CJ Tries Again, Sorta Rewrites History

Nice to know that there's still an automatic content generator out there. Via Dennis:

When I read in Vanity Fair that he [Barrett Brown, ed.] was going to hook up with Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs to create a "loose network of bloggers" that will "coordinate on exposing the failures of certain news outlets", the first thing that went through my head was, "Hey, that's brilliant. Why the fuck didn't I think of that!" It's the story of my life... Somebody always comes up with that Next Big Thing idea before I do. The bastards.

I admit I've never given a lot of attention to the fates of these bloggers' network launched with great expectations, but one thing I know: they didn't shatter the Earth. An neither chenged the world or made millions; at best they gave a comfortable life to their top contributors.

I am under the impression that these things will not work. Everything seemed possible with "loose networks" a few years ago when blogging was new and fresh, but now it seems clear that there isn't so much to be accomplished and more traditional models of business and organizing people remain more effective.

Anyway...

From the 'He Only Lies When His Lips Move' Department of the Charles Johnson Files: The story Charles gave of his departure from Pajamas Media back then seems to be a bit different from the story he's peddling right now. Here's the announcement he posted December 1, 2007 on Little Green Footballs:

Announcement time: I am no longer affiliated with Pajamas Media in a management position. There's nothing gossip-worthy here, though; I enjoyed helping to found and start PJ Media, and this is a completely amicable departure. We mutually decided that my energy and resources are best focused right here on Little Green Footballs. LGF will continue to be part of the Pajamas Media network, and we'll continue to run PJ Media's well-monitored advertisements.

Sorry, but if there's a denunciation of a "right-wing parrot organization" in there, I must have missed it.

However, later another version of these events emerged:

Here's what he [Barrett, ed.] says:

Johnson referred to Pajamas Media as a “right-wing parrot organization” in a conversation with me a few weeks ago. My article did not claim, nor did he, that he made any such characterization about the company at the time when he left; rather, that seems to be his opinion of it today.

Well if that is the case, why didn't you make that clear? What is implied by the sentence as it is written is that Fearless Charles Johnson loudly denounced the Rovians at Pajamas Media and then walked away in search of The Truth. I simply pointed out that such a sequence of events was complete bullshit. Tighten up your writing and there won't be these sorts of misunderstandings.

To me instrad it sounds like typical Charles: say something outrageous but maintain a plausible deniability.

He did it all the time when LGF was "Kill all the Muslims and Europeans AAARRRGGGGHHHHH!" territory: Charles provided inspiration and OUTRAGE! material , then left his commenters to develop intricate genocidal fantasies and rancid pseudo-theological bigotry. But if called to the task for hosting such vileness, his typical answer was: "I didn't say that, it's just one of my thousands of commenters I cannot control. And you're a dirty cherrypicker!"