Conservative blogger sees the light, parts ways with the right

babylonsister

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Tue Dec-01-09 06:18 AM
Original message

Conservative blogger sees the light, parts ways with the right

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/12/1/0340/96385

Charles Foster Johnson Won't Drive off a Cliff

by Charles Lemos, Tue Dec 01, 2009 at 12:03:40 AM EST

The conservative blogger Charles Foster Johnson, founder of Little Green Footballs and co-founder of Pajamas Media, has parted ways with the right. Tonight he blogged on the matter outlining his rationale:

1. Support for fascists, both in America (see: Pat Buchanan, Robert Stacy McCain, etc.) and in Europe (see: Vlaams Belang, BNP, SIOE, Pat Buchanan, etc.)

2. Support for bigotry, hatred, and white supremacism (see: Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter, Robert Stacy McCain, Lew Rockwell, etc.)

3. Support for throwing women back into the Dark Ages, and general religious fanaticism (see: Operation Rescue, anti-abortion groups, James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Tony Perkins, the entire religious right, etc.)

4. Support for anti-science bad craziness (see: creationism, climate change denialism, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, James Inhofe, etc.)

5. Support for homophobic bigotry (see: Sarah Palin, Dobson, the entire religious right, etc.)

6. Support for anti-government lunacy (see: tea parties, militias, Fox News, Glenn Beck, etc.)

7. Support for conspiracy theories and hate speech (see: Alex Jones, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Birthers, creationists, climate deniers, etc.)

8. A right-wing blogosphere that is almost universally dominated by raging hate speech (see: Hot Air, Free Republic, Ace of Spades, etc.)

9. Anti-Islamic bigotry that goes far beyond simply criticizing radical Islam, into support for fascism, violence, and genocide (see: Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer, etc.)

10. Hatred for President Obama that goes far beyond simply criticizing his policies, into racism, hate speech, and bizarre conspiracy theories (see: witch doctor pictures, tea parties, Birthers, Michelle Malkin, Fox News, World Net Daily, Newsmax, and every other right wing source)
And much, much more. The American right wing has gone off the rails, into the bushes, and off the cliff.

I won't be going over the cliff with them.

Johnson who is also a respected jazz musician started blogging in 2001. In a recent interview, Johnson cited that the main reason that he has parted ways with "right wing blogosphere . . . is that most of them have succumbed to Obama Derangement Syndrome. "

Johnson goes on to note the following:

One "nontroversy" after another, followed by the outrage of the day, followed by conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory, all delivered in breathless, angry prose that's just wearying and depressing to read.

It's not just the economic issues either. I've never been on board with the anti-science, anti-Enlightenment radical religious right. Once I began making my opinions known on issues like creationism and abortion, I realized that there just wasn't very much in common with many of the bloggers on the right. And then, when most of them decided to fall in and support a blogger like Robert Stacy McCain, who has neo-Nazi friends, has written articles for the openly white supremacist website American Renaissance, and has made numerous openly racist statements on the record ... well, I was extremely disappointed to see it, but unfortunately not surprised.

There are lots of very worrisome trends with today's GOP, but it is a very welcomed development to have Charles Foster Johnson offer a powerful voice of reason.