For several weeks on Twitter, the wingnut army has been staging a massive freak-out about a strange persecution fantasy; they imagine that they’re being sent to a “Twitter Gulag” by a conspiracy of left wing activists, who somehow control Twitter with their diabolical liberal super-powers.

What’s really happening is that sites like Michelle Malkin’s twitchy.com are organizing and openly calling for right wingers to spam liberals on Twitter, with abusive tweets and lame-brained insults. They even call it “hijacking,” in a rare outbreak of honesty. For example: Hijack Alert: Describe Obama in Three Words Takes Off | Twitchy.

Obviously, their stupid and/or nasty comments are offending people, who then presumably use Twitter’s “Block and Report” feature to complain to Twitter support — and as a result, abusive right wingers’ accounts get suspended. This is what they’re whining about with their absurd self-pitying “Twitter Gulag” nonsense. The same people ordering wingnuts to harass and spam liberals on Twitter then turn around and scream like colicky babies when accounts are suspended because of harassment and spam.

It’s a self-perpetuating fake outrage of huge proportions.

To point this out, last night I tweeted:

Here’s an idea! If right wingers don’t want their Twitter accounts suspended, maybe they shouldn’t do stuff like this: lgf.bz/LVXjes

— Charles Johnson (@Lizardoid) May 28, 2012

The link goes to the twitchy.com article linked above, calling all wingnuts to hijack a liberal conversation.

Today I face the wrath of Twitchy: #TwitterGulag Denier Charles Johnson Advocates Suspension of Conservatives’ Twitter Accounts | Twitchy.

For those not familiar with Little Green Footballs’ Charles Johnson, he’s [sic] was once an anti-jihad blogger who returned to the progressive fold a few years ago. Since then, he’s spent his days in a series of giant green meltdowns about fascist wingnut haters.

So what did those nasty right-wingers do this time? Death threats? Hate speech? Maybe tweet someone’s home address?

No, it’s even worse in Johnson’s eyes.

Skipping past the juvenile insults in the opening paragraph, I didn’t say anything about death threats or hate speech in that tweet, and I certainly didn’t say anything was “worse” than death threats or hate speech, either.

Conservatives dared to mock the president using the hashtag #DescribeObamainthreewords and for that they must be silenced by the spam-block lynch mob. Dissent will not be tolerated. We imagine Johnson also didn’t care for other kids playing in the sandbox when he wanted it all to himself.

Anyone who can actually read English can clearly see that I did not call for anyone to be “silenced” because of their “dissent.” I simply pointed out that if you use Twitter for spam and harassment you shouldn’t be surprised when your account gets suspended, because people don’t like being harassed and spammed, and they will complain about it with the tools Twitter gave them.

For a guy who loves to toss around the word “fascist,” Johnson sure seems to get off on not-so-subtle calls to suppress conservative speech.

Again, there was no “call to suppress conservative speech.” This is flat-out dishonesty on Twitchy’s part; they’re totally making this accusation up, out of absolutely nothing.

While telling his followers that conservatives deserve to be suspended from Twitter for merely participating in the public forum, Johnson also pretends that no such suspensions are happening:

Right wingers have been whining non-stop about their #TwitterGulag persecution fantasy for a solid month.

— Charles Johnson (@Lizardoid) May 28, 2012

Nope, I don’t “pretend that no such suspensions are happening,” either. Obviously, right wingers who are harassing people are getting suspended. But the idea that it’s happening because a liberal conspiracy is persecuting them is a ridiculous fantasy. It’s happening because the right wingers who participate in these coordinated attacks are acting like flaming assholes, and getting people pissed off enough to use “Block and Report.”

It’s a pretty simple principle known as “cause and effect.”

@Lizardoid logic: there’s no campaign to suspend conservatives, but all you right-wing nut jobs getting suspended are totally asking for it.

Of course, there’s nothing illogical about these two statements put together. Yes, the wingnuts are responsible for their own accounts being suspended, and yes, there is no campaign to suspend conservatives. There isn’t even any need for a “campaign.” They’re doing it to themselves.

A month ago, Johnson characterized conservative free speech on Twitter as “spam,” hinting that followers should block and report conservatives.

.@michellemalkin’s Twitchy.com calls on their twitchy readers to spam the #UAWOW hashtag with wingnut hate wp.me/p2aVG0-6ik

— Charles Johnson (@Lizardoid) April 28, 2012

Right wingers harass, abuse, insult & attack people constantly on Twitter, then act outraged and whine when their accounts are suspended.

— Charles Johnson (@Lizardoid) April 30, 2012

More irrational Twitchy paranoia. There’s no “hint” to anyone in my tweets; in fact, I didn’t even mention the “Block and Report” feature.

Since then, he’s flip-flopped between #TwitterGulag promoter and #TwitterGulag truther.

Would you believe wingnuts are still going nuts about a nonexistent #TwitterGulag? A case study in mass hysteria.

— Charles Johnson (@Lizardoid) May 21, 2012

So which one is it? Either the suspensions are happening and he’s tickled pink or conservatives are tilting at the spam-block windmill. His likely answer? “Shaddup, wingnuts! Get off my narrative!”

Notice that whoever wrote this hit piece uses the slur “truther” to describe me — because I don’t believe their dopey conspiracy theory.

Here’s a fact for the Twitchy crew: even if I had the super-powers they seem to think I have, and controlled Twitter, I absolutely would not use that power to silence or suppress right wingers.

I don’t want wingnuts silenced. I want them to let out all that hatred and paranoia boiling inside them, in public where everyone can see it. The more people who understand how irrational and deranged the right wing base has become, the better for the country.

P.S. I notice that many of the people complaining about “Twitter Gulag” in that hashtag thread are copying their tweets to Twitter’s official support. I’m sure those folks at Twitter really enjoy getting thousands and thousands of comments comparing them to a Communist death camp. Way to get Twitter on your side, wingnuts!