On Fri, Jan 22, 2010 at 3:22 PM, Barrett Brown <
barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:
> Justin-
> I'll address your points in turn.
>
> Johnson is a propagandist for Israel, pure and simple: that's the
> only consistent message that he's projected in all his years of blogging.
> A recent post touts a commendation from the Israeli government about
> the "services" he's rendered to them. That this particular
> Israeli government finds his activities and writings so commendable
> should tell us a lot -- if not all -- we need to know about him.
> Johnson described himself to me recently as "pretty pro-Israel," which
> doesn't bother me at all, and I'm unaware of anything that he's written
> lately on that or any other subject that would cause me to be reluctant to
> work with him. At any rate, Israel is not particularly important to me.
> Yes, he hates religious fundamentalism -- but we hear nothing from him, or
> his somewhat more talented doppelganger Christopher Hitchens, about
> the rising tide of fundamentalism and religious fanaticism in Israel.
> Some "secularist"!
> I'm the director of communications of a PAC that's oriented towards atheism,
> and I haven't really said anything about "the rising tide of fundamentalism
> and religious fanaticism in Israel" either, as I don't follow Israeli
> culture very closely and at any rate it's hard to get excited about
> religious fundamentalism in a country that's already intertwined with
> religion as it is. Still, I'm clearly a secularist, to say the least. Do you
> think that Johnson is not really a secularist because he doesn't talk about
> religious Jews in Israel?
> He also pushes an obnoxious form of militant "centrism" -- anything out of
> the box is smeared as "extremism." The only change is that he's now focused
> on the "right-wing" variety instead of the "left" variety. His whole method
> is guilt by association" his treatment of Ron Paul and the campaign to audit
> the Fed is particularly offensive, especially for someone who knows nothing
> about economics.
> I haven't gotten any indication that Johnson is a "centrism" fetishist.
> Rather, he appears to be rather technocratic semi-libertarian. I don't agree
> with Johnson about the mentality of Ron Paul supporters and in fact am fond
> of the fellow myself. I don't consider the mentality of Ron Paul supporters
> to be some extraordinarily important issue on which my working relationships
> depend, though.
> And I might add that he is still pushing the same war-mongering agenda he's
> always pushed: war with the entire Muslim world. Is that what "secularists"
> really want? I don't think so.
> I don't think Johnson wants war with the entire Muslim world. Is there
> something he's written that would prompt you to think he does want such an
> improbable thing as that?
> On Fri, Jan 22, 2010 at 5:50 PM, Justin Raimondo <
raimondo.justin@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>>
>> Ah, a friend of Jeremy's!
>>
>> Johnson is a propagandist for Israel, pure and simple: that's the only
>> consistent message that he's projected in all his years of blogging. A
>> recent post touts a commendation from the Israeli government about the
>> "services" he's rendered to them. That this particular Israeli
>> government finds his activities and writings so commendable should
>> tell us a lot -- if not all -- we need to know about him. Yes, he
>> hates religious fundamentalism -- but we hear nothing from him, or his
>> somewhat more talented doppelganger Christopher Hitchens, about the
>> rising tide of fundamentalism and religious fanaticism in Israel. Some
>> "secularist"!
>>
>> He also pushes an obnoxious form of militant "centrism" -- anything
>> out of the box is smeared as "extremism." The only change is that he's
>> now focused on the "right-wing" variety instead of the "left" variety.
>> His whole method is guilt by association" his treatment of Ron Paul
>> and the campaign to audit the Fed is particularly offensive,
>> especially for someone who knows nothing about economics.
>>
>> And I might add that he is still pushing the same war-mongering agenda
>> he's always pushed: war with the entire Muslim world. Is that what
>> "secularists" really want? I don't think so.
>>
>> On Fri, Jan 22, 2010 at 2:25 PM, Barrett Brown <
barriticus@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> > 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.
>> >
>> >
>
>