Little Green Footballs
|
|
Little Green Footballs (often abbreviated as LGF) is a political weblog run by California web designer Charles Johnson. Much like neo-conservative icon Irving Kristol, Johnson claims that he was "a liberal until he got mugged" — in this case, by the September 11, 2001 attacks.
| Contents |
History
Before September 11, Johnson's blog had been geared towards the discussion of bicycle racing, programming, web design, and the occasional humorous news item. After September 11 it became a very active warblog, focusing on the United States' War on Terror and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
LGF features extensive coverage of sometimes under-reported news stories, particularly those featuring examples of European anti-Semitism and Islamist terrorism. LGF is also known for its irreverent spin on hot-button issues, featuring Photoshopped treatments of Rachel Corrie as "Saint Pancake," Yasser Arafat as "Arafish" and jailed Palestinian militants as Elvis and Bob Dobbs.
LGF was one of four sources, along with the Power Line and AllahPundit blogs and the Free Republic discussion forum, responsible for the initial stages of the 60 Minutes Killian memos investigation.
LGF was voted "Best International Blog" in an online poll by the Washington Post in November 2004.
LGF won first place in IsraellyCool's 2004 Jewish and Israeli Blog Awards for "Best Overall Mega Blog" and "Best Israel Advocacy Blog" [1] (http://www.israellycool.com/blog/_archives/2005/2/15/324028.html)
Little Green Footballs supporters have helped raise thousands of dollars for such military public relations and charity organizations as Spirit of America (http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=13955_Of_Money_and_Mouths#comments) and Pizza for the IDF (http://www.pizzaidf.com/).
Changes and controversies
Fans see the website as an alternative media outlet which provides a counterweight to the alleged anti-American, anti-Semitic, anti-Conservative bias of mainstream media outlets such as Reuters (or "al-Reuters" in LGF slang).
Critics have interpreted Johnson's selective posting and retitling of news items related to Islam as hate speech (post titles include "AP Reveals: Arabs Hate America, Israel" (http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=13275)), a view reinforced by Johnson's frequent defense of authors such as Oriana Fallaci, and Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch that are accused of anti-Muslim bias.
Somce other criticisms point to registered users of the site and the general public, both of which are free to present their ideas on LGF. Since these posters are not restricted to the same level of resposibility, journalistic or otherwise, that Johnson is, critics point out the hyperbolic language used by some. As with any weblog comments section, comments may include dehumanizing slurs such as "Palesimians," "Oil Ticks," "koranimals," "ragheads"). Critics may also charge the webmaster with encouraging groupthink, jingoism, and Islamophobia.
However, these criticism are countered by the oversight of the webmaster. When rhetoric gets too distasteful, such as the hyperbolic anti-European sentimentsof (http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=13113#c0075) a former user, they can be, and often are, removed (as this user was).
There is a disclaimer disavowing responsibility for the site's comment section. Johnson also distinguishes between those Muslims and Arabs who support terrorism and those who do not.
Johnson and the LGF regulars (the self-proclaimed "Lizardoids") have engaged in a number of high-profile feuds and flamewars with other blogs and alternative media outlets. As such confrontations often bring a stampede of visitors from rival sites, Johnson sometimes redirects the traffic thus generated to the Hebrew language Israel Defense Forces homepage.
Some LGF regulars have designed a motorcycle club-style patch for more public identification of group members. SEE: [2] (http://patriotboy.blogspot.com/2005_04_10_patriotboy_archive.html#111340105656109534)
Denial of service attacks
On Thursday, October 16, 2003 Little Green Footballs was knocked offline when a Denial-of-service attack originating in Malaysia and aimed at Internet Haganah (another pro-Israel site on the same server) took down the entire Hosting Matters system [3] (http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=8570#c0119).
On Sunday, January 9, 2005 Hosting Matters was subjected to another Denial-of-service attack; Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit believes this was a Distributed Denial-of-Service attack (DDOS). Service was restored around 11:40 pm EST on Monday, January 10.
Slang and posting protocols
The LGF comments board is heavily laced with in-group slang - not least by the webmaster, who sometimes claims credit for coining the political epithet "Idiotarian." Other terms popularized by the site include "moonbat" ,"Islamonazi", and Islamofacism.
Like other politically charged internet forums (e.g., Democratic Underground), LGF attracts dissonant outsiders. These users are shunned as "trolls" or "morlocks" and banned through their IP addresses if they are deemed to have become disruptive. Per one LGF user's "Troll Detection Kit (http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=5205#c0077)":
Trolls' beliefs follow a standard outline, whose roots are in the anti-American, Jew hating, Marxist rhetoric of Noam Chomsky, Said, etc. along with generous doses of Jewish loony-leftist rhetoric, courtesy of Israel's New Historians (read: anti-Zionists) and Jewish anti-Semites such as Ben Shapiro.
As the volume of comments from critics rose with the site's increasing profile, many regular users requested a simple registration system; Johnson obliged them in June 2004.
Mainstream media bias
Since founder Charles Johnson's post-9/11 turn to the right, some "mainstream media" sources have accused LGF of promoting ethnic bias. This has lead many LGF fans to conclude that the mainstream media is itself biased against LGF. A few examples used to back this claim:
"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."
- In January 2005 columnist Andrew Sullivan described LGF as "enthusiastically pro-torture".
- On September 25 2004, the New York Times Sunday magazine ran a cover story about political bloggers. Although Charles had been interviewed for 43 minutes by author Michael Klam, neither he nor his weblog 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 (http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=12824_They_Smile_In_Your_Face)" (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.""
Johnson has also frequently complained about the failure of Google News to index his blog. In March 2005, he called attention to that service's inclusion of the white supremacist National Vanguard site, sparking a controversy that forced Google to remove it from the news index.
On the other hand, LGF has also found considerable support from conservative media sources:
- The Weekly Standard has described LGF as one of "the saner precincts of the blogosphere" ([4] (http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/303yjmdi.asp?pg=2))
- Michelle Malkin, Mark Steyn, Bill O'Reilly and other high-profile conservative pundits have praised (or at least mentioned) LGF
- Syndicated columnist James Taranto (see links below) has dedicated an article to its defense
Despite Johnson's stated distaste for mainstream media news sources, most of his blog's posts consist of links to (and excerpts from) the same.
Frequently quoted
External links
Pro
- Little Green Footballs (http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/)
- American Digest (http://americandigest.org/mt-archives/004271.php) - "Support LGF Now"
- Cox & Forkum (http://www.coxandforkum.com) - Editorial Cartoons
- Israel National News (http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=62000) - "At Israel's Right" (interview)
- Meryl Yourish (http://www.yourish.com/archives/2002/oct20-26_2002.html#2002102102) - "Charles under siege"
- Niraj (http://www.nirajweb.net/mt/niraj/archives/000800.html) - "LITTLE GREEN FOOTBALLS IS NOT A HATE SITE"
- OpinionJournal (http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110002505) - "MSNBC Smears Charles Johnson"
- Right Wing News (http://rightwingnews.com/interviews/johnson.php) - Interview
Anti
- Catalyst (http://www.catalyzerjournal.com/cnews/newsid/EEplVplFklvpGXvPtN.php) - "Hate site comes out on top in Jewish Blog Awards"
- Crooked Timber (http://www.crookedtimber.org/archives/001647.html) - "LGF: Like Flypaper to Sociopaths"
- LGF Watch (http://lgfwatch.blogspot.com) - "Keeping an eye on those rabid racists at Little Green Footballs"
- Anil Dash (http://www.dashes.com/anil/2002/08/21/little_green_mo) - "Little Green Monsters"
- The LGF Quiz (http://www.drmenlo.com/lgfquiz/) - "Little Green Footballs or Late German Fascists?"
- Peking Duck (http://pekingduck.org/archives/002204.php) - "Charles Johnson does Auschwitz -- and gets it all wrong"
- Tripias (http://www.tripias.com/archives/00000127.html) - "Fact Based Hate Speech"
Other
- Codpiece Hagiography (http://uncletomfoolery.blogspot.com/2004/12/i-was-just-hanging-out-at-blog-minding.html) - LGF and the "Spirit of America Blogger Challenge"
- Discarded Lies (http://www.discardedlies.com) - Formerly "LGF Watch Watch"
- Jewlicious (http://www.jewlicious.com/index.php?p=327) - Overview of LGF, LGF Watch, LGF Watch Watch, etc.
- Jewschool (http://www.jewschool.com/2004/04/lgf-gets-back-what-it-dishes-out.php) - Overview of LGF feuds & flamewars
- LA Observed (http://www.laobserved.com/archive/001679.html) - "Little Green Footballs, pro and con"
- Political Physics (http://politicalphysics.com/archives/2004/09/my_24_hours_at.html) - "My 24 hours at Little Green Footballs"
- Zombie Time (http://www.zombietime.com/lgf_dictionary) - The LGF Dictionary
Feuds & Flamewars
- American Politics Journal (http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=15154_My_Letter_to_the_Strib#comments)
- Atrios [5] (http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=13850_Freak_Parade_at_Atrios#comments)
- BoingBoing (http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=10547#comments)
- users of the Jerry Brown (http://jerrybrown.typepad.com/jerry/2005/02/free_sigarchi.html#comments) blog
- Kathryn Cramer (http://kathryncramer.typepad.com/kathryn_cramer/2004/04/tarbaby.html)
- the Daily Kos [6] (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site%3Alittlegreenfootballs.com+daily+kos&btnG=Google+Search)
- Democratic Underground (http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=11187)
- Indymedia
- Jesus' General (http://patriotboy.blogspot.com/2005_04_10_patriotboy_archive.html#111355105343110498)
- Metafilter
- Nathan Newman (http://www.nathannewman.org/log/archives/001636.shtml)
- News Dissector (http://www.newsdissector.org/blog/2005/03/08/#1118)
- the NYU Center for Religion & Media (http://therevealer.org/mt/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=lgf)
- Slashdot (http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=13741_The_Faint_Whining_of_the_Slashdot_Nerd#comments)
- users of the Straight Dope (http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=7117_The_Straight_Dopes#comments) message board
- Andrew Sullivan (http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=14492_Sullivan_Off_the_Rails_Again#comments)
- Tacitus (http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=8353)
- Talk Left (http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=15412_Another_Lefty_Blog_Attacks_Misfires#comments)
- la vie viennoise (http://www.uncoy.com/2004/04/lgf_and_lgfers_.html)
- Oliver Willis (http://www.oliverwillis.com/node/view/684)
- Washington Monthly (http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2005_04/006042.php)
- Winds of Change (http://windsofchange.net/archives/004817.php#comments)
- Matthew Yglesiashe:Little Green Footballs