one of the organization’s members, James Chase, founder of California Border Watch, broke ranks with The Minutemen earlier this year citing its domination by racist extremists.

Malkin has consistently promoted and defended the Minutemen on her blog and in the press, in her most recent offense referring to Mexican American critics of the Minutemen, including Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and California Lt. Gov. Cruz M. Bustamante, as “Latino supremacists”. In a column published last Wednesday, Malkin accused the Chicano community of plotting to liberate “Mexican lands” in the Southwestern United States.

[...]

Considering that the White supremacists at the Minuteman Project are the source from which Malkin’s getting her information, it’s no suprise she’s echoing this slander throughout the blogosphere. A star blogger with Pajamas Media, the prominent right-wing blogging collective launched by Little Green Football’s Charles Johnson, which counts among its members such noteable JBlogs as Israellycool, An Unsealed Room and Kesher Talk, she is also a regular contributor to The Jewish World Review, which published her most recent column.

Please let our friends know how you feel about their affiliation with Ms. Malkin and Pajamas Media.

Please support Mobius and his call for bloggers to express their disgust at Michell Malkin, Pajamas Media and others who would promote, justify and apologise for Neo-Nazis, Klansmen and White supremacists.