Charles Johnson’s right-wing war

Since 9/11, Charles Johnson has taken on Muslim extremism in his Little Green Footballs blog, said David Weigel in The Washington Independent. In the Obama era, though, his site has become better known for picking fights with its former “fellow travelers” and protegés, including Pam Gellar (Atlas Shrugs) and Robert Spencer (Jihad Watch). The “‘anti-jihadist’ blogosphere” appears to be in full “civil war.”

Johnson “deserves credit” for denouncing the “lunatic fringe of the far-right blogosphere,” said Kathy Kattenburg in Liberty Street, which he attacks for sinking into racism, paranoia, and general looniness. But he’s hardly blameless. Building an entire “anti-jihadism” movement because of one horrendous attack is a “recipe for craziness.”

What’s crazy, said Donald Douglas in American Power, is that an “erstwhile top conservative blogger” is attacking ex-allies in the fight against Islamic extremism for allegedly “hooking up with ‘racists and Nazis.’” He’s only helping the “terrorists” and “progressive Republicans” who want to turn the GOP into “the party of gay marriage.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

No, the “flame war” being waged against Johnson by Geller, Spencer, and company is what hurts the conservative movement, said Michael van der Galien in PoliGazette. Conservatives need more great bloggers who can eviscerate Islamic extremism—all extremism, really—in a “rational, tolerant, and calm” manner.