Little Green Footballs

"The term 'LGF' redirects here. For the movie and television production company, see Lion's Gate Films."

Infobox weblog
name = Little Green Footballs


caption = Little Green Footballs logo
political_affiliation = Conservative
website = [http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/ www.littlegreenfootballs.com]

Little Green Footballs (LGF) is a political blog run by California web designer Charles Johnson. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Johnson - who describes himself as "pretty much center-left before 9/11" [cite news|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/62000|title=At Israel's Right|author=Gil Ronen|publisher=Israel National News|date=2004-05-11] - transformed his blog's discussion of bicycle racing, programming, web design, and the occasional humorous news item into a very active discussion of the War on Terror, Islam and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Media observers have described the site as "right wing"; [cite news|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2151071/|title=Speaker System|author=Doree Shafrir|publisher=Slate|date=2006-10-05] observes Johnson: :"I'm not pretending I'm giving equal time to both sides. But I do think what I'm advocating, and what I believe in, is the right side."cite news|title=Blogger Takes Aim At News Media and Makes a Direct Hit|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/08/AR2006080801431.html|publisher=Washington Post|author=Paul Farhi|date=2006-08-09]

For "promoting Israel, and Zionism" and "presenting Israel's side of the conflict," LGF won the "Best Israel Advocacy Blog" award from the "Jerusalem Post" in 2005 [cite web|url=http://info.jpost.com/C005/BlogCentral/JIB.2005/index.html Jerusalem Post|title=2005 Jewish and Israeli Blog Awards|publisher=Jerusalem Post, |date=2006-02-02] . According to Gil Ronen, a reporter for Internet news outlet, Israel National News: [cite news|url=http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=62000|title=At Israel's Right|author=Gil Ronen |date=2004-04-29|publisher=B'Sheva] :"If anyone ever compiles a list of Internet sites that contribute to Israel’s public relations effort, Johnson's site will probably come in first, far above the Israeli Foreign Ministry's site."

In the United States, LGF is perhaps best known for playing a key role in raising doubts about the authenticity of the Killian documents regarding President George W. Bushcite web|url=http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=12526&only|author=Charles Johnson |publisher=LGF |title=Bush Guard Documents: Forged|date=2004-09-09] cite news|author=Howard Kurtz|publisher=Washington Post|title=After Blogs Got Hits, CBS Got a Black Eye|date=2004-09-20|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34153-2004Sep19.html] , which preceded the resignation of CBS's Dan Rather. The site won the "Washington Post"'s reader poll for Best International Blog in November 2004 [cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/marketing/blog|title=2004 Best Blogs - Politics & Elections Readers' Choice Awards|date=2004-10-05|publisher=Washington Post] and played a large role in bringing attention to altered photographs in the Adnan Hajj photographs controversy. [cite web|title=Fauxtography Updates|author=Charles Johnson|url=http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=22391&only|publisher=LGF] In July 2008, LGF identified that photographs of Iran's nuclear missile test had been altered [ [http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/30597_Irans_Photoshopped_Missile_Launch lgf: Iran's Photoshopped Missile Launch ] ] , and was credited by much of the media for this. [ [http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/30600_A_Memo_to_Fox_News_and_the_New_York_Times lgf: A Memo to Fox News and the New York Times ] ]

History and notable events

The software for the website was written by Johnson himself, in PHP. Until Spring 2007, all data was stored in flat files. The website now uses MySQL. [cite web
title=LGF Database Mongo Makeover
url=http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=25006&only
author=Charles Johnson |publisher=LGF |date=2007-04-03]

Killian documents

Charitable contributions

Little Green Footballs supporters have helped raise thousands of dollars for Spirit of America's "Friends of Iraq Blogger Challenge". [cite web |title=Of Money and Mouths |author=Charles Johnson |publisher=LGF |url=http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=13955&only |date=2004-12-14] [cite web |title=Friends of Iraq Blogger Challenge |url=http://www.spiritofamerica.net/cgi-bin/soa/challenge.pl?rm=action&party_id=125 |publisher=Spirit of America] Supporters also donate pizzas for IDF soldiers. [cite web |title='za for the idf |author=Charles Johnson |url=http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=3155&only |publisher=LGF |date=2002-05-22 (See http://www.pizzaidf.com/.)] In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina several registered users also offered their direct services donating and transporting goods to the hardest hit, inviting contributions from other readers [cite web |title='Katrina - Johnson thanks readers |author=Charles Johnson |url=http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=17303_Hurricane_Katrina-_Open_Thread_5&only |publisher=LGF |date=2002-05-22] . Johnson also posted a number of links to charitable efforts [cite web |title='Katrina - Johnson thanks readers |author=Charles Johnson |url=http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=17371_Hurricane_Katrina-_Open_Thread_17&only |publisher=LGF |date=2002-05-09] [cite web |title='Katrina - Johnson thanks readers |author=Charles Johnson |url=http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=17346_Hurricane_Katrina_Data_Collection&only |publisher=LGF |date=2002-05-03] and thanked his readers for their response [cite web |title='Katrina - Johnson thanks readers |author=Charles Johnson |url=http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=17376_Hurricane_Katrina-_Open_Thread_18&only |publisher=LGF |date=2002-05-22] .

Pajamas Media

Doctored photographs

On August 5, 2006, LGF showed how a photograph of Beirut after an Israeli air strike taken by Adnan Hajj was manipulated before being published. [cite web|url=http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=21956&only|title=Reuters Doctoring Photos from Beirut?|date=2006-08-05|author=Charles Johnson|publisher=LGF] cite news|date=2006-08-06|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3286966,00.html|title="Reuters admits altering Beirut photo"|publisher=Ynetnews|accessdate=2006-10-19]

On July 10, 2008 the website documented alterations to photos of Iranian missile tests. [cite web
title=Iran's Photoshopped Missile Launch
url=http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/30597_Irans_Photoshopped_Missile_Launch
author=LGF
publisher=LGF
date=2008-07-10] Fox News credited the website for discovering the doctored photos. [cite web
title=Little Green Footballs on Fox and Friends
url=http://www.redlasso.com/ClipPlayer.aspx?id=9cef006d-7f5e-4a4a-9599-ac42aef9505a
publisher=Fox News
date=2008-07-11]

Awards

Little Green Footballs has two annual awards; The Fiskie and The Fallaci, given to people who in the previous year best embodied the respectively "Idiotarian" and "Anti-Idiotarian" worldview. The Fiskie was named after journalist Robert Fisk, in a blog post [cite web|url=http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=5051|title="Idiotarian of the Year"|date=2002-12-19|author=Charles Johnson|publisher=LGF] where Johnson notes that, after having been captured and beaten by Afghan refugees, Fisk claimed he sympathized with them. The Fallaci is named after the late Oriana Fallaci.

Name

The name "Little Green Footballs" has not been explained by Charles Johnson. The most he has said about it is:

I am at liberty to reveal that it has something to do with an incident in my youth that happened in Japan. [ [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/62000 At Israel´s Right - On A7 Radio - Israel News - Arutz Sheva ] ]

Recurring themes

Ideological influences

Charles Johnson's posts on LGF frequently cite the writing of authors representing conservative and/or neolibertarian viewpoints, such as Victor Davis Hanson, Charles Krauthammer, Mark Steyn, James Lileks, and the late Oriana Fallaci.

"Palestinian child abuse"

Johnson often posts photos taken by Associated Press and Reuters photographers, among others, of Palestinians dressing their children in paramilitary uniforms, or in clothing emblazoned with violent slogans such as "Death to Israel." These children are often shown carrying real guns and even wearing mock-ups of the explosive belts used by suicide bombers. Johnson refers to such photographs as evidence of Palestinian child abuse. [cite web|url=http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/lgf-search.php?searchWith=lgf&searchWhat=entries&searchTime=0&searchString=Palestinian+Child+Abuse&doSearch=search|title=Search results for "Palestinian Child Abuse" in LGF entries]

Rachel Corrie

Johnson has stated many times that he is disgusted with media coverage of the death of International Solidarity Movement activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed by an Israeli bulldozer in Rafah, a town in the Gaza Strip.cite web |title=The ISM Whitewash Continues|url=http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=6228&only|author=Charles Johnson|publisher=LGF|date=2003-04-12] Johnson disputes the ISM's account, holding that Corrie was "trying to 'protect' a house used for drugs and weapons smuggling". Johnson states:

::"Rachel Corrie was emphatically not a "peace activist". She sided with terrorists and criminals, and advocated—in fact, was excited by—violence and mass murder."cite web|title=No Tears for Corrie|url=http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=5884&only|author=Charles Johnson|publisher=LGF|date=2003-03-19]

In support of this view, he has cited a diary entry [ [http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0302/S00049.htm "Courage And More Martyrs"] . February 10, 2003. "Scoop." Diary entries of Rachel Corrie.] from Corrie in which he claims that she expresses the view that Palestinian violence towards Israel is justifiable and laudable.

::"...put all the Israeli/American propaganda aside for a few minutes and try to imagine, please, the courage it requires to do what these young [Palestinian] fighters do, knowing that the odds are against escape and that, every time they do succeed in evading death, the odds against a further survival are shortened."

In posts about her on LGF, Johnson often features a photo of Corrie burning a hand-drawn American flag and surrounded by Palestinian children.

Intelligent Design criticism

Although LGF has always been ideologically opposed to Intelligent Design, as of the Summer of 2008, Johnson has devoted a significant amount of time addressing the subject. [See articles with the [http://littlegreenfootballs.com/tag/Intelligent+Design Intelligent Design tag] ]

lang

Discussing slang terms used by Johnson and his readers, Paul Farhi, a writer for the "Washington Post", notes:

::"...Little Green Footballs doesn't always traffic in subtlety and nuance. Dissenting points of view often are dismissed as "idiotarian" or "LLL" (for "loony liberal left"), and Islam is mockingly referred to as "RoP," meaning "religion of peace"."

Registration and posting protocols

Registration

Johnson began requiring users to register for posting privileges in June 2004, closing the site to new registrations later that year; as of 2007, new user registration for the site is "occasionally open... during weekend afternoons, Pacific time." [http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/lgf-register.php]

Posting filter

Johnson has put in place a filter which stops LGF members from using certain derogatory and racist terms in their posts to the site. Johnson stresses that the number of comments filtered in this way are "minuscule." The filter is intended to prevent abuse going unnoticed. [cite web|url=http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=24879&only|title=Sane Remarks About Blog Comments |date=2007-03-22|author=Charles Johnson|publisher=LGF]

Rivalries

Johnson and LGF "regulars" (the self-proclaimed "Lizardoids") have engaged in a number of high-profile feuds and flame wars, pitting LGF supporters against readers of other blogs (e.g., Daily Kos) and alternative media sites (e.g., Fark and Digg). Claims Derek van Vliet, a writer for the Blog Herald:

::"In the past, Charles Johnson, the owner of the (LGF) blog has rallied his readers to establish a “beachhead” on Digg to counteract the perceived liberal bias. All the while peppering pejoratives like “moonbat” throughout the content directed at Digg users. Meanwhile, their site does not allow open discussion. Registration is required to comment. And opportunities to register are rare. Digg users are known to rail against closed systems. After all, they came to participate..." [cite web|url=http://www.blogherald.com/2007/02/27/warning-politics-can-get-messy-on-digg/|title=Warning: Politics Can Get Messy On Digg|date=2007-02-07|author=Derek van Vliet|publisher=The Blog Herald]

Redirects

Johnson often redirects incoming links from sites critical of LGF to the Israel Defense Forces homepage. [cite web|url=http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=7213_Al-Zawiya_Yahoo_Group_Notices_LGF&only|title=LGF Al-Zawiya Yahoo Group Notices LGF|date=2003-06-23|author=Charles Johnson|publisher=LGF] [cite web|url=http://groups.yahoo.com/group/al-Zawiya/message/11221|title=Al-Zawiya posting |date=2003-06-23|author=al-Zawiya|publisher=Yahoo Groups]

Following a news release which CAIR sent to pay-for-play organization PRNewswire.com, Johnson redirected the news release's link traffic to a site regarding CAIR's ties to terrorist organizations. CAIR responded by having the links removed from the press release. [http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=28994_When_CAIR_Attacks&only]

Claims and controversies

Claims of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim sentiment

*R. J. Smith, writing in "Los Angeles Magazine", stated that LGF is a "dysfunctional mix of beautiful photos Johnson takes on coastal bike rides and constitutionally protected hate speech" which "believes all Muslims are terrorists until proven innocent." [cite news
url= http://lamag.com/ME2/Segments/Publications/Print.asp?Module=Publications::Article&id=01765D28B50A40CC8A4BCD592182FFFE
author=RJ Smith|publisher=Los Angeles Magazine |date=February 2006|title=Pajama Game]

*Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) called Little Green Footballs "a vicious, anti-Muslim hate site" and says that the FBI has "investigated several threats of physical harm against Muslims posted by Little Green Footballs readers".

*Columnist Antonia Zerbisias has described LGF as a "virulently anti-Muslim/Arab website". [cite news|title=And now it's 'Reutersgate'|author=Antonia Zerbisias |publisher=Toronto Star|date=2006-08-09|url=http://www.yourmedia.ca/news/2006/060809_az_reutersgate.html]

*Journalist Eric Boehlert has written that LGF "oozes disdain for Arabs and journalists (and most of all, Arab journalists)" and is "obsessed with proving that all MSM reporting from Iraq and the Middle East is biased in favor of Islamic terrorists." [cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-boehlert/little-green-footballs-s_b_27288.htm|author=Eric Boehlert |publisher=Huffington Post |title=Little Green Footballs, Staged War Photos, and the Story the Press Won't Tell|date=2006-08-15]

Claims of censorship

*In March 2005, Johnson called attention to Google's inclusion of the white supremacist National Vanguard site (and simultaneous exclusion of LGF) in its news index; the NV site has since been dropped. [cite web|url=http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=15145&only|title=Google News High Standards, Exhibit N for Nazi|date=2005-03-20|author=Charles Johnson |publisher=LGF]

*In April 2007 Johnson reported that Little Green Footballs was being blocked by Websense under its "Racism and Hate" category. [cite web
url=http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=25019&only
title=Websense Damage Spreading
date=4 April 2007 |author=Charles Johnson |publisher=LGF] Websense admitted that the site had been thus categorized briefly (but incorrectly) and subsequently reversed the decision. [cite web
url=http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=25023&only
title=Websense Update: Block Removed
date=5 April 2007 |author=Charles Johnson |publisher=LGF]

Claims about Ron Paul

*Johnson removed Ron Paul's name from straw polls regarding the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination campaign after numerous instances in which the polls were skewed. Johnson asserted that Ron Paul's supporters were fraudulently slamming the vote script to increase Paul's numbers: "The bottom line: if Ron Paul supporters weren’t spamming, he would still be in our polls. I really don’t have any nefarious motives here; I just don’t like being gamed, and since I run these silly unscientific polls I don’t have to put up with it." [http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=25504_Ron_Paul_Supporters_Spamming_Our_Poll_Again]

*In December 2007, libertarian writer David Weigel accused Johnson of launching a "smear" against Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, writing in Reason Magazine that: [cite news | url=http://www.reason.com/blog/show/124051.html|title=Smear, Smear Again|Author=David Weigel|publisher=Reason Magazine|date=2007-12-21]

: "Little Green Footballs has moved, over the space of a few weeks, from mercilessly mocking Ron Paul and banning him from its straw polls to putting him at the center of a conspiracy for worldwide Nazi domination. "

Johnson's allegations were picked up in the "New York Times" "Medium" section, where Virginia Heffernan cited LGF's coverage of claims by Bill White, writing: [cite news | url=http://themedium.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/24/the-ron-paul-vid-lash/| title=The Ron Paul Vid-Lash|Author=Virginia Heffernan|publisher=New York Times|date=2007-12-24]

: "Little Green Footballs, the hawkish and rigidly empiricist blog that first furnished evidence of memo-forging in the Rathergate case, has started due diligence..."

Heffernan later apologized for relying on "unverified assumptions" and admitted that the original story should not have been published.

Media attention

2002

*MSNBC's Will Femia wrote of LGF:::"This site is the focus of considerable controversy for its focus (and particularly the focus of the constituents in its comments section) on Islamic culture and dogma as the source of Islamic terror. As a popular, active, and well presented site, it is worth checking out, but some may find its content hateful or even racist."

*Syndicated columnist James Taranto defended LGF after MSNBC 'smeared' Johnson. [cite news|title=Best of the Web Today: MSNBC Smears Charles Johnson|author=James Taranto|publisher=OpinionJournal.com|date=2002-10-22]

2005

*Columnist Andrew Sullivan described LGF as "enthusiastically pro-torture". [cite web |title=Sullivan Off the Rails Again|url=http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=14492&only|date=2005-01-27|author=Charles Johnson|publisher=LGF]

*"Vanity Fair" theater critic James Wolcott characterized the LGF community as "sort of like a disorganized Nuremberg Rally, a lot of angry ruffians with nowhere to go...."cite web|author=James Wolcott|publisher=JamesWolcott.com|month=December | year=2005|url=http://jameswolcott.com/archives/2005/12/headhunters.php|title=Headhunters|author=James Wolcott] after Johnson described an attack on Daniel Pipes by Wolcott as "the sort of high-toned writin’ that made Vanity Fair the journalistic juggernaut it is today" and one LGF member responded by visualizing Wolcott's decapitation: [cite web
title=Wolcott Hits Another Low
url=http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=18646
author=Charles Johnson |publisher=LGF
date=2005-12-22] ::"May he [i.e., James Wolcott] be kidnapped by 'insurgents' in Iraq then appear on an ugly net [i.e., uruknet] broadcast. I wonder, if in the moment before the knife started sawing into his [fleshy] neck if he might rethink his opinions on the GWOT."

*"The Weekly Standard" described LGF as one of "the saner precincts of the blogosphere". [cite news|url=http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/303yjmdi.asp?pg=2|title=Kos Party |author=Dean Barnett |publisher=The Weekly Standard|date=2005-03-02]

2006

*Pajamas Media contributor Cathy Seipp wrote in the "National Review" that: [cite news
url=http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YTIwYzljOTc4NzZiYzkzNmYwOWVjODg1OWMwZjY2NDk=
title=Los Locos: Not-so-brilliant media insights from the City of Angels
author=Cathy Seipp
publisher=National Review
date=2006-02-17] :"I'm losing patience with this notion, surely one of the most successful media Big Lies of the past few years, that Charles runs a racist hate site. By now it's been repeated so often that even normally reasonable people believe it."

External links

* [http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/ Little Green Footballs]

References