---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:
Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Jan 22, 2010 at 5:25 PM
Subject: Re: charles johnson
To: Justin Raimondo <
raimondo.justin@gmail.com>
Justin-
Good to make your acquaintance; I've read a number of your articles over the years. I believe we have a mutual friend in Jeremy Sapienza.
I've spoken with Johnson at some length over the past couple of months and have found him to be a reasonable and intellectually honest person; that he has abandoned the conservative movement and repudiated his past mistakes leads me to admire him to that extent, largely because none of the nation's more "serious" commentators seem to be in the habit of acknowledging their extraordinary errors, whereas he himself has been willing to go where his observations take him.
I don't think Johnson "hates" Muslims. He is very hostile towards Islam and all forms of religious nonsense, as am I; the big three monotheistic faiths are all fascist and patriarchal to the extent that they are actually take seriously, and we happen to be at a point in history in which Islam tends to be taken more seriously by its adherents than does Christianity or Judaism, both of which still manage to do great violence to the proper aspirations of humanity even in the twilight of their influence. I'm assuming he has contempt for many religious practitioners who infringe on the rights of others in reference to their particular deities, and so do I.
I am working with Johnson on the project mentioned in the Vanity Fair piece because I am tired of simply writing books and articles pointing out the nonsense put forth by the nation's commentators without having any real effect on the system that has brought such commentators to prominence. I hope that you will consider working with me as well after such time as the project is made more explicit.
Thanks,
Barrett Brown
Brooklyn, NY
On Fri, Jan 22, 2010 at 4:40 PM, Justin Raimondo
<raimondo.justin@gmail.com> wrote:
Your fawning profile of the Muslim-hating Charles Johnson overlooks
the really awful stuff he posted in the run-up to the Iraq war and
afterwards. He was shocked -- shocked! -- that the "movement" he
helped start made alliances with European fascists and other unsavory
types here in the US, but that's because Johnsonian anti-Muslim
rhetoric and its fascist equivalent are nearly identical. Oh, but
since he's a "secularist," I suppose that makes it okay in your book.
Or, conversely, maybe you just didn't research Johnson's past
writings. In any case, his assertion that he's a "classical liberal"
has got to be one of the biggest jokes ever.