re: #37 Local Media Monitor

I’m late to the thread but I wanted to comment. I wanted to respond to some of this comment as well, but I’ll put that below.
I’m actually sympathetic to your points and your initial post. So I hope you’ll take these words as kindly meant.

I’ve been reading LGF for at least 9 years but I only joined in May of 2009, partly because the culture was changing.

I used to come to LGF to quote mine and make fun of extremist comments. LGF was where I came to find out about the wingnut zeitgeist.
I wound up reading it more often once CJ took on creationism. This was one of the only mainstream blogs (outside of science blogs or blogs solely devoted to it, like Dover v Kitzmiller on Blogspot) that regularly covered
creationists’ efforts to push into the public school system. Surely the only one on the right that did so!

CJ took a lot of shit for that, often from his own commenters, on his own site.

I hadn’t had a high opinion of Charles or this site until then. I opposed the Iraq war and the warbloggers from the beginning but I grudgingly came to admit that this Johnson guy was at least right about creationism, and at least there was fighting the good fight.

Then I started reading more of LGF, and most of the extremist comments came from people who are banned now and would have been banned then if Charles had the tools he has now then.

I still disagree with most of the commenters here and probably with Charles over issues like torture, war crimes and civil liberties.

Unlike most of the people who’ve commented thus far, I think a series of posts about the ten year anniversary of the war and the reactions to it would be a good thing, but why the hell would you want to do this specifically focussing on LGF, when CJ has already stated he was wrong? And on Charles’ own site?

Lots of people were warbloggers and cheer-led the Iraq war. How much self-flagellation is Charles supposed to do?

John Cole at Balloon Juice was also a fan of the Iraq war, and he doesn’t get anywhere near the abuse that CJ gets.

Do you seriously think he should countenance a series of posts from anyone that are solely devoted to attacking him? Come on! Do your posts, but make them about the general effort to sell the Iraq War, and don’t forget to include the New York Times and Judith Miller.

You have a choice here— keep dogging CJ about old comments on his website and his old positions, or be part of the solution— engage in a helpful and constructive way and effect change from within, on the issues you care about. I’ve done it here and elsewhere.

In my opinion, you also need to recognize and honour the changes CJ has made and the positive impact he has. This is a great site that has done a lot of work to expose extremism. Why not be part of that?

Just some advice from someone who wants to agree with you on some issues, but thinks you don’t have to act like a dick to make your points.