Blog Wars!

Maybe it’s something in the air, I don’t know – first we had Ariel Beery vs. Dan Sieradski and now Richard Silverstein has seen fit to take on Little Green Footballs. Richard came out with this shocking revelation that “FBI agents visited Charles Johnson” after complaints from the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) who had been monitoring LGF’s comment section. Mr. Silverstein wrote:

I’d like to know what Chuck and the G-men talked about; and I’d like to find out what was the content of the LGF comments. Anyone reading this who can provide more information would be most appreciated.

Charles Johnson was quick to correct Silverstein’s innaccuracies:

The FBI did not “visit” me—I received two phone calls, both after CAIR filed complaints to harass LGF. The agents were very courteous, and the questions they had (about one comment that had been deleted months earlier and about some harassing emails sent without my knowledge) were handled very quickly and professionally. They were not “investigating anti-Muslim speech,” they were asking about two specific incidents that involved specific threats against one specific person—Ibrahim Hooper of CAIR… I’m sure this will come as a disappointment to Mr. Silverstein, but one agent specifically told me they were not in the business of policing free speech. There is no ongoing investigation. End of story.

The story in LGF inspired 171 comments. Siverstein allowed 51 comments past moderation – more comments than his entire blog has received in months! Silverstein’s still trying to milk it with another post but it seems as if the Lizardoids have moved on. Sure, some LGF commenters are clearly nuts, but Silverstein is nothing short of pathetic. I disagree with his politics of course, but most of all I really detest his smug self-righteousness and his attention seeking histrionics. You may remember him from his whiny little episode complaining about how the JIBS unfairly excluded blogs like his. No one nominated him though. He could even have nominated himself. But why compete when you can whine?

You can read all about his latest rant-fest on LGF – that post contains all the relevant links.