Talk:Little Green Footballs/Archive 3

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Center Right?

Who changed LGF to center right? I thought it was generally agreed that LGF isn't (at least for some time) taken an overall conservative stance? Quantitatively, if you look through the recent posts you'll find far more explicit attacks on the 'right wing' rather than the 'left'. CJ even admits to LGF changing through a post from a sympathetic Victor Davis Hanson. Even though he admits only to a 'change of emphasis' and not sides this only strengthens the argument that the blog has grown more liberal. Its clear that LGF is not a conservative blog as of now. Even LGF itself would not accept that definition. Jarwulf (talk) 19:07, 25 September 2009 (UTC)

I suggest you look at the edit history, and the discussion in the "Conservative/Independent" section here on the discussion page, for an answer to your question. For the record, I personally favor changing it back to "non-aligned" or "independent." Mark Shaw (talk) 19:22, 25 September 2009 (UTC)

If that's true, Mark Shaw, why do you keep reverting the page?BuboTitan (talk) 08:39, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

Against the majority of opinions on the talk page, Madcoverboy and Mark Shaw keep reverting the page to the affiliation "Center-Right". We have tried "independent", "none", "Center-left", and many other forms, but none of them are good enough. Are we stuck with "Center-Right" like a millstone around the page's neck for eternity? Johnson has described himself as "Center-left". So why would his site be any different? But given the recent realignment, I can live with something in-between. I simply put "None" and added a reference in the first paragraph. Before reverting this page again, please provide any evidence, post-2007, that supports a "center-right" description for the site, otherwise I will request outside moderation. And another thing - I'm not accusing anyone specifically, but I'll just point this out: Many of Charles Johnson's fans cling to the belief that he hasn't changed, but that all other right-wing sites have changed instead. But the purpose of a a wiki page is not a fan-boy site.BuboTitan (talk) 08:54, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

Just as a point of order: I am in the "non-aligned" camp, not the "center-right" camp. "None" works fine for me, at least as a temporary placeholder. Mark Shaw (talk) 13:29, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

Yes, you have said so several times, but in your actual edit history you kept reverting the page back to "center-right".BuboTitan (talk) 14:46, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

With the exception of one revert of an edit that had removed the political affiliation altogether, you are incorrect. But, whatever - as I said, "none" works fine for me at the moment. Mark Shaw (talk) 15:56, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

A site which spends the vast majority of its time on antiright wing and/or sympathetic Obama articles certainly does not fit into the category of a nonaligned blog. The left wing label fits them pretty well the only real 'difference' is that in the past it focused a little more on islamic terrorism. But if we must not put down facts unless the subject outright announces it on the front page I guess none is the best we can do. Jarwulf (talk) 03:26, 25 October 2009 (UTC)

Conservative/Independent

I know there's been some people who've advocated switching the blog's affiliation from Conservative to Independent.

I wasn't one of those, but this recent post I felt was worthy of being brought up. In the post, Johnson posts a graph demonstrating a "surge of self-identified independents" and then labels himself as one such.

Is this an adequate source for changing the blog's political affiliation? I'm undecided and bringing it up here for discussion. McJeff (talk) 07:33, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

I agree with you McJeff, LGF is not a Conservative blog. Independent is a good descriptor, although I might have said the blog was 'Libertarian'. Not sure. Still, definitely not a Conservative blog. 58.110.85.232 (talk) 07:55, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

Oppose. Johnson identifies as an independent, but Little Green Footballs remains generally conservative. The only two areas where it seems to pull away from some other prominent blogs are those of xenophobia (and, really, that's more of a feature of European rightism than it is American), and the role of religion in schools and in making policy. Mark Shaw (talk) 12:37, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

Comment - it has always seemed to me like Charles Johnson needs a "designated antagonist". I've been reading LGF long enough to remember when he would go through bouts of obsessively posting DKos rantings on LGF, and I think I remember him doing it to Firedoglake as well. His current antagonists are the far right. Now, when he criticizes them, of course it's going to sound liberal, but on those occasions Johnson posts his own beliefs rather than just criticizing, they haven't really shifted. He has softened his stance on global warming significantly, but that shouldn't be a political issue and doesn't/shouldn't have anything to do with political orientation. McJeff (talk) 18:08, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

It could very well be that some other designation than "conservative" would be more appropriate for the blog itself - something along the lines of "right-libertarian" or the like. I'm not so fundamentally opposed to changing it from "conservative" as I am to changing it to "independent" - which seems less descriptive of the blog's true positions than does "conservative." Mark Shaw (talk) 18:18, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

I'd be hard-pressed to identify *any* political position advocated by Johnson that could still reasonably be considered "Conservative" or even "libertarian". Granted, he still seems to support American military action abroad, but that is hardly a position exclusive to conservatives, given that the "liberal" Obama administration supports continued intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan. Johnson's previous disdain for anyone affiliated with the 9/11 Truth movement has seemingly evaporated since he began defending former Obama appointee Van Jones. Right-leaning pundits are frequently branded with the "kook" tag, while the label remains conspicuously absent from their left-leaning counterparts.

Conservative blogs have been delinking LGF left and right as Charles Johnson's agenda becomes more obvious. The "Conservative" label is hardly appropriate for LGF and a "libertarian" label is even more laughable since Johnson has shown a tendency to gravitate toward whatever political party exerts the most control over the state rather than develop a consistent libertarian political philosophy. Even the "Independent" label is questionable since: (a) "Independent" more appropriately defines status of party affiliation rather than political philosophy (one can be a far-right or far-left "independent"), and (b) Johnson's political ideology currently trends left-of-center if not outright "liberal", as it did in the months prior to 9/11. I think "liberal hawk" might be the best descriptor of LGF's political ideology. "Conservative" makes no sense at all. Uncle Dick (talk) 08:33, 12 September 2009 (UTC)

This is resolved? No one here thinks its a conservative blog. It may have been once, but no longer. Time to change it.BuboTitan (talk) 08:36, 13 September 2009 (UTC)

(BuboTitan refers to this edit.) Let's have a bit more discussion here first, please. For now I'll propose "center-right." Mark Shaw (talk) 12:34, 13 September 2009 (UTC)

OK, how much more discussion do you need? Is there anyone at all who would say that the blog is "conservative" anymore? Look at the page right now. Recently, Powerlineblog.com even dropped it off it's blogroll, and that site was a partner of LGF since the Bush National Guard memo controversy. JammieWearingFool.blogspot.com was a spinoff of LGF, and it doesn't even link it anymore. A recent overview of these events can be found here.BuboTitan (talk) 00:34, 15 September 2009 (UTC)

I agree with you re how the blog currently relates to the rest of the right-wing blogosphere. But this is quite possibly a fluid situation, and I'd rather not make any changes based on a snapshot.

I do agree that "conservative" is not the best description of the blog at the moment. CJ seems to be reacting to his own conflation of the racist/kook element of the Tea Party movement to that movement as a whole, which is (in my opinion) incorrect, unfair, and short-sighted. I'd just like to see one or two more people (at least) weigh in on this here. If that doesn't happen within a day or two I will have no objection to your change (to "independent"). (If that change is indeed made, though, with or without input from others, let's remember that it may be appropriate to change it again sometime in the future.) Mark Shaw (talk) 03:14, 15 September 2009 (UTC)

Changed to "non-aligned" with a softlink to "independent." Let's see how this flies; personally, I think it's pretty descriptive. Mark Shaw (talk) 05:05, 16 September 2009 (UTC)

I've been going there since 9/11 daily. The only place I've seen a shift in his stance is global warming but even that isn't so blatant or outright. He mostly seemed to have a problem with Gore and the alarmism some people were pushing, which I suppose is okay as long as you're not using it to obfuscate the real issues. It's just a matter of what his focus is. I doubt any left-leaning guy from California ever thought that creationism was a pretty cool idea, or that racism was awesome, or that aligning oneself with people you considered European fascists a good thing. When his focus was the war on terror, it seemed right wing. Because you generally associate military action as being a right wing idea. When his attention shifted to creationism, European fascism, some of the nuttier protesters at Tea parties, then he seems "independent." But this is only because you believe no person can have those two ideas together without having an internal conflict. The person who confused his defense of Van Jones for tolerance of 9/11 truthers is a supreme fool. Read his entries on the issue, it shows the exact opposite of your opinion. He's basically still that left-leaning guy with a streak for military action in the war on terror, thanks in large part to his left leaning ideals. If you're all about women's rights, gay rights, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and on down the line, extremist Islam isn't exactly your friend. All his stances and positions can easily and consistently be explained with this.

Then I'm afraid you haven't been reading his blog very much even since 9/11. This isn't simply a shift of emphasis. He has repudiated, publicly trashed, and erased links to other blogs that he used to link to on a regular basis. He's also removed the famous jihad comic image from the header. If he was always so left-leaning, then why didn't he do all this before 2007?BuboTitan (talk) 02:32, 24 September 2009 (UTC)

Er, I've been reading it multiple times a day everyday since 9/11. It is absolutely a shift in emphasis. Do you think he no longer cares about radical Islam or thinks it's bad? He absolutely does. He still shows great disdain towards people who are known truthers. None of his original positions, sans global warming, have changed at all. As to why he didn't do it before, well clearly because he believes there's a danger in alignment with groups he considers European fascists just because of a shared coincidental interest in fighting against radical Islam. The groups he has delinked do not share that point of view, either because they don't think they're fascist or because they don't care. The issue didn't come up until a few years ago so it is stupid to ask why he didn't bring it up on 9/12. His position can be summed up as pretty moderate, mainstream, middle of the road. He hates the radicals and extremists on both sides. That's why he hates the far right fascists, christian fundamentalists, radical islamists, ron paul nuts, and also shows great disdain for radical islam appeasers, truthers, Code pink, Michael Moore, most of the anti-war protesters. I don't understand how him being a bit of a hawk automatically makes him a conservative. Don't you remember the comments on the headscarves and comics? He didn't argue against them because they were muslim. He always took the liberal position of "It's about free speech. It's about freedom of religion. It's about womens' rights." He's a pretty standard left-leaning liberal who saw 9/11 and realized the danger posed by radical Islam to Western liberal ideology. That disdain for christian fundies and anti-science mentality never went away and it never just appeared, it was always there. I really think the original mistake in labeling his affiliation was labeling him a conservative, and I think all the conservatives who thought he was one of them through and through were rather foolish. Conservatives don't have a monopoly on thinking the war on terror should be fought and that sharia law is a bad thing.

1) Yes, CJ still thinks radical Islam is bad. And that is really the only thing that has not changed at the site. But it looks like he doesn't think it's as bad as before, since he doesn't write about it nearly as much, and he even took the anti-jihad cartoon graphic off his header. 2) You beg the question of why the issue [of white supremacism] didn't come up sooner. Do you really think that he just totally shelved that issue, and not think about it until 2007? Is that really easier to accept than that he just changed his views? Also, do you honestly think he hates "left wing extremists" with the same passion anymore? There's still plenty of them around, but strangely, it's been a very long time since he pointed out some extremist piece on the Daily Kos or Democratic Underground, something he used to do on a regular basis. Instead, he spends all his time trashing right-wing extremists. Some deservedly so, but nonetheless, if he cared about the issue pre-2007, you would think he would have mentioned it at the time. 3) Do you think he's even much of a hawk anymore? For a very long time, I haven't seen anything he's written supporting the war on terror or criticizing plans to cut troops or withdraw from the war.BuboTitan (talk) 06:33, 25 September 2009 (UTC)

I don't believe his rejection by some of the larger conservative blogs out there (Powerline, Malkin\HotAir, etc.) necessarily precludes him from being conservative. Although the blog does reject creationism and global warming denial, CJ still self-identifies with fundamentally conservative ideas. I suspect many of the detractors have moved farther to the right, which in a relative sense makes him more independent or left, but in an absolute sense, he's still on the right. Oppose re-designation. Madcoverboy (talk) 04:48, 24 September 2009 (UTC)

If that's the case, then it is strange that virtually ALL other sites the he was originally aligned with have all moved to the far right, while LGF has stayed firm? By Occam's razor, isn't it simpler to conclude the LGF has simply changed? Consider the break with the conservative Pajamas Media, which Charles Johnson co-created. Now he even refuses to link to that! It's more than just being anti-creationist or pro-global warming. He's accused every one of his detractors of racism and white supremacy, sometimes for the flimsiest of reasons (which once again, were all there before 2007, yet somehow it didn't bother him then). Moreover he supported McCain during the election but now has flipped around in support of Obama on virtually everything. Whatever his reasons for all of this, he has radically changed. BuboTitan (talk) 07:53, 24 September 2009 (UTC)

All of this discussion is rather orthogonal to the question of the blog's basic political alignment. Typically, that alignment can be discerned by an examination of the subject's positions in toto, whether we're talking about a person, a blog, or some other entity, but because of the rapidly-changing nature of LGF I don't think that's really possible here and now. A few days ago I changed it to "non-aligned." I would have no objection to changing it again to something else, but I'd prefer to wait on that until the dust settles a bit. The reason for this is that (in my opinion) the changes are rather drastic and unpredictable, and seem (again, in my opinion) to be driven by obsessions that may be transitory in nature - the Tea Party phenomenon, for one. (Yesterday, for example, Johnson posted a clear insinuation that Tea Party activism was responsible for the apparent murder of a census worker.) So, let's watch and wait. Mark Shaw (talk) 12:58, 24 September 2009 (UTC)

I believe there are enough reliable, third-party sources classifying LGF as having right or center-right to retain the same classification ("his politically conservative blog" WaPo, "the conservative blog Little Green Footballs" [1], The Week, raw story, etc.) in addition to the cites in the article itself about CJ's self-espoused center-right views. Some of the arguments here clearly violate WP:NOR and WP:SYN as they are based on editor's perceptions and judgments rather that verifiable and reliable sources. I'm not going to attempt to parse the veracity of the accusations being flung around about regarding CJ's shift to liberalism or other blogs' affiliation with racists, but claims such as "He's accused every one of his detractors of racism and white supremacy, sometimes for the flimsiest of reasons" and "now has flipped around in support of Obama on virtually everything" seem to be gross and completely unverifiable overgeneralizations. I will wade into the debate only so far to say that conservatism, like any ideology is not a monolithic set of beliefs, thus being "pro-evolution" and "pro-global warming" or being delinked by popular bloggers does not disqualify you from choosing to label yourself conservative. Madcoverboy (talk) 14:22, 24 September 2009 (UTC)

That he is very supportive of Obama can be simply seen by reading his site. It's certainly not "unverifiable". And all your references don't really support it being a "right-wing blog". Two of them were written before the changes at the site, one of them is talking about those changes, and another one simply doesn't call it a conservative site.BuboTitan (talk) 06:33, 25 September 2009 (UTC)

I agree with everything you've said here, but personally I still prefer the "non-aligned" designation for now. I'm not going to go change it back without corroborative discussion, though; I don't think it's that important an issue to get exercised about. I'd note that third-party assessments of the blog's alignment should be taken with a grain of salt, given the fluid nature of things (someone's opinion about it even just last week may be obsolete) and the phenomenon of overreaction (e.g. another blog's having suddenly moved LGF in their blogroll from a "right-wing" source to a "left-wing" one).

It's also interesting to note, just as an aside (as it's not something we can or should take into account) that CJ has indicated in a comment at LGF that "non-aligned" may be appropriate. Mark Shaw (talk) 15:43, 24 September 2009 (UTC)

I'll certainly defer to whatever is the most recent and reliable information regarding the author's self-classification. I only want to be sure that individual editors' judgments are not the sole basis on which we make assertions or distinctions. Madcoverboy (talk) 18:53, 24 September 2009 (UTC)

Little Green Footballs was never a conservative site, as Charles Johnson has said from its beginning. Virtually the only "conservative" part of its composition was its focus on Islamic terrorism (which shouldn't have been a partisan issue but was for eight years). The seeming shift in tone is due to the Right coming out of power and the other blogs circling around even their looniest members to protect them from the Left, as the Left did with their looniest members when they weren't in power. LFG is certainly non-partisan, though it was ever thus and folks were too wrapped up in their own partisanship to notice. GreatGatsby (talk) 00:29, 25 September 2009 (UTC)

AB I

I have reverted this edit. Since LGF is a political blog, some description of its political alignment is needed. The editor whom I've reverted has suggested "in flux;" I suggest (again) that we go back to "non-aligned." Comment? Mark Shaw (talk) 04:00, 30 September 2009 (UTC)

There are a whole lot of sources saying it's conservative (even in the lead) and not many (if any) saying otherwise. I'm not opposed to having the alignment updated, but the rest of the article needs to reflect the same. Madcoverboy (talk) 14:33, 30 September 2009 (UTC)

For the last two years Johnson has been strongly criticizing republican agendas including intelligent design, religion in schools, Obama’s birth certificate story, irrational objection to democratic policies, and association with racist parties in Europe and elsewhere. He has been a strong advocate of science and rational-open debate. His ideas seem to be closer to those of Hillary Clinton than to Bobby Jindal, I just can’t see how you can label him a conservative at this point of time. He is an independent. --Ynahmias (talk) 23:55, 30 September 2009 (UTC)

It's not your judgment to make. You can't simply state that he's independent in the absence of any sources stating the same and especially in the face of a cornucopia of sources, including himself in the lead, stating he favors the right. If you want to make the claim for his independence, bring on some citations from verifiable sources to update or refute those already in the article clearly stating he is conservative, not independent. Just because he's no longer the darling of the right nor completely lock-step with every Republican party plank doesn't preclude him from having and espousing conservative views. Madcoverboy (talk) 05:01, 1 October 2009 (UTC)

Since you are demanding evidence, how about some evidence that he ever said he was right-wing? In any case, North Korea calls itself "democratic", that doesn't make it so. His blog today speaks loud and clear about his views: right now on his front page he's got separate posts attacking George Will (one of the most moderate of conservatives incidentally), Karl Rove, Republicans in general, conservative religious views, creationists, climate-change deniers (ironic, because Johnson used to be a denier himself), Michelle Bachmann, right-wing blogs, Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin again. He also shows support for Michelle Obama. I'm not sure in what la-la land how all that could be characterized as the slightest bit "conservative" or right-wing. Frankly, it's a left-wing site. But due to such a radical change of focus and the fact that he might swing back someday, I'm willing to simply call it "center" or "independent" for now. BuboTitan (talk) 00:21, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

"how about some evidence that he ever said he was right-wing?" I believe it says exactly that with a citation directly in the lead. Madcoverboy (talk) 04:55, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

Are you serious? If you mean this citation: "But I do think what I'm advocating, and what I believe in, is the right side", then you are way off. The "right" in this sense is right vs. wrong, not political right vs. left! And even if it were, the quote is from 2006, before the site changed character.BuboTitan (talk) 06:58, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

I think the issue of whether or not one can classify LGF has a conservative blog rests on 2 questions: 1) are the political views of the author (as a whole) distinguishable from the content and political alignment of the blog; and 2) if the political alignment of the blog matches that of the author, have the views of the author changed over the lifetime of the blog. On a large number of issues, from abortion to gay marriage, Charles Johnson has been consistently left-of-center, as he himself has said. Johnson admits to being basically a 9/11 conservative, i.e. a liberal mugged by reality when the Twin Towers fell. Thus, post-9/11, the only viewpoint that really serious got airtime on his blog was his one conservative view vis a vis the War on Terror and what some have dubbed his "far-right" view of Islam (i.e. that it is by its very nature a violent religion.) So, while the author's political views might have been roundly left-of-center (mostly on domestic issues), the content of the blog was still quite conservative post-9/11. Further, Johnson routinely mocked Islam's moniker as the "Religion of Peace", often referring to Islam facetiously as the "RoP" or putting a trademark symbol after the words "Religion of Peace". On more than one occasion he referred to Europe as "Eurabia" and explicitly questioned the compatibility of Islam with liberal Western civilization, as well as heaped praise on bloggers such as Robert Spencer of 'Jihad Watch', Pamela Geller of 'Atlas Shrugs', and the anonymous author of the European 'Gates of Vienna'. He also routinely mocked politically unrelated Islamic practices, such as the self-flagellation performed by some Shi'ites during Zanjeer Zani. His views on Islam frequently lead to him being called everything from an 'Islamophobe' to a fascist. Other views, such as those on anthropogenic climate change, were quite skeptical as early as 2002.

Fast forward to 2009. The blog as it stands today looks nothing like it did in, say, 2002, 2003, or even as late as 2007. If one were to compare archives from those dates with more recent ones, he might be convinced that the blog was under new management. Today, Johnson's many currently liberal views now comprise the majority of the content of the blog. A large portion of his posts on the blog are dedicated to attacking and exposing those same former allies (mentioned above) as racists and anti-Islamic fascists; all the while Johnson's past vitriol toward Islam as a whole seems to have completely disappeared to the point that he is occasionally even quoted by the same left-wing media and Islamic organizations that used to brand even him an right-wing Islamophobe. General diatribes against Islam or mockery of the "Religion of Peace" label are nonexistent in LGF's current form, nor are any acknowledgements of any change of views. And as Johnson's decidedly left-of-center views have taken center stage, the political alignment of the blog has clearly veered to the left. He frequently points to 'intelligent design' (aka creationism) and its proponents as a grave threat to the United States, frequently labels pro-life activists as anti-choice (as if their primary motivation is not the protection of what they view as human life, but some sort of fascist desire to control women). Further, Johnson seems to have entirely replaced his previously frequent mockeries of left-wing "moonbats" and "useful idiots" with attacks on and dire warnings about 'right-wing fanatics' (e.g. protestors at the Tea Party protests), Ron Paul supporters (whom he frequently alludes to as truthers), anti-abortion activists, anthropogenic climate change skeptics, and other well known conservatives such as Sarah Palin, Glen Beck, Pat Buchanan, and others. LGF now often features content from left-wing organizations such as Media Matters, as well as Reuters (formerly "al-Reuters") and the Associated Press, organizations Johnson used to frequently attack. Other views, such as those on the birther movement have also seen quick turnarounds. Johnson was one of a few early well known bloggers who questioned whether or not Barack Obama was a US citizen. Yet after much evidence seemed to cast doubt on it, Johnson began mocking those conspiracy theorists who had picked it up and ran with it. (He even went so far as to go back and edit his original post some time later, albeit without the update flag and timestamp usually applied to edited posts.) Lastly, take a look at this mocking quote Johnson used for an open thread recently: "A conservative is someone who believes in reform. But not now." — Mort Sahl

For all the above reasons, I feel it is no longer appropriate to label LGF a "conservative" blog in general. If you want to describe it as left-of-center on most issues but conservative on foreign policy and staunchly pro-Israel, I think that would be more accurate. —divus 12:12, 1 October 2009 (UTC)

Again, a convincing argument with which I would agree, but in the absence of independent and reliable sources stating the same and updating the rest of the article to reflect this new dimension, one simply cannot air-drop in a label that contra-indicates the entire body of current sources and content. Madcoverboy (talk) 13:53, 1 October 2009 (UTC)

Oh, don't get me wrong. I fully agree with you regarding Wikipedia policy. I guess my point is that this article as it stands is very out of date. —divus 14:21, 1 October 2009 (UTC)

Exactly. The article is out of date and doesn't even attempt to explain the obvious change in ideological direction from its editors. Firstly, compare today's LGF commentariat to that from one or two years ago. Secondly, regarding Charles's centre right "bona-fides"...consider his treatment of the Tea Party movement. Certainly, the level-headed conservative would state that it is useful to have a vigilant eye working to expose the wacky and damaging fringe elements of such a movement - a task that LGF has energetically taken on board - yet it has not once acknowledged that the overarching goal of the main body of the Tea Party folks is to reduce government spending; a fundamentally "centre right" ambition. LGF has been a consistently derisive critic of the Tea Party movement in its entirety (by tarring it with the brush of the fringe hangers-on), which I would argue puts it at odds with the entire "centre right" movement. I think the most accurate description of the political affiliation of the site would be "non-aligned".Langfangvegas (talk) 19:18, 2 October 2009 (UTC)

I'm seeing two votes for "non-aligned" now, I think. Anyone else? Mark Shaw (talk) 19:37, 2 October 2009 (UTC)

I have read several weeks of the most recent posts on the blog and can only come to the conclusion that LGF's current main orientation is not center right or non-aligned.

It's mainly anti conservative/Republican/religious. It is also pro man made global warming which is more of a leftist theme than a right wing theme. Charles Johnson seems to have become obsessed with bashing everything that he considers right wing. That would make his blog definitely a leftist/Liberal blog.

Johnson has claimed that global warming should not be a politicized topic of discussion.

Johnson has also claimed that he was never a right-winger.

Although his focus is mainly on criticizing the far right these days, Charles Johnson still occasionally writes posts very critical of Obama, or critical of pandering to Islamic extremists, and he has maintained his pro-Israel stance.

On the other hand, Johnson has done away with the anti-terrorism cartoon, the link to the Orianna Fallaci memorial site, and turned strongly against Sarah Palin. Specifically in regards to Palin, he now claims he never liked her and couldn't stand her from the Katie Couric interview on. This even though LGF was one of the blogs pointing out/falsely claiming (your opinion may differ on which it is) that she trounced Biden in the VP debate. He also links to Huffington Post semi-regularly, when he used to decry it as one of the "foulest" (his word) places on the internet.

As a long time Lizardoid, this is my opinion. Johnson always needs a designated antagonist. Back during the wars at Digg, just about every other post was criticizing some Daily KOS article. He first criticized the right when the extreme right started in with the anti-Democrat rhetoric that he so intensely criticized when the Democrats were doing it to the Republicans. The major shift seemed to come when it was almost unanimous among the right wing blogs that he was getting all worked up about nothing and was returning to his liberal roots. See the section in the article about his falling out with Spencer, Fjordman, etc. He's also always sort of operated on an "anyone who doesn't hate my enemies as much as I do is my enemy" policy, which is why so many users get banned and he's so quick to shrilly denounce all sorts of right wingers.

Perhaps the best way to solve the issue of the blogs' political orientation is to say "Center-Right*" and then write a section about the slide from criticizing the left wing to criticizing the right wing. The above commentary on the de-linking of the Fallaci memorial could be sourced without violating WP:NOR if someone who's good at internet archive browsing could pull up some old versions of the LGF front page. 20:03, 6 October 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.244.150.95 (talk)

I would agree that LGF has changed a huge amount over the last year. The article does need to be re-written, but I don't think we should get too hung up on what political affiliation Charles Johnson has. Whichever one we pick, he'll probably prove us wrong in a few months' time. Epa101 (talk) 21:35, 6 October 2009 (UTC)

Wow. What a crafty character CJ is! Well, we could give him scope to prove us wrong ad-nauseum, or we could simply remove the "political affiliation" designation altogether. I don't understand why maintaining this part of the entry is such a holy cow. Langfangvegas (talk) 17:47, 11 October 2009 (UTC)

I'm not sure why Madcoverboy thinks Charles Johnson saying he is right wing is an acceptable source for designation as right wing but that Johnson's posts attacking the right do not count as an acceptable source for designation as left wing —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.20.123.101 (talk) 23:08, 11 October 2009 (UTC)

Not only that, but Charles never said he was right wing anyway. Just that his was the right side (ie correct side).BuboTitan (talk) 01:06, 12 October 2009 (UTC)

Political Alignment; the ongoing story

As of today, CJ has turned his sights on Rush Limbaugh in support of the attacks upon him via specious "racist" quotations. I'm not going to do it myself, but I will no longer object if some other editor changes the description of the political alignment of the blog to some variety of "left-wing." (And I will object if anyone changes it back to "right-wing.") Mark Shaw (talk) 18:11, 15 October 2009 (UTC)

Not only that, but he once called Rush Limbaugh an "honorary Lizardoid"; it's almost as if we have an impersonator taking over the site. He also has a recent series of posts (like this one), where he has been constantly mocking Republicans for the less than impressive new GOP.com site. He's not even claiming they are doing anything morally wrong; he's just ridiculing them for their web site design, period. This is illustrative; this doesn't look very "centrist" to me; usually you would only see this type of ridicule on very partisan web sites. I vote for left-wing.BuboTitan (talk) 01:44, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

This is all original research. Point me to a single independent, reliable source that states that LGF is left-wing, liberal, etc. I strenuously object to changing alignment based on individual editors' beliefs, observations, and conclusions. Madcoverboy (talk) 04:00, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

I might waggishly point to the blog itself, but the point (where I'm specifically concerned) is simply to announce a shift in my own intentions as an editor. CJ's apparent wholesale acceptance of these thoroughly-debunked Limbaugh "quotes" is the last straw for me. I may or may not continue to watch this article, but I will from now on be somewhat more circumspect in reversing some edits - that's all. Mark Shaw (talk) 04:15, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

In point of fact, this is NOT original research. I think you misunderstand the concept. Look here. The problem with original research is that it can't be checked by anyone else. If you cite your sources so that others can check them, then that falls under acceptable policy. The easiest thing is too look at the LGF site right now. Or on this talk page, people have presented an abundance of links for reference.BuboTitan (talk) 07:02, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

Indeed. I'm not sure which term is least well understood around here: "secondary sourcing" or "left wing". Chris Cunningham (not at work) - talk 08:47, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

WP:V is pretty clear on this: "The threshold for inclusion in Wikipedia is verifiability, not truth—that is, whether readers are able to check that material added to Wikipedia has already been published by a reliable source, not whether we think it is true." Madcoverboy (talk) 19:08, 16 October 2009 (UTC)

Quite. And as there's a recent reliable source which covers the subject, we should use the description given there. Which I've now done. Chris Cunningham (not at work) - talk 03:46, 25 October 2009 (UTC)

Which reliable source currently describes LGF as "right-wing," please? Mark Shaw (talk) 05:11, 25 October 2009 (UTC)

Indeed, in the very link that Chris Cunningham gives, Johnson is quoted as saying: "I don’t consider myself right-wing". Reverted.BuboTitan (talk) 10:38, 25 October 2009 (UTC)

Looking at this source and taking from it that Johnson says that he isn't right-wing ignores the entire point of the article; saying "oh but which source now considers him to be right-wing" when a) no current source contradicts that and b) there are plenty of older sources which do is a perfect example of arguing that it's the other parts of the moon that are made of green cheese. It's disappointing that people are edit warring over this. Chris Cunningham (not at work) - talk 14:11, 25 October 2009 (UTC)

I'm afraid it's you who is ignoring the point of that article. Sure, Little Green Footballs universally used to be considered very much a staunch right-wing web site. But no longer - and that's the whole issue. It's very unusual for a website to change it's character so radically, but that can happen when you have one person writing all the articles alone. It's fully Johnson's web site, and the fact that Johnson himself says he is not right-wing, and in another article claims he's an independent, is about the most solid evidence you can find that he is not right-wing. Personally, I believe he's taken the plunge and become a leftist full-bore, but some others here disagree. "Independent" or "None" is a compromise position.BuboTitan (talk) 08:43, 26 October 2009 (UTC)

That's a personal interpretation of a primary source, which we cannot use as a rationale for changing the article. The previous version was properly referenced to a recent secondary source and should be restore. Unless you have any stronger arguments, we're basically done here. Chris Cunningham (not at work) - talk 19:32, 26 October 2009 (UTC)

I'm wondering if anyone can look at this recent article and still maintain, with a straight face, that his website is the slightest bit "right wing".BuboTitan (talk) 04:44, 30 October 2009 (UTC)

And I can just as easily point to articles such as this, this, and this which likewise exhibit right-of-center thinking. It is not yours or any others judgment to make (especially cherry-picking posts); only those of verifiable and reliable sources. If you want to change it to liberal, get a traditional journalist to cover it. Stop using Wikipedia to play out and legitimize ideological turf battles in the conservative blogosphere. Madcoverboy (talk) 14:19, 30 October 2009 (UTC)

How are any of those examples "right of center"? Did you even read them beyond the headers? And even if they were, there is a noticable difference here. The example I gave was Johnson mocking the Republican Party. It's not a post about a real issue, but a made-up one to poke fun at Republicans. I just don't see how that would jibe with a "conservative" blog, but if you disagree, why don't you tell me why, instead of making uninformed and wild accusations about my motives here, which are irrelevant in any case (not to mention the fact that you yourself seem to have quite an emotional interest in this subject, to say the least). And get a traditional journalist to cover it? Exactly how would that solve anything? If you read through this discussion thread, we've already given links of articles discussing changes at LGF.BuboTitan (talk) 16:31, 30 October 2009 (UTC)

Problems with lead, etc.

The lead presently is a bit misleading in that it implies that the site became known as "liberal" as early as 2007. Obviously this isn't the case. The site always opposed religious fundamentalism, including creationism, although generally these views were in the context of supporting the Bush administration's war against "Islamofascism." What's really problematic with the present lead is that the site was still completely unhinged far-right wing-nut through the year 2008 (which was just last year, mind you). Charles supported the "birther" accusations that Obama had refused to make public his birth certificate. Days before the 2008 election he went on a Glenn Beck-style rant about Obama's "radical connections." Essentially the site changed on a dime in 2009 after Obama actually became president. There wasn't quite the gradual shift involved that the lead implies. We can put forth theories on why this happened (I'd take a rather cynical view on these matters myself), but presently the lead distorts the reality of the site's transformation. 74.73.105.28 (talk) 17:49, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

You are right that the changes weren't "full blown" until this year. During the 2008 election, Johnson supported McCain/Palin (although weakly), but was already changing his view on climate change. But it wasn't so much "on a dime" as you think. The best actual start date was probably October 2007, when he decided to ban several right wing blogs from his site, like Gates of Vienna or The Brussels Journal. These were sites that had been closely aligned with his for a long time, and they considered Johnson a friend. Then suddenly, Johnson purged them away in a "blogwar", causing everyone to have to choose sides.BuboTitan (talk) 03:33, 7 November 2009 (UTC)

The lead is beyond misleading. Its POV OR with imaginary quotes, e.g., Johnson supposedly criticizes conservative blogs "in the name of "anti-fascism" and "anti-racism"". Go read the Weigel article - nowhere are these terms used. Were these supposed to be ironic air quotes? I believe some editors here may not understand what attribution, citation and reference actually are. You can't just put quotes marks around whatever you wish someone had said, throw in a footnote and call it a day - either the quotation marks and the footnote actually refer to something, or they don't. Dragula (talk) 07:53, 14 November 2009 (UTC)

Sources

The "Intelligent Design" section in this entry is pure OR. Has any reputable media source made even a passing mention of Johnson's views on creationism? If so, these should be cited instead. Dragula (talk) 08:08, 14 November 2009 (UTC)

Read WP:NOTOR. 19:19, 15 November 2009 (UTC)

Why Conservative opinion blogs are not reliable sources RE: Johnson's alleged shift to the left

Per Wikipedia:

"Statements of opinion

Some sources may be considered reliable for statements as to their author's opinion, but not for statements of fact. A prime example of this are Op-ed columns that are published in mainstream newspapers. When discussing what is said in such sources, it is important to directly attribute the material to its author, and to do so in the main text of the Wikipedia article so readers know that we are discussing someone's opinion.

There is, however, an important exception to sourcing statements of opinion: Never use self-published books, zines, websites, webforums, blogs and tweets as a source for material about a living person, unless written or published by the subject of the biographical material. "Self-published blogs" in this context refers to personal and group blogs (see: WP:BLP#Sources and WP:BLP#Using the subject as a self-published source)."

Dragula (talk) 02:29, 18 November 2009 (UTC)

The above is Wikilawyering. Disregard. 96.244.150.95 (talk) 03:48, 18 November 2009 (UTC)

Either personal opinion blogs are considered to be`reliable sources for facts about living third parties, on par with legitimate mainstream news sources (e.g., newspapers, academic journals, etc) or they aren't.

It strikes me that just because some blogger at "notoriouslyconservative.com" has decided to put it out there that Johnson no longer passes his own personal smell test, this does not (or should not) overrule the many, many dozens of citeable mainstream media sources who in fact do describe Johnson as "conservative," right wing etc.

Wikipedia is intended as`an encylopedia, not a roundup of up-to-the-minute blogger opinion, no?

Dragula (talk) 23:01, 18 November 2009 (UTC)

It would help if you were more specific over which part of the article and which reference you think violates the policy. But keep in mind that it's not just the content of opinions on these blogs. It's also the simple fact that there have been flame wars between Johnson and other blogs that he was once friendly with. Or the fact that Johnson has "de-linked" so many previous sites off his blog (and visa versa), including Pajamas Media (which he orginally helped create). That alone is strong evidence of a significant shift on at least one side. Anyway, there are also mainstream media sources that are referenced in the article.BuboTitan (talk) 06:34, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Dragula has been engaged in POV pushing on this article since 2005. He may be right, on occasion, about some blogs not being reliable sources, but it's easy to question his motive since he used to try to get LGFWatch linked from this article. 96.244.150.95 (talk) 13:38, 26 November 2009 (UTC)

LGF and CJ are as conservative as squares are round. I don't understand why people have such a hard time understanding this. Jarwulf (talk) 09:07, 30 November 2009 (UTC)

You are correct, 96.244.150.95, 4 or 5 years ago I did NOT understand what "original research" was or why blogs are not to be considered reliable sources for biographies of living persons. I also tended to be much more "blog-centric" in my approach to these sorts of articles and did not understand why mainstream media sources and academic journals really do trump the anonymous hit-n-run gossip style of most online journals.

For this reason I do STRONGLY encourage you to go back through the discussion archives and peruse the back and forth on this at your leisure. It took me a LONG time to really understand what comprises a quality article, and what does not, for which reason work on this specific article was in fact one of the more educational aspects of my early forays into wiki editing. Perhaps it can help you too. Dragula (talk) 07:08, 30 November 2009 (UTC)

"Neolibertarian"

Is this even a real word? It is redlinked repeatedly, and I've never heard of it before despite being in to all this politics nonsense. Praetonia (talk) 18:53, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

"Why I parted ways with the Right"

This article today is the first time that Johnson openly talks about his ideological shift, and gives specific reasons (some of it is actually quite ironic, since many of the reasons are things that he himself has done in the past). In any case, I think this helps settle the matter over whether LGF is still a "right wing" web site. The post is important, and I'm considering the best way to add it into the wiki page.BuboTitan (talk) 04:51, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm not sure that adding anything about any individual post is really the right thing to do, but it may make sense in this case.

By the way, I'll probably be recusing myself from editing the entries on LGF and CJ for a while - I have a minor conflict of interest in that I got booted as an LGF commenter last week.

Mark Shaw (talk) 13:26, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

I think we can now put this whole idiotic debate to bed: "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.” I've updated the infobox accordingly to reflect the author's desired self-identification. Madcoverboy (talk) 07:29, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

The problem is, if you look at the entries on his page right now, every single one of them, without exception, either supports a conventional left-wing POV or criticizes right-wing public figures. He might think he's purely independent (the same way the NYT or Fox News thinks so), but the actual evidence points the other way. Still, "independent" is probably good enough for the time being.BuboTitan (talk) 03:09, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

I've known people who are far more left wing than those who embrace the title but prefer to call themselves Independent/Nonaligned because it sounds a lot cooler and enlightened. Everything CJ is currently (doing) places him firmly in the leftwing camp. If George W. Bush or Pat Robertson decided to call themselves independent but kept all their previous positions would we say they were no longer conservative? If nobody has any qualms I'll change the alignment to Independent/Left. Self Description should count, but not for everything. Jarwulf (talk) 20:50, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

I don't know if CJ counts as fully left-wing because he hasn't come out in advocation for anything aside from Global Warming, which despite the politicization of the issue isn't really a political issue at all. However, he focuses almost exclusively on criticizing just about everything right-wing, and he now links to Huffington Post, which he used to decry as one of the "vilest" sites on the internet. He also removed the link to the Orianna Fallaci memorial from the blog. So I think it's safe to say that he's left wing. 96.244.150.95 (talk) 22:51, 10 December 2009 (UTC)

All someone needs to do here is find a mainstream media article that references the "WHy I Parted Ways with the Right" piece and cite that:

For example:

Jewish Telegraph Agency : http://blogs.jta.org/politics/article/2009/12/02/1009501/pro-israel-blog

The Washington Independent: http://washingtonindependent.com/69205/little-green-footballs-charles-johnson-breaks-with-the-right

The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/04/AR2009120401506_pf.html

Dragula (talk) 01:42, 21 December 2009 (UTC)

Political affiliation

I just changed the political affiliation in the infobox from 'Left' to 'Right', as LGF is generally described in reliable sources as the latter, at least until recently. The reference provided is actually called 'Civil war raging in right-wing blogosphere', implicitly describing it as a right-wing site. Having read some of the other links on this page though, it seems that Charles Johnson no longer considers himself on the right; but I still don't think he's ever openly described himself as leftwing, or been described as such by reliable sources. So, 'rightwing' or 'independent' is appropriate, but 'leftwing' is not. Perhaps we should just go with 'independent', and leave it at that? Robofish (talk) 17:06, 29 December 2009 (UTC)

In other words, you made this change without reading any of the robust discussion already on the talk page. You can certainly argue that LGF is "independent", but you can't argue that it's "right-wing", especially when it's single author, Charles Johnson came out and said so directly. Reverted.BuboTitan (talk) 03:42, 30 December 2009 (UTC)