Former Center-Right Blogger ‘Parts Ways’ with ‘The Right’ But Uses Third Grade Logic in His Reasoning

Little Green Footballs is a blog I’ve been reading for a few years now. I find it a great resource in reporting the lunacy of the Islamic Jihad movement, which is without question one of the biggest –if not the biggest problem we sane humans face today.

The website’s author is a gent named Charles Johnson and his no-nonsense commentary I always appreciated. And I also felt a special kinship with him since he is a fellow musician and a fairly accomplished one at that as he has played and recorded with some pretty heavyweight jazz artists.

Recently he wrote a post called, “Why I parted ways with the Right” giving ten reasons why he has ‘parted ways’ with the Right side of the political spectrum. It’s really a bit unclear what he actually means by first, ‘parting ways’ and second, what his definition of the ‘Right’ is as he seems to lump in fringe Fascist European organizations with people like James Dobson. But what really took me by surprise was the logic –or the lack of it  –in his ten reasons why he has ‘parted ways’.

Mr. Johnson can of course part ways with whomever and do what he wants – my issue is not really with that. It’s with the cloudy, confused, weak and ambiguous reasons he gives for doing so. He lumps people and ideas together that have little or nothing to do with each other and just comes off sounding weak in his reasoning and petty in his grievances. And it’s especially surprising at someone who was so good at calling out people on their hypocritical inconsistencies –especially when it pertained to Islamist related events/people/organizations like CAIR, Iran and the cartoon Jihad madness.

I am a lover of solid reasoning and when I see someone giving weak reasons for making any decisions it distresses me. It’s like, Bro…if you’re going to ‘part ways’ with a certain belief system, political party or whatever, at least be clear and honest in your thinking and accurate in your assessment of the facts involved.

Here are his ‘Ten Reasons’ and my questions/rebuttals/issues with them:

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.)

Who cares about Pat Buchanan? The guy has painted himself into a corner devoid of much credibility over the past few years so who cares? The Euro organizations that have ties to white supremacist groups- who cares? They’re crazy and lame so just disregard them already!

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

Lumping ‘hatred’ in with ‘White Supremacy’? I hate mosquitoes. I hate child molesters. I hate the Islamist who shot fifty-some people at Fort Hood. So am I a ‘hater’ who should be lumped in with a White Supremacist? Weak, weak logic here.

And on Ann Coulter- she’s a bomb thrower that occasionally will ride the line of decency to get attention and sell more books. But if you actually read any of her books you will see –that chick is smart and does her homework and documents her arguments like a tweaking English Prof with OCD. She’s a lawyer so her arguments are usually pretty darn airtight. She makes a Pat Buchanan look like a retard. And c’mon… she is funny – you have to admit it –even if you think she is obnoxious and occasionally crosses the line.

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.)

First, what is ‘general religious fanaticsm’? Would that include Leigh Anne Tuohy from the new film ‘The Blindside’ who took in a homeless kid and adopted him? Would that include the early abolistionists who took the bible so literally they refused to accept ‘Negroes’ as anything less than a person created in God’s image?

So is any group against abortion fanatical?

And for crying out loud man, you cannot put Pat Robertson and James Dobson in the same camp, it just shows how little you know about James Dobson. The guy is a child psychologist who supports the health and common sense of the traditional family. Robertson is a Televangelist type who has done some good things ( founding the ACLJ) but flys off with some wacky ‘God told me’ type stuff and has a habit of picking up a little foot-in-mouth disease when he verbally ventures into territory he does not belong (let’s take out Chavez!!!). James Dobson is nowhere near that level of nuttiness.

And throwing women back into the Dark Ages? What? It just amazes that someone who follows the Islamic craziness so closely can’t seem to make the distinction between the true Dark Ages throw-backs of Islamic misogynistic culture and everyday healthy Christian families. Cheap, weak, convoluted logic in this statement.

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

Now this really baffles me. Someone like Johson  -who jumps all over the simplistic, Fascistic thinking of Islamism (which calls any non believer an ‘Infidel’ and any deserter of Islam a heretic worthy of death) but then calls people who raise questions about the Global Warming hysteria a ‘Climate Change Denialist’?  Am I the only one who sees the similarities here? No place for debate buddy you’re just a ‘Denialist’!!. Even if you are a scientist with valid points about the climate change hysteria?

And the more I read Johnson discuss any mention of anything that might raise any question about the accuracy or validity of Evolution or Darwinism,  it appears he is just as close minded as the freaking Catholic church in the dark ages.

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

This one is outta the park. Again, James Dobson, a Phd in child psychology is a homophobic bigot because he thinks homosexuality is damaging to people and families? When facts show it is?

And the entire religious right are homophobic bigots because they think homosexuality is wrong? That is such simplistic, close-minded thinking it’s mind boggling he doesn’t see it. And it borders on Fascistic as well since any opposing view no matter how factual, respectful or accurate is simply branded ‘homophobic’.

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

Lumping ‘Militias’ –by which I think he means cammi wearing nut hiding in the mountains poised for attack when the government collapses- in with Fox News? Good God that’s so retarded.

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

Lumping in conspiracy theorist scum like Alex Jones (who likes to get in the faces of women 1/3 his size) with Rush Limbaugh? Really?

And what is ‘hate speech’ anyway? If one disagrees with the opposition to Proposition 8 and articulates reasons with facts to support is that ‘hate speech’?

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

Again the ‘Hate speech’ thing which is such an ambiguous muddled debate killer it’s insane. Isn’t anything you say that pisses somebody else off ‘hate speech’ then? OK kiddies, nobody ever disagree about anything ever and never discuss or debate –it might turn into ‘hate speech’!

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.)

But the Islamo-fascists and their white bread sanitized yes-men like CAIR think that any criticism of anything even remotely related to Islam is Anti-Islamic bigotry. And God forbid if you ever joke about their beloved prophet –that counts for the death penalty in many Islamic nations.

This is so simple- you have people that may call for violence and lump all Muslims together and call them all evil. But then you have the 99.9% that don’t do that but simply call the Islamists (not all Muslims) for what they are –cold, sick and twisted killers. How one cannot see the difference between the .1% and the other 99.9% is beyond me.

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)

Again, you have the .1% that hate Obama because he’s black. OK. So. They’re racists. They’re lame. Dismiss them. Then you have the other 99.9% that dislike his policies, and dishonesty, and what he represents, and how he acts and so on. Why is that an issue? Is the so-called ‘hatred’ for Obama anything even close to the blind and crazed hatred for Bush? Um, no.

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.

So the entire right has gone off the rails? Once again how is a Pat Buchanan or Alex Jones or some wacky supremacist European organization even remotely related to James Dobson, or Hugh Hewitt or Dennis Prager?

They’re not. Not even close. And to lump them all together is to cop out and refuse to make intelligent distinctions between the sane and the insane.

Talk about polarization; if one is going to ‘part ways’ with ‘a side’, do yourself and ‘the sides’ the justice of clarifying the issues and the reasons for departing.

Otherwise it just sounds fickle and weak, which in this case, unfortunately, Charles Johnson does.

That being said I still subscribe to his blog. He hasn’t totally lost me. Yet.

Update: Yeah, well he lost me now. In fact he deleted me and blocked my user account which allowed me to make comments on his site. Seems he is only interested in little green brown-nosers.

In his recent post “Anti-Abortion_Fox_News_Comments_of_the_Day” I left a comment saying it was a joke to pull comments off a site as huge as Fox News as say, “See! Look how sick and twisted Fox news/the right/Republicans/ conservatives are! Just look at the comments some people leave!”. Unbelievable. Anybody with half a brain knows that it is totally unfair to do that; people leave wacky comments everywhere. So I said his blog grows more ridiculous by the day when all he does now is rail on the ‘dangers’ of Sarah Palin, conservatives and (good heavens!) those crazy ‘creationists’. And also that he really should go back to pointing out  real dangers like the threat of militant Islam. I guess that was too much for him. It appears any respectful (and I was -curt, but respectful still) dissent is not welcome. Amazing the totalitarianism he once so pointedly exposed seems to have rubbed off in some weird way. Even Dennis Prager invited him back on his show to discuss his change of heart. He has yet to go and I suspect he won’t.