Matthew Yglesias (April 07, 2007) - Stay Classy, LGF (Domestic Policy)

Hard to know what's most offensive: their misogyny or their remarkable stupidity.

Posted by anonymous | April 7, 2007 9:47 PM

Making fun of LGF commentators is like shooting fish in a barrel. I unfortunately know someone in real-life who is a big fan of the site. I deal with him by pretending that I have no political opinions whatsoever whenever we hang out.

Posted by Ben | April 7, 2007 9:53 PM

I wonder why they think the political impact of an unpopular president using a Dead Letter law to seek the incaraceration of a popular House Speaker over a policy dispute would be.

...would be...what?

Posted by Cryptic Ned | April 7, 2007 9:55 PM

Another refers to Pelosi as "the Caliphellator."

Uh, okay.

Posted by Duvall | April 7, 2007 9:56 PM

"Writing in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Claudia Rosett observed that Pelosi was 'nuts' to visit Damascus"

That was a rather crappy piece. I mean, yeah, goes without saying, but still . . .

Posted by Dan S. | April 7, 2007 10:05 PM

They also love throwing around the word "dhimmi".

Against Bush's policies? Oh, than you must be a dhimmi.

Posted by Nima | April 7, 2007 10:33 PM

Interesting that you censored twat but not cunt. Anyway, any community that thinks that Coulter, Rush and just one of many of Long Island's shames, Hannity (and I say that as a guy who was born in the same hospital as Amy Fisher) are getting the truth out deserves what they get. And they deserve to get it good and hard.

Posted by calipygian | April 7, 2007 10:44 PM

Good lord, it's like bizarro world over there -- The Dems are some evil cabal, out to destroy humanity by working with terrorists, while the righteous, outnumbered Repubs are trying their best to do the right thing. This is frightening. It reminds me of this movie, only backwards.

Posted by Chris_ | April 7, 2007 10:51 PM

An interesting blog of late I noticed was muzzlewatch.com, its got an eclectic mix of commentators as well.

Posted by ben | April 7, 2007 11:01 PM

You can get much the same nonsense, but dressed up in stuffy civility and and carefully-crafted double-negatives, from Jonathan Adler at Volokh Conspiracy. And, you gan get the outrage without the coarse language from Suzanne Malveaux at CNN.

There are a lot of stupid people, and they don't know that they are stupid -- and wrong about everything.

It is a serious political problem, especially concerning how many of them are doing network news.

Posted by Bruce Wilder | April 7, 2007 11:22 PM

Can't wait for Greenwald to get a hold of this.

It's the most obvious point in the world, but still... how can any right blogger who links to LGF ever condemn the so-called Angry Left? How can they handle the cognitive dissonance?

The prominent conservative bloggers all seem to be either deliberately deceitful sharks (Power Line, Hugh Hewitt) or, like Bruce Wilder said, profoundly stupid people with very poor reasoning skills (Reynolds, Roger L. Simon). I think I'd put Charles Johnson in the latter category-- probably why he gets along so well with Simon.

Posted by AP | April 7, 2007 11:43 PM

An earlier thread on the subject of the "Shadow Government" Pelosi was trying contained this gem:

"As I see it, the Democrats want us to be hit with a nuclear weapon and during the chaos, this shadow government will seize power and you can look forward to Communist America, complete with gulags, death camps and all manner of horror.

This is what the left wing of the Democratic Party has been salivating about for years and years. Complete control of thought, deed and word. Then they can sit on the balcony and watch over us slaves and toss us scraps from their rainbow colored table."

Word.

Posted by Leo | April 7, 2007 11:48 PM

Exactly, AP--

The compete hatred of this shape-shifting bogeyman -- both all powerful w/ its media and courts but super wimpy w/ its tree hugging and pacifism -- sounds a lot like other targets of hate. The inability of the right to see this, or their endless excuses for it, are deeply disturbing.

Posted by Chris_ | April 8, 2007 12:04 AM

Weird. I always thought the "c" word was considered the worse. Apparently, "twit" is.

Posted by jerry | April 8, 2007 12:14 AM

Aw, you made me go over there and I get this:

Here’s one of those news reports that makes me feel like I’ve woken up in yet another remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, with our elected officials as the clueless enablers, as the Democrats suck up to the most implacable enemies of Western civilization: Democrat meets banned Muslim Brotherhood........
Visiting House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer met with the head of the Muslim Brotherhood’s parliamentary bloc, Mohammed Saad el-Katatni, twice on Thursday — once at the parliament building and then at the home of the U.S. ambassador to Egypt, said Brotherhood spokesman Hamdi Hassan.

followed by over 160 frothing comments.
It does not occur to a single one of the commentors that Rep. Hoyer met Mr. el-Katatni at the home of the George W. Custer Bush appointed ambassador, who serves at the pleasure of Mr. Custer Bush, and who presumably extended the invitation to his home.

Posted by milo | April 8, 2007 12:36 AM

Hey Matt, regarding Misogyny Online, I encourage you to read my comment regarding the study that showed "Women get 25 times more online harassment than men". If you read the study (links in my comment), you'll see that this occurred on #irc channels, not the blogosphere, and it occurred on #allnightcafe and #usa, that is chat lines, and the number isn't 25 times more, but only six times more online harassment, and it wasn't harassment, it was explicit sexual messages and some undefined amount of undefined threats. So what this study showed was that primarily, #irc is not a cause of major computer attacks (that's what the study was studying) and secondarily, that if you go to an all night chat line, you will probably encounter requests for sex, especially if you are a women. Read more, it's pretty bad science, and it has been way overblown in the press.

It has very little (nothing) to do with women in the blogosphere or commenting on forums or even online harassment of women outside of irc chatrooms like #teen, #allnightcafe, or #usa.

Posted by jerry | April 8, 2007 1:14 AM

"The compete hatred of this shape-shifting bogeyman -- both all powerful w/ its media and courts but super wimpy w/ its tree hugging and pacifism -- sounds a lot like other targets of hate. The inability of the right to see this, or their endless excuses for it, are deeply disturbing.
Posted by: Chris_ on April 8, 2007 12:04 AM"

Ever notice how much the smears against the Democrats resemble to old smears of anti-Semitism? Effeminate and weak (pacific, cosmopolitan, intellectual, gay) yet in control of everything (the media, the academy), wealthy yet communist, etc. That's why the conflate the amorphous Muslim threat with the Democrats: both are an other not to be understood, but demonized.

Posted by Reality Man | April 8, 2007 1:19 AM

I think Reason retains Michael Young and Ron Bailey to throw a bone to the right-wing who already grumble that the magazine is more liberal than libertarian.

Posted by Matt Schiavenza | April 8, 2007 1:55 AM

... although it's still dogma over "free thought"

Posted by However | April 8, 2007 2:19 AM

oops, i meant "libertarian dogma."

Posted by However | April 8, 2007 2:31 AM

Could someone - maybe Josh Marshall - get a reporter to ask Guliani what he thinks about these LGF comments, on TV, describing them literally as Matt has done?

Why am I, some obscure nobody on an obscure wonk blog, the only one thinking of this?

Posted by glasnost | April 8, 2007 3:37 AM

Making fun of commentators is easy sport. Would Matthew want to be held responsible everything his commentators write? It is a slow news day, maybe that's why Matthew resorted to this.

Posted by Fred | April 8, 2007 5:04 AM

"the number isn't 25 times more, but only six times more online harassment"

Well, that's reassuring--only 6, not 25 . . .

Posted by rea | April 8, 2007 7:41 AM

About 'cognitive dissonance'-- In the '50's sociology classic 'When Prophecy Fails' a team of researchers infiltrated a millennial cult and then reported on what happened when the cult's 'aliens are going to invade the Earth next Wednesday' prophecy failed. They found that the group behavior changed-- the group began to proselytize for their views after the prophecy failed. The conclusion is that group solidarity, the experience of bonding in a group, easily trumps boring facts.

I'll note in passing that this sort of study couldn't possibly be done today.

Posted by MattF | April 8, 2007 8:00 AM

Yes, rea, in a chatroom called #allnightcafe, the women were six times more likely to be asked to "cyber" than the men, 120+ times versus the men's 27.5 times.

And rea, if you go into a bar, what do you think happens to the men and women there? What do you think the ratio is of men asking women for dates or buying them drinks is, versus women asking men?

Is that really harassment rea? Going into a chatroom called #allnightcafe and being asked for sex?

Is that what you see happening in the blogosphere rea? Women being asked to cyber?

Posted by jerry | April 8, 2007 8:12 AM

Jerry, you are a hateful idiot.

Posted by Jennifer | April 8, 2007 8:32 AM

How interesting. Fat matt finds it news worthy to summarise the comments in reply to a LGF post but dailykos finding its way into the israeli press for it's recurrent anti-semetic content passes without comment from jabba the hack.

that huffington post felt compelled to disable comments on stories which reference republican figures thanks to the hateful lunacy of its patrons also seems to have passed without comment from the prince of pie.

Posted by pimp hand strikes! | April 8, 2007 8:46 AM

it wasn't harassment, it was explicit sexual messages and some undefined amount of undefined threats.

Fantastic.

Posted by Gonerill | April 8, 2007 9:18 AM

Ron Bailey is classes above Young. He also had the intellectual honesty to admit that global warming is real.

Posted by Nick Kaufman | April 8, 2007 9:26 AM

The LGF comments are a cesspool. No one expects any better. But when comments here (even to this gentile's eyes and ears) veer into patently anti-semitic calumnies, hardly anyone raises an eyebrow. Matt's ethnic credentials are regularly trotted out to buttress the debunking of Martin Peretz and his ilk; can they not also --on occasion-- serve as correctives to the socialism of fools? Anti-semitism used to be a territory inhabited largely by right-wing racists. It would be nice if progressives remembered that our enemies' enemies are not necessarily our friends.

Posted by Christopher J | April 8, 2007 9:48 AM

How so Jennifer? What have I said that is hateful?

Posted by jerry | April 8, 2007 10:02 AM

Chris, that's because you think "Anti-semetic"= "anything not absolutely in support of Israel". If your side were more intellectually honest and didn't throw out accusations of bigotry constantly, maybe someone would take you seriously. But I recognize your cheap attempt to derail the conversation as what it is, and that's all I'm going to say on the matter.

LGF isn't the victim of occasional psychotics like all boards are. LGF actively fosters the environment where these comments are not merely acceptable, but outright lauded. It's the same sort of cesspool as you'd get at the Free Republic. They don't even attempt to moderate these comments, yet they quickly delete any pro-democratic sentiment. so, clearly they do moderate these their threads. That's an implicit endorsement on everything said in a way that quickly deleting racist comments or not moderating your forums at all would not be.

Posted by soullite | April 8, 2007 10:03 AM

Haven't read up much on the Logan Act, but Wikipedia states the following:

The text of the Act is broad and is addressed at any attempt of a US citizen to conduct foreign relations without authority. However, there is no record of any prosecutions or convictions under the Logan Act.

Aside from the "dead letter" issue, note that the summary refers to "unauthorized citizens". Pelosi is acting as a government official, not a (mere) citizen; and a google search on constitution president "foreign policy" adds weight to the claim that making foreign policy is not the exclusive domain of the executive branch.

Posted by liberal | April 8, 2007 10:24 AM

There is nothing in Christopher J's comment here that represents a "cheap attempt to derail the conversation." Cries to that effect are from people that want to suppress having an actual discussion. Most likely because they have no argument, or fear what that argument will bring.

I support Peace Now, which means I definitely think it is reasonable to criticize Israel and her behavior. But the left should not kid ourselves, there is plenty of knee-jerk anti-semitism on the left and it makes its way into comments, yes, even here, on the Harvard Philospher's high brow sophisticated site.

The critiques of "our" 2002/2003 anti-war movement requiring ANSWER sting, and they sting because they are pretty much correct.

Posted by jerry | April 8, 2007 10:26 AM

Jennifer, I am still waiting for a reasoned response, not just more flamage and ad-hominem.

Posted by jerry | April 8, 2007 10:27 AM

The point isn't just that LGF has nutty comments, but that Michael Young specifically cited the comments in that thread as praiseworthy.

Posted by Matthew Yglesias | April 8, 2007 10:42 AM

LGF comments are relevant are for the reason I wrote about them in the post Matt linked (thank you, Matt): a respected writer at Reason magazine saw fit to note and commend them as "interesting," rather than the vile, putrid cesspool they are.

I'm a libertarian and have subscribed to Reason for over 30 years -- Michael Young is the only neocon-friendly writer there, and I found his entry on Pelosi, and in praise of LGF, disturbing and embarrassing.

BTW, Ron Bailey is nowhere in Young's ideological neighborhood. Bailey is a true libertarian, and because he is, has joined those of us leaving the authoritarian, warmongering GOP in droves. Bailey says he voted a straight Democratic ticket in '06, after having not voted for a Democrat since 1972. I also voted for Democrats, and have essentially given up on the historical "fusionism" of libertarianism with conservatives/the GOP. For now, they are the greater evil (by libertarian metrics) by far.

We Reason 'tarians are not "dogmatic," and have areas of disagreement among ourselves; but I consider neocon-lovin' and respect for LGF and its comments section to be beyond the acceptable parameters of intellectual respectability, for libertarians or anyone else, including Michael Young.

Posted by Mona | April 8, 2007 10:50 AM

Fred said:

"Making fun of commentators is easy sport. Would Matthew want to be held responsible everything his commentators write? It is a slow news day, maybe that's why Matthew resorted to this."

He did it because it's too good to pass up. All of those posters frothing at the mouth...great fun. Seriously, it is scary to see how disturbed many of them are. It makes you wonder how they look IRL-wild-eyed, frothing at the mouth, tangled hair-you get the idea.

Posted by Susan | April 8, 2007 10:53 AM

My children go to a school district where the local internet filter blocks dKos and democraticunderground, and passes FreeRepublic and Little Greeen Footballs.

So I guess LGF can't be obscene, can it?

Posted by Davis X. Machina | April 8, 2007 11:11 AM

""Making fun of commentators is easy sport. Would Matthew want to be held responsible everything his commentators write? It is a slow news day, maybe that's why Matthew resorted to this."

He did it because it's too good to pass up. All of those posters frothing at the mouth...great fun. Seriously, it is scary to see how disturbed many of them are. It makes you wonder how they look IRL-wild-eyed, frothing at the mouth, tangled hair-you get the idea.
Posted by: Susan on April 8, 2007 10:53 AM"

Fred obviously forgot to read the comment above pointing out that the original Reason article is the one who said the LGF comments were "interesting," not MY. Unless, of course, he is completely dishonest.

Posted by Reality Man | April 8, 2007 11:17 AM

Oops, misread the above. Hangover and all.

Posted by Reality Man | April 8, 2007 11:18 AM

The combination of a Logan Act prosecution (close kin to the Alien and Sedition Act) and libertarian allegiance does not compute. It reveals the people who urge a prosecution as mere authoritarians in disguise. And more: it reveals them as members of a mob.

Posted by Jeffrey Davis | April 8, 2007 11:40 AM

Mona: Well said.

Posted by torrentprime | April 8, 2007 1:26 PM

The scary part is that in real life the batshit-crazy commentators are your lawyers, executives, investors etc. They are well-dressed, live in gated communities, and have sinecure type jobs where if they lose a lawsuit or lose money on someones investments it doesn't affect them. The appearance of even one minority in their occupation scares them, because it raises the possibility that attainment might be linked, someday, to merit- and they know where that would leave them.

They've talked that way in their country-clubs and lockerrooms for years. What makes it shocking to us is to see it in public.

Yes, they sound just like the crazy guy on the bus, or worse. Well, if he had their money and their connections, he wouldn't be a crazy homeless guy, he'd be an 'investment counseler' or an attorney. In a few more years they will be the American version of the Venezuelan upper class or the Cuban exile community in Miami. Or the Texas oil millionaires who warned Kennedy not to come to Dallas.

Posted by serial catowner | April 8, 2007 5:34 PM

I stand corrected regarding Ron Bailey. And Mona is right: Reason does have a lot of ideological diversity on most subjects and is far more libertarian than certain warmongering bloggers :)

Posted by Matt Schiavenza | April 8, 2007 8:53 PM

Logan Act: Gingrich first.

Posted by Mellifluous | April 8, 2007 10:12 PM

Anyone know where I can find an effitist libtard epynom for a paying JOB?

Hahahaha.....just kidding.... You bunch of Maynard G. Krebs', you!

Posted by Billy Blank | April 9, 2007 1:18 PM

"Shadow Government"

Not from LGF. It's from the Washington Post.

Posted by Ben Hur | April 9, 2007 1:20 PM

Wait a minute... you are knocking LGF because of comments made at A DIFFERENT SITE? WTF? That's pretty sad, dude.

Posted by Shane | April 9, 2007 1:20 PM

"They don't even attempt to moderate these comments, yet they quickly delete any pro-democratic sentiment. so, clearly they do moderate these their threads."

Fantasy.

Posted by Ben Hur | April 9, 2007 1:23 PM

"Ever notice how much the smears against the Democrats resemble to old smears of anti-Semitism?"

Nice try.

Posted by Ben Hur | April 9, 2007 1:26 PM

"I support Peace Now"

Yea, you and about the 5 Israelis that still haven't heard about the Intifada II.

Posted by Ben Hur | April 9, 2007 1:28 PM

You're an idiot.

Posted by WiseOldOwl1136 | April 9, 2007 1:40 PM

I have been reading LGF regularly for years and the comments made on this board are the ones from bizarro world. LGF is a news filter that posts news you don't find in the mainstream press in America. That would explain the lack of recognition terms like 'dhimmi' and 'caliphate' I see here.

As for the relative levels of outrage/hate/spewing, the HuffPo and other sites have to disable comments on any thread involving a conservative figure's health. Just compare the responses to the stories of Elizabeth Edwards' cancer recurrence against Tony Snow or Dick Cheney. Nobody - nobody - at LGF had anything bad to say about Edwards but the poisonous comments at most left-leaning blogs was something to behold. That's a specific, easily-checked point, not the vague 'hate site' stuff said about LGF.

Here's another one, the users at Digg were burying all posts from LGF on sight, rather than letting the system work properly. That's not conspiracy talk, there were links on Digg's site were you could see it happening in real time. There are no comments involved in Digging, just links to articles from real-world publications, but it seems those on the left want to shoot the messenger and ignore the message.

I really don't see how the comments at LGF can be viewed as a 'cesspool' compared to kos or the huffpo, where death is wished on so many republicans/conservatives/non-believers. Spend some time there before buying into the smear job, it is much more civil than what I see on the left. The spelling and punctuation seems to be better too.

Posted by Joe Melnick | April 9, 2007 1:48 PM

Pelosi of course won't be prosecuted, but your argument has a couple of problems.

First, the act was amended under President Clinton in 1994, so it's hard to say that it's a dead letter law. If it didn't matter, they wouldn't have bothered changing it.

Second, her visit wasn't a mere "policy dispute". That phrase attempts to minimize the significance of her trip, making it sound like a disagreement over healthcare policy or social security reform--things that are compeltely domestic in nature. Note that Dem. Rep. Tom Lantos, who was part of her delegation in Syria, wrote in USA Today:

"The administration's static approach has not altered Syrian behavior one iota... A growing number of Republicans and Democrats share the speaker's misgivings about the White House's ineffectiveness in the region. Like Speaker Pelosi and myself, they are convinced that direct communication with Syria's leader cannot worsen Syrian behavior. Rather, over time, it may just lead to improvement."

Clearly, then, the trip was intended to establish they types of ties with a foreign government that the executive branch has rejected. While her approach may be the correct one, it's the president's choice--not the speaker's.

Posted by T-web | April 9, 2007 1:49 PM

LGF answers:
------------
Same Smear, New Wrinkle

Another day, another dishonest leftist smear. Today it’s Matthew Yglesias’ turn, as he singles out some comments posted at Reason Online and blindly assumes, with no evidence whatsoever, that the people who posted them are LGF readers. Stay Classy, LGF.

Now they’re attacking LGF for comments posted at other sites. It’s really getting stupid.

UPDATE at 4/9/07 10:43:21 am:

LGF reader “hujambo” informs me that Yglesias was talking about the comments for this post at LGF. Sorry for the confusion, but it probably happened because the only link in Yglesias’ post goes to the Reason Online article; he quotes from LGF comments, but doesn’t even link to them. The epitome of courage.

I do have to thank Yglesias for reading through those 540+ comments, though, because he did point out one offensive comment I thought was over the line. That one comment has been deleted.

Another quote he posted, “stunning c*nt,” does not appear on that page.

------------
To parphrase Michael Young again: "The comments section makes it interesting":

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=25071_Same_Smear_New_Wrinkle#comments

Posted by Fred | April 9, 2007 1:52 PM

If the idiot remark was directed at me, please explain. If you'd like to claim that Peace Now's #'s haven't dropped off (almost to death) since Camp David II, (and I mean amongst Israelis- you;ve heard of them before no? The people that actually live there)then you REALLY don't have the ammunition for a debate.

Posted by Ben Hur | April 9, 2007 1:54 PM

Let me get this straight. The topic of this thread is about comments that are assumed to have been made by LGF posters on another blog?

That is rich.

Posted by red in mass | April 9, 2007 1:59 PM

Someone way posted:

"As I see it, the Democrats want us to be hit with a nuclear weapon and during the chaos, this shadow government will seize power and you can look forward to Communist America, complete with gulags, death camps and all manner of horror."

This comes from a commenter on LGF. Replace "Democrats" with "Republicans" and "Communist" with "Fascist" in the above passage, and this is what leftist BLOGGERS write on their web sites...

Posted by Roundhead | April 9, 2007 2:00 PM

LOL. All your base are belong to us. Daily Kos rocks!!! All of you moron dumbass bitch fuctards over there at Little Green Fascists are dead to me. String you up and shoot you twice. Ha.

Posted by Markos | April 9, 2007 2:08 PM

I totally agree Markos, those silly LGF bastards have no business living here in the USA. Send them to Mexico where they can join their wetback friends.

Posted by FiredogLake | April 9, 2007 2:10 PM

Joe Melnick said: I really don't see how the comments at LGF can be viewed as a 'cesspool' compared to kos or the huffpo, where death is wished on so many republicans/conservatives/non-believers. Spend some time there before buying into the smear job, it is much more civil than what I see on the left. The spelling and punctuation seems to be better too.

While I would agree that there is way too much incivility at DailyKos, I have never seen calls for the extermination of whole classes of people, as I have at LGF, and I read both a lot. Any site that permits its commenters to use, regularly, terms like Mooslimes for Muslims is really no better than a site that permits its commenters to refer to black people as niggers.

And no, the spelling and punctuation are not better.

Posted by Jane | April 9, 2007 2:11 PM

And one more thing . . . what makes LGF different from many other blogs that permit comments is the requirement that people be registered to comment and that registration is rarely open and only at unannounced (or only vaguely announced) times. DailyKos requires registration, but, as far as I know, no one is rejected, and one can register at any time of day on any day of the week.

Closing the community in that way allows LGFers to think that they are somehow right because so few people disagree w/ them and to characterize anyone who is not part of the community in whatever way they choose w/o being challenged.

Posted by Jane | April 9, 2007 2:18 PM

"DailyKos requires registration, but, as far as I know, no one is rejected"

True and not true. Anyone can register, yes. However, after several dozen posts, I posted one paragraph chastizing another poster for wishing death on Tom Delay. The worst thing I did was call him an "idiot" and I defended Delay (somewhat - innocent until proven guilty).

My account was terminated.
The guy that wished death (using 4-letter words)? Still posting.

Posted by Shanester | April 9, 2007 2:25 PM

LGF isn't a hate site, and it's not racist either.

If you're going to hold LGF responsible for occasional hateful comments then you need to apply that same standard to those sites on the left that people post hateful comments to - dailyKOS, DU, indymedia, even the huff po.

What's really going on here IMO is people don't like the idea expressed by LGF that the free world has things to worry about with respect to militant Islam. And sadly, instead of debating or discussing that idea, the weak-minded turn to smears and wild hyperbole instead.

Like that mona person on Reason.com. She compared LGF to Stormfront for crying out loud. Ridiculous.

Posted by John Moore | April 9, 2007 2:49 PM

"Like that mona person on Reason.com. She compared LGF to Stormfront for crying out loud. Ridiculous."

Oh the irony.

Support for the current bastion of lefty Middle East politics, Jimmy Carter, at Stormfront and Vanguard News Network:

---------
http://www.adl.org/main_Extremism/carter_reactions_ws.htm

But, the point is that Carter's book is just as dangerous to the bloodthirsty and hyper-controlling Zionists as they think it is. They're right to fear and hate it. The book is a lever of truth. A tool. A godsend."
--From Stormfront (12/10/06)

I wish I could give Jimmy Carter rep points for standing up to the chosen."
--From Stormfront (12/15/06)

I am so glad that people are finally stating their beliefs on the Jews and hopefully it will continue. As for Carter, he knew the attacks would start with the book publishing. He did not waiver and has gained much respect from many people around the world!"
--From Stormfront (12/17/06)
---------

I can find similar comments on sections of Daily Kos.

See if you can find support for LGF at Stormfront. In fact if you run a search on Google the only references to LGF come from the lying, rabid lefty blogs comparing the two.

Posted by Spiritualized | April 9, 2007 3:23 PM

I see MY has contracted a mild LGF infection. Fortunately it looks like it was nothing serious.

Posted by josephdierich | April 9, 2007 3:26 PM

This is in response to the posts made by Jane.

While I would agree that there is way too much incivility at DailyKos, I have never seen calls for the extermination of whole classes of people, as I have at LGF, and I read both a lot. Any site that permits its commenters to use, regularly, terms like Mooslimes for Muslims is really no better than a site that permits its commenters to refer to black people as niggers.

Jane, if you read both blogs a lot like you claimed, then you should know that LGF does not condone calls for the extermination of whole classes of people, or religious epithets like Mooslimes. Such posts are deleted and the posters receive warnings to not post such tripe or are outright banned. Charles is one man who runs a massive blog. He can't sit at his computer all day to police the comments, so he has implemented a feature whereby members can notify him of any such posts.

And one more thing . . . what makes LGF different from many other blogs that permit comments is the requirement that people be registered to comment and that registration is rarely open and only at unannounced (or only vaguely announced) times. DailyKos requires registration, but, as far as I know, no one is rejected, and one can register at any time of day on any day of the week.

Closing the community in that way allows LGFers to think that they are somehow right because so few people disagree w/ them and to characterize anyone who is not part of the community in whatever way they choose w/o being challenged.

You couldn't be more wrong about this. The only common denominator that LGF members have is a very real and grave concern for Western civilization being oppressed by the onslaught of Islam. Day after day, they link to news stories around the world that vividly depicts the political, cultural, and religious threats posed by Islam, stories that we rarely see the mainstream media cover. That is the only thing LGF members have in common. Everything else is debatable, from evolution, gay rights, etc.

With regard to registration, LGF used to run on a flat-file database, which caused frequent server overload. Now, the code has been upgraded to MySQL and as a result, the servers can more easily handle influxes of visitors. Registration is noticeably more frequent now than before. Additionally, it is preferable to have quality members who have something to bring to the debating table rather than any Tom, Dick, and Harry who just happens by. To my knowledge, Charles does not ban members for holding different viewpoints. He mostly bans trouble makers who make virile comments and can't back them up. There have been a number of long time LGF members who were banned for these very reasons. Anyone who has an intelligent argument to make is welcomed at LGF, regardless of where they stand politically or otherwise. They just have to be online during open registration. On blogs like DailyKos and Democratic Underground, if you disagree with them, you'll likely get banned. I was banned from DU after one post. My sin? I informed them that there are Islamists who roam the blogosphere posing as Westerners (friend/family served in military, etc). They discredit everything the US government says and strive to further divide the LEFT from the RIGHT. I made these staments and cited my source (linked to a jihadi message board), and less than 24 hours later, my post was deleted and my account suspended. You will not see such practices employed by LGF. If you make an argument and can back it up, LGF members will happily debate you. Not so at other sites.

Regards,
Jay

Posted by Jay | April 9, 2007 3:44 PM

You stated "...I got through 100 comments, though there are well over 600 at this point..." and "...Terms like "stunning cunt" and "tw*t..." I can't find the "stunning cunt" remark. What I did find was remark #40 that stated,"cunning stunt". There is a big difference in the two.
I didn't find that "twat" remark at all. You state there are well over 600 coments made, but there are only 547. Are these nit picking remarks? Perhaps. But they constitute a gross exaggeration and manipulation on your part in your attempt to smear a blog site that you do not agree with. But, I was amused to read the responding comments on this site; the smugness, self righteousness, and political piety are remarkable in context.

547

Posted by Outrider | April 9, 2007 4:15 PM

LGF does not condone calls for the extermination of whole classes of people, or religious epithets like Mooslimes. Such posts are deleted

Perhaps this explains the "over 600"/"547" dichotomy?

Posted by brooksfoe | April 9, 2007 4:22 PM

Perhaps this explains the "over 600"/"547" dichotomy?

brooksfoe,

LGF has thousands of members. It is not uncommon to see a thread with over 600 posts. What is your point, exactly? Please clarify.

Regards,
Jay

Posted by Jay | April 9, 2007 4:41 PM

Maybe there were over 600 at one point, and then some 60 or so were deleted for various reasons. Or not. Just a theory.

Posted by brooksfoe | April 9, 2007 4:45 PM

Maybe there were over 600 at one point, and then some 60 or so were deleted for various reasons. Or not. Just a theory.

I see what you mean. No, I don't think that is the case. I have been reading LGF for over 3 years now, and I don't recall ever seeing more than 10 posts being deleted from any one thread, regardless of the post count. Maybe 5 posts max, but certainly not 60. If you scroll through the comments here, you will see that the only post that was deleted was post #73. The post template is still there to show that the post was deleted, but the words/username have been deleted. That's one deleted comment out of 547.

Regards,
Jay

Posted by Jay | April 9, 2007 4:54 PM

OK. So why say over 600 posts when there were but 547? And what is the story on the cunt post that wasn't there? You saw what you wanted to see. Accuracy is always a good thing when you are tossing rocks at someone.

Posted by Outrider | April 9, 2007 5:00 PM

OK. So why say over 600 posts when there were but 547? And what is the story on the cunt post that wasn't there? You saw what you wanted to see. Accuracy is always a good thing when you are tossing rocks at someone. -Outrider

Outrider,

I said it is not unusual to see a thread with over 600 posts. I used the 600 because brooksfoe brought it up. I could have used 1000, 700, etc. It wouldn't have made any difference. As for the story about the word cunt being used, I believe Mr. Yglesias may have erred on this one, because that word does not exist on that thread. A simple text search of the thread will confirm that the closest thing to that was post #40 by IowaInfidel which states "Nance PeLugosi's trip - what a cunning stunt." "Cunning stunt" is not the same as "stunning cunt." Below is a remark by Charles regarding the cunt word.

Another quote he posted, “stunning c*nt,” does not appear on that page. Maybe that’s why Yglesias didn’t link to it; it doesn’t exist. -Charles Johnson

The story of the word cunt is a small matter, I believe. Do you remember the picture of Donald Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam? You can find that on just about every Leftist blog. However, here we have House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, the third person in line for the Presidency, engaging in political talks with terrorist supporters who are actively trying to kill American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Her job is on Capitol Hill making laws, not on foreign soil usurping the authority of the Executive Branch. Criticizing Rumsfeld for what he did as Special Envoy to Reagan was fine, but criticizing Pelosi is hateful. That's according to the logic from the LEFT. The position of House Speaker is several steps above Special Envoy, wouldn't you say?

Regards,
Jay

Posted by Jay | April 9, 2007 5:23 PM

As someone who as read comments at both Daily KoS and LFG, I have found that the most of the bigots are at KoS. Their hate speech against Jews should not be compared with exposing Islam as a totalitarian ideology posing as a religion.

Posted by Frank White | April 9, 2007 5:31 PM

The original commentary by Mr. Yglesias stated, "I got through 100 comments, though there are well over 600 at this point." That is in error. There are only 547 posts. Period. For dramatic license "more than 600" sounds better than 547, right? The commentator goes on, "Terms like "stunning cunt" and "tw*t." These terms were not even present in LGF posts. The commentators (Mr. Yglesias) veracity is in serious question. As I said, accuracy is important if you are going to toss stones at someone. Exaggeration and inflation are not needed.

Shadow governments are never appropriate, this is party irrelevant. No corportation would appreciate their corporate secretary dealing with other corporations without the CEO or boards approval. Signals get mixed, as they did in this case when a rank amateur got her wires crossed trying to play diplomat between Israel and Syria. If her motive was to embarrass the government of Israel as well as the USA; she succeeded. If her motive was to show the world that there is a schism in the USA government; she succeeded. If her motive was to demonstrate that she was capable of behaving like a petulant little girl; she succeeded.

Posted by Outrider | April 9, 2007 5:48 PM

Those rabid zionist fascists at LGF should be lined up and shot along side the Jews they give their support to.

Charles Johnson is not unlike Adolf Hitler. The slimeballs that follow him around like sheep are like the SS. They are dangerous people.

I signed up there with an account and promptly called out LGF commenters for being the nazis they are and I was banned. That slimy, no-good Wrath-Of-G0D guy is Himmler.

All those jew-loving shitheads should be decapitated.

9/11 was an inside job.

Posted by Obama-Voter | April 9, 2007 5:52 PM

Obama-Voter,

Do you agree that Allah is the one true god and Muhammad is his messenger?

Regards,
Jay

Posted by Jay | April 9, 2007 6:11 PM

I know Charles Johnson better than anyone. I've gone through his trash, followed him around for days on end, taken countless photographs of him, and phoned him up enough times that he got his phone number changed.

The rabid hate-monger at LGF apparently used a credit card at a bike shop that had one of those old carbon-copy machines. I now possess that credit card number after going through his trash. Charles, lay off the delivery pizza's!

I have petitioned the government of Canada to arrest Mr. Johnson if he ever chooses to travel up this way. His website is classified as "hate speech" due to our laws and I have made it a personal quest to nail Johnson to the wall the second he comes over. I have gone so far as to place a remote transmitter and GPS under his vehicle so I know where he is!

The next time Mr. Johnson passes the border in his car and hits an open or unsecure wifi area, I'll know where he is and I'll call the authorities on him.

I also followed him into the restroom of a shopping mall and used my camera phone to take some surprising photographs of him in the stall next to me.

Come to my website and support my efforts to harrass Mr. Johnson until he shuts down his website. Thank you.

Posted by LGF Watcher | April 9, 2007 6:13 PM

i hate little green footballs and all neocon republicans.
matthew yglesias should open up a forum for dedicated fans like myself to figure out ways to physically attack neocons that counter-demonstrate at various functions.

after reading his article i just want to beat the ever-loving shit out of a neocon lgf-nazi and jew supporter.
i agree with you 100%, obama-voter. Why wait to vote these guys out when we can resort to physical violence and intimidation? At the last election, i stabbed some tires in the parking lot on cars with bush 04 stickers on them.

yglesias, shoot me an email and we'll hang out and figure out ways to promote violent attacks against these shitheads that deserve it.

Posted by Bill In Portland Maine | April 9, 2007 6:22 PM

There is something to be said about a website that gives support to the apartheid state of Israel.

Muslims are peaceful people and this website only exists to exploit the ones that have conducted terrorist attacks against the U.S.

I've got news for LGF: IT IS OUR OWN FAULT.

America deserves everything that it gets. If Iran hits us with a nuclear weapon, so be it. We deserve it for our heavy-handed policies in the middle east.

An American flag will never fly in front of my house as long as I live. People who fly the flag are nationalistic xenophobes of the LGF ilk. They are disgusting creatures.

I flipped off an army recruiter that approached me at the mall last week. I told him I don't want to fight Bushie's war of aggression and oil theft in Iraq. Not only that, I told this soldier by encouraging others to enlist he was doing the bidding of Bush Co and Halliburton, Inc.

Wake up, people. LGF shouldn't even be discussed because they are evil people.

John

Posted by Life-Long Democrat | April 9, 2007 6:27 PM

Hey, Matt. The comments here are getting out of hand. You better watch out before these guys somehow get the feds called to your home and they find your plants in the basement. I'd hate to not have weed to smoke on the weekends because my sole source is now in jail because of the stupidity of these conservatives.

-Steven

Posted by Steven H. | April 9, 2007 6:32 PM

The "interesting" comment thread really is interesting. The sheer number of people who believe Pelosi should be prosecuted under the Logan Act is fascinating.

I count three saying that, one of whom is obviously trolling, and whose comment postdates this post. So, that leaves two. You're fascinated by the sheer number of two, Matt? Does the shiny side of a gum wrapper elicit a similar response?

Posted by Pablo | April 9, 2007 6:54 PM

The trouble with commenting knowledgeably on LGF is that it would entail reading it and there is no way I am risking catching a wingnut meme.

However thanks to those kind boys at Google one can find out how many times there are reponses to threads including the the phrase "Religion of Peace" in the site. (I pick "religion of peace" because like "international bankers" its usage honks "bigot")

It gets an astonishing 23,000 hits, (Muslim gets 260,000 so ninety percent of the time LGF readers control their urges).

From the absence of the words "towelhead" or "mooslim" in the site search I suspect some preemptive cleaning has been going on and the site is now armoured to prevent nasty web spiders from archiving the well argued and by no means bigoted thoughts of LGF's readership.

Keep up the good work Mr Yglesias.

Posted by Shay Begorrah | April 9, 2007 10:54 PM

The comments by Obama-Voter, LGF Watcher, Bill in Portland Maine, and Life-Long Democrat are obviously fake (although the first two link to real sites) and probably by the same person.

Posted by James Kabala | April 9, 2007 11:24 PM

The more I read the comments, the more angry I get.

My lifemate, Gary, broke down in tears after reading some of the hateful things left by someone who would vote for Obama. He's black.

I am not going to get any action tonight, probably, because of this prick.

Just another reason to throw on the list to hate LGF and its neocon, nazi, zionist-supporting website.

LGF can spread its hate on its own website, but when they come to my house and infect what happens in my bedroom, Charles has CROSSED A LINE from which he can't return.

Posted by James Kabala | April 10, 2007 12:53 AM

The trouble with commenting knowledgeably on LGF is that it would entail reading it and there is no way I am risking catching a wingnut meme.-Shay Begorrah

Shay,

How can you judge a message blog without even reading it yourself? If your ideologies are based on solid research and refined reasoning skills, you should be able to hold your own at a site like LGF. However, if you present many of the well established fallacious arguments taken from leftist web sites, then you won't last long there. There are many well read individuals there from all areas of professional expertise who welcome intelligent debates, so if you have it, feel free to bring it. There's an old Chinese proverb that goes something like, "Real gold does not fear the heat or even the hottest fire." If you're brave enough to have your ideas critiqued and challenged, then come debate at LGF. If you would rather stay in your comfort zones, then any anti-LGF sites will do.

Regards,
Jay

Posted by Jay | April 10, 2007 1:08 AM

This massive show of obsession with the "blogosphere" is quite bizarre to me, I must admit. Come on people! Honestly!

Posted by Pim's Ghost | April 10, 2007 2:18 AM

Interesting... I'm a regular reader of LGF and have been since about december 2001. The first time I've seen the word "Mooslims" is here, not there.

Ahhh slander, where would the blogosphere be without you?

Posted by *micol* | April 10, 2007 4:34 AM

If you're brave enough to have your ideas critiqued and challenged, then come debate at LGF.

Thanks for the advice Jay, I might just do that. Oh wait, registration's closed.

Posted by ED | April 10, 2007 9:25 AM

Jay, by "solid research and refined reasoning skills" you mean hundreds of thousands of postings about how deceitful, barbaric and dangerous Muslims are - right?

Posted by Shay Begorrah | April 10, 2007 8:21 PM

Shay said, "From the absence of the words "towelhead" or "mooslim" in the site search I suspect some preemptive cleaning has been going on and the site is now armoured to prevent nasty web spiders from archiving the well argued and by no means bigoted thoughts of LGF's readership."

Fascinating. Because the epitaths are NOT there, LGF, and by extension Charles Johnson are guilty of racism. If the epitaths had been there, they would again be guilty. Kind of a no win situation with you and several other posters is it not? You do not need to be registered to read the posts. If you scan the posts, you will find that there is rarely a deleted post. The slot stays, merely stating the post was deleted. The posts are deleted if something totally inappropriate is posted. People police themselves, if someone is getting out of hand, they are informed that it is not wanted on that site.
But, why should you and several other posters be bothered going to the site and actually reading the commentary. You have your little bigoted mind already made up as to what and who posts on that site. Lord forbid you should be exposed to any ideas that take you out of your comfort zone and expose you to new concepts or a different aspect to the pablum spoon fed to us each day as news.
Again-as has been observed numberous times. Reporting on Islam and commenting on Muslims is not racism. What race would that be? The aspect of Islam that is being covered is not the religion, although the Mullahs and Imams c

Stay Classy, LGF

Comments (99)