'Little Green Footballs' ('LGF') is a political
blog run by
California web designer Charles Johnson. In the wake of the
September 11, 2001 attacks, Johnson - who describes himself as "pretty much center-left before 9/11"
[1] - transformed his blog's discussion of
bicycle racing,
programming,
web design, and the occasional humorous news item into a very active discussion of the
War on Terror,
Islam and the
Arab-Israeli conflict. Media observers have described the site as "ultraconservative"
[2] or "
right wing";
[3] observes Johnson:
:''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.''
[4]
For "promoting
Israel, and
Zionism" and "presenting Israel's side of the conflict," LGF won the "Best Israel Advocacy Blog" award from the ''
Jerusalem Post'' in 2005
[5]. According to Gil Ronen, a reporter for Internet news outlet,
Israel National News:
[6]
:''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.''
In the
United States, LGF is perhaps best known for playing a key role in raising doubts about the authenticity of the
Killian documents regarding President Bush
[ Bush Guard Documents: Forged Charles Johnson ][ After Blogs Got Hits, CBS Got a Black Eye ], which preceded the resignation of
CBS'
Dan Rather. The site won the
Washington Post's reader poll for Best International Blog in November
2004[7] and played a large role in exposing the forged and altered photographs in the
Adnan Hajj photographs controversy[8].
History and notable events
The software for the website was written by Johnson himself, in
PHP. Until Spring 2007, all data was stored in
flat files. The website now uses
MySQL.
[9]
Killian documents
Main articles: Killian documents
created by Charles Johnson and posted at LGF, comparing a 2004-era Microsoft Word document made with default settings to the document that CBS presented as a typewritten memo from 1973.
LGF was one of four sources, along with the
Power Line and
Allahpundit blogs and the
Free Republic discussion forum, who conducted the initial investigation of
Dan Rather's assertions on
60 Minutes that the Killian documents were genuine.
Charitable contributions
Little Green Footballs supporters have helped raise thousands of dollars for
Spirit of America's "Friends of Iraq Blogger Challenge".
[10][11] Supporters also donate pizzas for
IDF soldiers.
[12] In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina several registered users also offered their direct services donating and transporting goods to the hardest hit, inviting contributions from other readers
[13]. Johnson also posted a number of links to charitable efforts
[14][15] and thanked his readers for their response
[16].
Pajamas Media
Main articles: Pajamas MediaIn late
2005 Johnson, along with blogger and author
Roger L. Simon launched a news site called
Pajamas Media (briefly called ''Open Source Media'') featuring mostly
conservative and
neolibertarian bloggers and journalists (e.g.,
Michelle Malkin,
Glenn Reynolds,
Michael Barone,
Tammy Bruce,
John Podhoretz,
Michael Ledeen,
Cathy Seipp) with some
liberal participants (e.g.,
David Corn,
Marc Cooper). The name refers to
Jonathan Klein's comment about bloggers working in their pajamas.
Doctored Reuters photographs
Main articles: Adnan Hajj photographs controversy
On
August 5,
2006, LGF showed how a photograph of
Beirut after an Israeli air strike taken by
Adnan Hajj was manipulated before being published.
[17][ "Reuters admits altering Beirut photo" ]
Awards
Main articles: Little Green Footballs awards
Little Green Footballs has two annual awards; The Fallaci and The Fiskie given to people who in the previous year best embodied the respectively Anti-Idiotarian and Idiotarian worldview.
Recurring themes
Ideological influences
Charles Johnson's posts on LGF frequently cite the writing of authors representing
conservative and/or
neolibertarian viewpoints, such as
Victor Davis Hanson,
Charles Krauthammer,
Mark Steyn,
James Lileks, and the late
Oriana Fallaci.
"Palestinian child abuse"
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 realistic toy guns and even wearing mock-ups of the explosive belts used by suicide bombers. Johnson refers to such photographs as evidence of "Palestinian child abuse."
[18]
Rachel Corrie
Johnson has stated many times that he is disgusted with media coverage of the death of
ISM activist
Rachel Corrie, who was killed by an Israeli
bulldozer in
Rafah, a town in the
Gaza Strip.
[ The ISM Whitewash Continues Charles Johnson ] Johnson disputes the ISM's account, holding that Corrie was "trying to 'protect' a house used for drugs and weapons smuggling".
[ Claims Johnson:]
::''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.''[19]
In support of this view, he has cited a diary entry from Corrie in which she claims that the Palestinians are justified in their terror attacks.[19]
In posts about her on LGF, Johnson often features a photo of Corrie burning a hand-drawn American flag and surrounded by Palestinian children.
Slang
Discussing slang terms used by Johnson and his readers, Paul Farhi, a writer for the ''Washington 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.''[4]
Registration and posting protocols
Registration
Johnson began requiring users to register for posting privileges in June 2004, closing the site to new registrations later that year; as of 2007, new user registration for the site is "occasionally open... during weekend afternoons, Pacific time."[1]
Posting filter
Johnson has put 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.[22]
Rivalries
Johnson and LGF "regulars" (the self-proclaimed "Lizardoids") have engaged in a number of high-profile feuds and flame wars, pitting LGF supporters against readers of other blogs (e.g., Daily Kos) and alternative media sites (e.g. Fark and Digg). Claims Derek van Vliet, a writer for the Blog Herald:
::''In the past, Charles Johnson, the owner of the (LGF) blog has rallied his readers to establish a “beachhead†on Digg to counteract the perceived liberal bias. All the while peppering pejoratives like “moonbat†throughout the content directed at Digg users. Meanwhile, their site does not allow open discussion. Registration is required to comment. And opportunities to register are rare. Digg users are known to rail against closed systems. After all, they came to participate...''[23]
Redirects
Johnson often redirects incoming links from sites critical of LGF to the Israel Defense Forces homepage.[24][25]
Claims and controversies
Claims of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim sentiment
★ In an article about eliminationist rhetoric in the blogosphere, writer David Neiwert alleges that:
::''In At LGF... you can regularly find comments that call both Muslims and liberals 'vermin' and 'subhumans' and say that 'targeted genocide... will become necessary.''[26]
★ R. J. Smith, writing in ''Los Angeles Magazine'', has alleged that LGF is a "dysfunctional mix of beautiful photos Johnson takes on coastal bike rides and constitutionally protected hate speech" which "believes all Muslims are terrorists until proven innocent."[27]
★ Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) called Little Green Footballs "a vicious, anti-Muslim hate site" and claims that the FBI has "investigated several threats of physical harm against Muslims posted by Little Green Footballs readers".[4]
★ Columnist Antonia Zerbisias has described LGF as a "virulently anti-Muslim/Arab website".[29]
★ Journalist Eric Boehlert has written that LGF "oozes disdain for Arabs and journalists (and most of all, Arab journalists)" and is "obsessed with proving that all MSM reporting from Iraq and the Middle East is biased in favor of Islamic terrorists."[30]
Claims of censorship
★ In March 2005, Johnson called attention to Google's inclusion of the white supremacist National Vanguard site (and simultaneous exclusion of LGF) in its news index; the NV site has since been dropped.[31]
★ In April 2007 Johnson reported that Little Green Footballs was being blocked by Websense under its "Racism and Hate" category.[32] Websense admitted that the site had been thus categorized briefly (but incorrectly) and subsequently reversed the decision.[33]
Media attention
2002
★ MSNBC's Will Femia wrote of LGF:
::''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.''
★ Syndicated columnist James Taranto defended LGF after MSNBC 'smeared' Johnson.[34]
2004
★ On September 25 2004, ''The New York Times'' Sunday magazine ran a cover story about political bloggers. Although Johnson had been interviewed for 43 minutes by author Michael Klam, neither he nor LGF got a mention in the final piece - Klam focused instead on longtime rivals Wonkette and the Daily Kos. Johnson struck back with a post entitled "They Smile in Your Face"[35] (an allusion to the 1972 soul hit "Back Stabbers" by the O-Jays), noting:
::''There is not one word about the anti-idiotarian blogosphere... The mainstream media’s shameful, arrogant bias [is] up there for all to see.''
2005
★ Columnist Andrew Sullivan described LGF as "enthusiastically pro-torture".[36]
★ ''Vanity Fair'' columnist James Wolcott characterized the LGF community as ''"sort of like a disorganized Nuremberg Rally, a lot of angry ruffians with nowhere to go...."''[ Headhunters James Wolcott ] after Johnson described an attack on Daniel Pipes by Wolcott as "the sort of high-toned writin’ that made Vanity Fair the journalistic juggernaut it is today."[37]
★ ''The Weekly Standard'' described LGF as one of "the saner precincts of the blogosphere".[38]
2006
★ Pajamas Media contributor Cathy Seipp wrote in the ''National Review'' that:[39]
:''I'm losing patience with this notion, surely one of the most successful media Big 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.''
References
1. At Israel's Right
2. Vitriolic e-mails zero in on 'Muslim'
3. Speaker System
4. Blogger Takes Aim At News Media and Makes a Direct Hit
5. 2005 Jewish and Israeli Blog Awards
6. At Israel's Right
7. 2004 Best Blogs - Politics & Elections Readers' Choice Awards
8. Fauxtography Updates Charles Johnson
9. LGF Database Mongo Makeover Charles Johnson
10. Of Money and Mouths Charles Johnson
11. Friends of Iraq Blogger Challenge
12. 'za for the idf Charles Johnson (See http://www.pizzaidf.com/.)
13. 'Katrina - Johnson thanks readers Charles Johnson
14. 'Katrina - Johnson thanks readers Charles Johnson
15. 'Katrina - Johnson thanks readers Charles Johnson
16. 'Katrina - Johnson thanks readers Charles Johnson
17. Reuters Doctoring Photos from Beirut? Charles Johnson
18. Search results for "Palestinian Child Abuse" in LGF entries
19. No Tears for Corrie Charles Johnson
20. No Tears for Corrie Charles Johnson
21. Blogger Takes Aim At News Media and Makes a Direct Hit
22. Sane Remarks About Blog Comments Charles Johnson
23. Warning: Polictics Can Get Messy On Digg Derek van Vliet
24. LGF Al-Zawiya Yahoo Group Notices LGF Charles Johnson
25. Al-Zawiya posting al-Zawiya
26. Unhinged: Unhonest David Neiwert
27. Pajama Game
28. Blogger Takes Aim At News Media and Makes a Direct Hit
29. And now it's 'Reutersgate'
30. Little Green Footballs, Staged War Photos, and the Story the Press Won't Tell Eric Boehlert
31. Google News High Standards, Exhibit N for Nazi Charles Johnson
32. Websense Damage Spreading Charles Johnson
33. Websense Update: Block Removed Charles Johnson
34. Best of the Web Today: MSNBC Smears Charles Johnson
35. They Smile in Your Face Charles Johnson
36. Sullivan Off the Rails Again Charles Johnson
37. Wolcott Hits Another Low Charles Johnson
38. Kos Party
39. Los Locos: Not-so-brilliant media insights from the City of Angels
External links
★ Little Green Footballs
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