Conservative Blogger Charles Johnson Parting Ways With The Right
(h/t Jamie)
Founder of the blog Little Green Footballs, Charles Johnson has seen the light and decided he can no longer support the right wing of his party and makes no bones about why:
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.) Read on...
Conservatives like Kathleen Parker and Christopher Buckley found out that leaving the GOP fight club isn't easy -- and Johnson will undoubtedly suffer the same fate. Johnson is taking major heat for his defection, which comes as no surprise, and comments like these at Politico merely prove his point.
I don't expect to see Charles Johnson showing up with Code Pink at any war protests any time soon, but this post covers much of what C&L and other progressive blogs have been saying about the GOP for some time now. It is a dying party that has been taken over by religious extremists, bigots, conspiracy theorists and worse.
Johnson's observations about his party mirror those of my conservative friends and family...well, most of them. They wonder what happened to their party and where they belong in the political spectrum.
I agree with Nicole Belle who wrote backstage - "I don't want him on the left. But it's nice to see someone on the right injecting a little sanity into the discussion."
The air smells better on this side, Mr. Johnson . .
Welcome Home!!
Any person with an ounce of integerty could see what the right wing is becomming
Bill Maher had it right a few weeks ago. The Democratic Party is now what the Republican Party used to be: the party that represents the interests of bankers, hedge fund managers, real estate moguls, CEOs, defense contractors and industry lobbyists. Meanwhile, the Republican Party has become the lunatic fringe that forms militias and spreads crazy rumors about how your particular town is going to be taken over by "Them".
There is no longer a major party in this country that represents liberal/progressive/Founding Father views.
While one may rejoice the Reppug Party going under, it's disappearing in name only. Most will become Blue Dogs, and there will be little to none sane voices left in govt.
Yes - and it's scary.
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party because of (1) support for corporatists
..and have nowhere to go...yet.
then those people chased out appear the genteel racists and bigots who excessively support corporate America. They already have a party, the Libertarian party.
As for a progressive party, I began a progressive party, but only a legislative party. You'll have to find your own candidates to support nationally and locally.
You can read about my party at http://www.democratz.org
on facing reality!!
and the near collapse of the country. Hooray!
How are you and your wife going to compete with cheap labor in 4 years.
start a real conservative party so the wingnuts quit using the label to wreak havoc.
be made criticizing President Palin starting in 2012 . . so may as well re-brand himself now.
Evet...step awaaaaay from the pipe!
...and hand the pipe over to curt...
until we are standing shoulder to shoulder with charles johnson types we are going nowhere.
the failure and collapse of the GOP is not something to celebrate or gloat over.
we are all failing and that should be painfully obvious to all by now.
Most people are clueless . . Still
.
R E M E M B E R:
LGF helped greese that slope in which America slid upon.
.
Starve the WAR Beast...
... Save the World.
and hold grudges. It's Americans favorite pastime anyway.
making ourselves become more stupider with every passing year.
to be the most stupidest ever. Totally. Dude. Obama's fault.
Boomers too.
“Why would anyone with a functioning brain believe this guy?”
Some guy with an eating disorder
To see LGF a year ago vs. today is like comparing Drudge or Alex Jones to Daily Kos. Supporting the fact of Evolution and Science, supporting some kind of healthcare reform and fairer taxation - these concepts shouldn't be tied to any political party. Better late than never, Charles! (now if we can just end political contributions, PACs and Lobbying, we could get our nation on track again!)
Is it time to become more like other countries that have several large parties and form coalitions to pass legislation? Personally, I am more than ready to move left of the DLC democrats and would like to see a strong liberal progressive party that can stand on it's own. I am tired of being part of an ignored wing of the current democratic party. Charles Johnson and I might not agree and certainly would vote differently on many issues, but he is sane, smart, and would be rational, challenging, and even fun person with whom to debate. With the far right theocrats and teabaggers taking over the GOP he may need to start a less crazy party for consevatives folks who share his political spectum on the more "reasonable right." It feels like many of us have no choice but to stuff our round ideaologies into square holes and this raises the anger level to it's current crazy heighths. I think the independents consist of a many people (though certainly not all) who would like to find a party that better fits their ideal and values and can't find one. I want more choices.
Totally agree. As a liberal, I feel the Democratic Party left me a long time ago, and I had 2 realistic choices: bad and worse.
I like the idea of a Liberal Progressive Party that uses both terms proudly. I'd join in a heartbeat.
Here in VT we have a fairly well established Progressive Party. They have a long way to go to be a major player I admit but voters here certainly aren't limited to the bad or worse choice.
Join the Liberal Democratic Party USA at http://www.democratz.org
When I think of LGF all i tink of is rabid racist and anti any Islam supporters. All of which acted as if they were suddenly experts on Islam because they read cut and paste blantantly mistranslated text out of Quran. I'm glad he was able to see through some of the fog bu he sat around for so long stiring the pot. It's going to be a while before I can even think about shaking his hand.
disaffected Republican that has escaped from the Dark Side. Welcome aboard our large but leaky boat!
One wonders if that ever-shrinking evangelical tent of the GOP/POG (Party of God) will eventually be a pup-tent. Anyone want to place bets on a Cheney/Rommney or Cheney/Palin GOP/POG ticket in 2012?
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
-- John F. Kennedy
Just because 3 of them CLAIM they've changed, only time will tell.
Are they positioning themselves to infiltrate and destroy our side some more? It's entirely possible.
Maybe some penance would fit here? I just don't know. But we shouldn't treat these people with disdain at all.
After all, we would do well to look at our OWN party for the corporate hacks malingering within.
covert mission . .
his creation is now out of control
I'm not sure why Nicolle would say
I'm sure I don't agree with him much but I don't agree with everybody on the left either. I would hope we have a little more tolerance than the right wing that Johnson can't stand any more. Everything that was on the list of why are things that we agree 100% with. As I said I don't think I will agree with him much but I agree with that list.
Guess Johnson won't be running for office any time soon with the support of the RNC.
Haven't been to his site, but wonder how his fans are reacting.
Nothing wrong with having a conservative view or I would say more like a different view, as I am not sure what conservative means anymore, but I 100% agree the supposive "right" has has completely gone off the rails. I don't even think you can say many of the views being expressed today as "right" or even "conservative". It is more like a bunch of paranoid people who are so completely upset their guy lost the election, although I would hardly say McCain was that conservative or right, certainly not like what many of these people are espousing......
People may be making a big deal out of Obama's poll numbers, but the reality is it is far worse on the "right". They are absolutely no where, despite their supposive victories in NJ and Virginia.
Charles Johnson is late as usual
Barack Obama: Change we can only imagine
I ain't trusting this guy. Why should I?
The left has been infiltrated by GOPers calling themselves moderate Dems.
Nope, I ain't buyin it.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
I owe you a coke!
"I know that there are people who do not love their fellow
man, and I hate people like that! " ~ Tom Lehrer (1928 - )
All those things he says made him split....I thought those were all badges of honor amongst the righty-whiteys!
I am a cynic, admittedly, but I would not trust Charles Johnson as far as I can throw him.
It might be a return to sanity but the long and colored history of what LGF put out is an indictment of anything this guy says.
Let him build a long reputation of the above and I might believe it in a few years.
"I know that there are people who do not love their fellow
man, and I hate people like that! " ~ Tom Lehrer (1928 - )
... this is nothing but the typical MO of the same people who are shoveling personal responsibility down other people's throats: pass the buck.
Their hubris is too obvious to hide. So like the good little rats they are, they are jumping ship. Looking for less damaged brands to use to propel their agenda... which was the reason why we ended up in this mess to begin with.
It really comes off as more of a rebranding to me at this point as well.
I'm not sure this news is earth-shaking or something to believe the good-guy progressives have "won", though maybe you don't believe that either. Let's just hope he's truly made his own decision in this matter.
I'll feel a lot more righteous when we have a headline like this one:
Liberal Blogger [Choose Your Favorite] Parting Ways With Corporatist Elements of the Democratic Party
He should try the good side on the left.
"Well, LGF traffic is soaring this morning; nearly 6,000 visitors online as I write this. Links coming in from everywhere.
The funny thing is, that post about “Why I Parted Ways with the Right?” I wrote it in about three minutes last night."
(Gave his site a major boost in monetary traffic that's obvious)
He is absolutely right about the Republican Party. Try to have a good and fair discussion with a Republican and you will soon discover a fanatic and a fool with no real ideas of their own making. They are just empty headed talking points. At this point one can only worry about what these people will elect. They will elect anybody their TV Gods say to elect with no thoughts of their own about how these elected people will perform the job once in power.
But this is not any different then how the Republicans were acting a decade ago.
..the more attractive the center & left will look. If they come to "our" side, I hope they're ready to drink "our" kool-aid. The last thing a Progressive Party needs is influence from "right"-minded folks.
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
still have the image of being nouveau rich types who are to good to do hard, down to earth work, drive BMW's, and sip white wine and cheese.
them, anyone who reads quite above a 5th grade level is an elitist. And I'd much rather be their idea of an "elitist," than what they actually are.
"The greatest tyranny is censoring information in order to be better able to control people." - Cristina Saralegui
It takes morality, principles, integrity and guts.
Good job Mr. Johnson.
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BIG DEAL !
So this person leaves the party and declares himself as an AYN RANDIAN Libertarian.
He probably doesn't give a whit about the less fortunate and the poor.
unexpected thing like this. He's got to be a good guy!
Hmmm...didn't Little Green Footballs always maintain that liberals would eventually wind up as outcasts.
Karma is such an unrelenting bitch.
Vote GOP and move forward to the 18th Century.
So your out on the border
Doesn't bother me. Better than the peanut gallery.
Vote GOP and move forward to the 18th Century.
being out on the border has advantages.
First Michael Moore is being turned upon by those he considers his friends and now this..
What's next...William Buckley coming back from the grave to apologize for misleading the public?
is going to loose steam and a whole new set of problems is going to sweep down upon us.
At least Colin Powell came over a year ago, and he had a lot more pride to swallow.
Are we sure the site wasn't hacked?
So, is Johnson going to apologize for the vile shit he's propogated over the last decade? Is he going to admit that Bush II was the worst President ever?
I would think this kind of defection should be accompanied by some ritual sef-disembowelment after all the help he's given to the forces of destruction and oppression, but hey, I have a conscience, so what would I know.
There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind
I think it's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side
It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away
We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, now, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
has of late been almost a pleasure to read. It's pro-science, pro-choice and anti neo-con/theo-con. Let's just forget the past and take him on as a comrade. I have missed the 'thinking conservative' and I'm glad to see some come back in the US. In Canada we do not have too many thinking conservatives left.
not impressed.
me-oww!
I meant John
GaltColeHe must have been drinking the balloon juice.
Mart
1300 William of Orange Tue, Dec 1, 2009 6:58:25am
I used to think you were part of the Rightwing too. As it happened I "discovered" Crooks and liars before LGF for myself. And compared to John Amato you were still on the right of him. But you've seen the light and become more and more moderate right (Or should I say, the right has moved more to the twilightzone right.) And I'm sure you still have a lot of ideological differences with Amato but I also think there is more common ground between the two of you as time went by.
Like Amato he shares the same view on the rightwing media and lunatic conspiracies. Lately you've beat him on current matters, like the troubles Mike Huckabee is in right now.
Someone has to report the bollocks that is the rightwing. And LGF is the right (no pun) source for your information. Keep up the good work, Charles.
I like when people get together to beat a common evil.
change his spots?
Enlightenment doesn't come in an instant...
sometimes it never comes at all...
just because you can't prove "They" are out to get you doesn't mean "They're" NOT!
It's obvious what he should do. The same thing as any other sane, reasonable conservative: Join the moderate wing of the Democratic party.
Because frankly, what passes for moderate Democrat in this country is pretty much moderate conservative by any objective measure.
The dual-party dichotomy is broken (yay, instant runoff), but if we're going to have it it would be kinda nice to see the goalposts realigned to somewhat match actual values, as in dragging the Republican party back over to the sane wing of conservatism and having the "liberal" party grow a pair.
Or, alternately, toss the Republican party out into lunatic fringe territory where it's rapidly heading, accept a big chunk of the Democratic party as what it is--moderate conservative--and start something new or beef up the Green party or something to fill out the moderate liberal end of things.
Because frankly, what passes for moderate Democrat in this country is pretty much moderate conservative by any objective measure
Gotta disagree: what people claim is a "moderate Democrat" is actually a CONSERVATIVE Democrat. In other words, a DINO who obstructs Democratic bills in Congress.
Let Johnson, et.al. form their OWN party; the last thing I want is them pulling the Dems even MORE to the right!
and you would be more accurate
a smart person will eventually see the truth of things and make a decision; either defect, or become part of the corrupt system. Charles has made a noble choice, and now, the truth has set him free. As for the the right-wing clowns he leaves behind, well, they are simply continuing to live a lie.
Now if they would just start taking responsibility for the mess they encouraged along....
i suggest going to his blog and read his archives
his transformation did not occur overnight...and he has taken hell for it for close to a year
and dont worry about charles becoming a dem...he wont
... only time will tell.
Regardless of whether humanism or other naturalistic ethical systems are successful, or even possible, and regardless of whether we truly need an external moral code, the question can still be raised about the adequacy of any particular religious solution. Is the bible a good book? Is the bible an acceptable guide for moral behavior?
The bible is indeed filled with very specific commandments for living. Let's look at one of them. The Fourth Commandment says, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." This is one of the Big Ten, so it can't be ignored. At face value it seems straightforward enough, but what exactly does it mean? How do you "remember" the Sabbath and what happens if you fail? In the book of Numbers the "Lord" gives a specific example of how the Sabbath law is applied, but he first explains that there is a difference between sinning deliberately and sinning accidentally, comparable to the modern idea of "intent." Although this provides for varying degrees of sentencing, it does not mitigate the crime itself.
"And if any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering... But the soul that doeth ought [sin] presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him." (Numbers 15:27, 30-31)
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Study the symptoms not the virus...
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Study the symptoms not the virus...
Strong language. There is accidental sin and there is deliberate sin, though it seems that the former should hardly count as a "sin." In any event, the passage that immediately follows this clarification shows what happens to a person who deliberately breaks the Sabbath law:
"And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the Sabbath day. And they that found him brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation. And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him. And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the Lord commanded Moses." (Numbers 15:32-36)
This is clear: don't pick up sticks on Saturday. If you pick up sticks, God's followers will pick up stones. Is this a good guide for morality? When I was a child, each year my family would spend weeks camping in the mountains of California. My brothers and I had the job of picking up kindling wood for the fire. This often happened on the weekend. Didn't my born-again parents read the bible? (Perhaps my sin was one of "ignorance." Where am I going to find a she goat?) The man who was stoned to death was likely gathering firewood to cook food to feed his family. He was the one acting morally. --Dan Barker
Study the symptoms not the virus...
Some believers assert that these primitive Old Testament laws are no longer relevant and have been superseded by Jesus—but that proves the point! If they use such an argument, they are admitting that at least part of the bible is not acceptable for today's society. How many of us stop and think what day of the week it is before we pick up sticks? However you interpret it, the 15th chapter of Numbers is still in the bible, the Sabbath law is still in the Ten Commandments, and we see no condemnation of such barbarism, no moral outcry, no denunciation by Christians of these shameful acts committed by their "loving God" in the "Good Book." We see no pages being torn out of bibles with disgust. What if an ayatollah were to command the execution of a person who picked up sticks on an Islamic holy day because it offended Allah? What would we think of such bloodthirsty, immoral arrogance?
In dealing with such troublesome scriptural issues as capital punishment for picking up sticks on Saturday (the Jewish Sabbath) or Sunday (the Christian Sabbath), some liberal Christians will agree that portions of the bible are now outmoded. The text should not be taken literally, they claim. We should seek instead the "spiritual lesson" that underlies the specific example. (That would be like saying, "I am going to teach you a lesson about obedience by telling you that I killed someone. Don't worry about the violence or that person's life, because I love you and want you to learn how righteous I am.")
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Study the symptoms not the virus...
You neglected to mention his #9 point which, from memory, says some pious garbage about anti-Muslim prejudice offending him when his sorry blog amounts to virtually nothing but a huge, steaming pile of anti-Muslim hysteria and hate speech stretching back years.
While it's nice to see anyone dump the 'conservatives', I sure as hell don't want this bigot on my team.
Angela Merkel is a conservative, but she's not a loon. It is possible to be one without the other.
Having multiple political voices (as opposed to just those who hear voices, in their heads) is always a good thing. One of the US's biggest political problems is that it only has two major political parties - nearly all major democracies have at least three, and minority governments are the norm.
Of course, most European conservatives would be considered tofu-munching commies by their US counterparts. In the UK, the Conservative party supports gay marriage, universal healthcare and defending human rights as a cornerstone of foreign policy. If a typical US 'conservative' were to emigrate to the UK, they'd have to look to the BNP for like minds to associate with.
The so-called evangelical leadership—Dobson, Robertson, Falwell, and all the rest—also played the pro-life community for suckers. While thousands of men and women in the crisis pregnancy movement gave of themselves with tremendous and sincere sacrifice (to help women and babies), their evangelical "leaders" did little more than cash in on fund-raising opportunities and stir the pot so they could keep their followers motivated. That way, the evangelical leaders could represent themselves as power brokers to the politicians willing to kowtow to them. "This allegation is supported by Jeff Sharlet's book...(THE FAMILY)"
To the extent that the Republican Party benefited from the pro-life movement, my efforts and those of my father contributed to making the Republican congressional majorities of the 1980s and 1990s possible. We also indirectly helped make the elections of Reagan, Bush Sr., and Bush Jr. possible.
Bush Jr. was the "Christians' " president. So it was bitterly ironic that Bush Jr. was personally responsible for, amongst other self-inflicted horrors, the persecution, displacement, and destruction of the one million, three hundred thousand-person beleaguered Christian minority in Iraq. They had fared much better under the secular regime of Saddam Hussein than they did once Bush Jr. unleashed the Islamic militants. --Frank Schaeffer CRAZY for GOD
Study the symptoms not the virus...
It bears repeating: Bush Jr., the Bible-believing, born-again president, delivered up his Iraqi fellow Christians to be destroyed. They fled, died, or went into hiding because a "faith-based" evangelical American president stupidly unleashed a civil war. And of course Bush Jr. was also responsible for the killing of countless other innocent civilians caught in the sectarian strife.
The puny "president" I indirectly helped elect sent my son John to an ill-conceived, ineptly carried-out war, a war where my son's friend Alex Del Rio got his legs blown off...
Study the symptoms not the virus...
Unfortunately things in Belgium are looking very grim. Every one rants about Vlaams Belang but those guys are harmless since they are clearly spotted as neo-fascist. The worst danger lies in NVA which is the same neo-fascist and discriminating party as Vlaams Belang. I went to school with guys who are now elected representatives or members of both party, and they shared the same fascit affiliation (NSV= fascist university students) or racist jokes. But today NVA is represented as a respectable and compassionate conservative party. Which is rubbish since they stand for forced cultural assimiliation for minorities and the forced flemishisation and annexation of Brussels.
I'm struck by how the situation in Flanders is so similar with Bush's USA: major media outlets are owned by corporate friends of extremist flemish and polluate the debate with fake propaganda. I'm not confident in what's going to happen here, their hate and their irrational fanatism is really frightenig.
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