Round 4 starts late with assorted light jabs in comments by Johnson and friends, but McCain comes out swinging sensing a momentum shift. The first blow seems to miss high. (It certainly went right over my head until the final sentence). But the second punch is delivered square:
Charles Johnson deserves nothing but the same two-word response from any conservative. His conduct for the past two years has been, in a word, dishonorable.
“No linkies for him,” indeed! As if any honest man need fear such a miserable coward as Charles Johnson.
I am not a gentleman of the south, my grandparents came from the Island of Sicily. They taught me the importance of honor and one’s name. I’ve passed this as best I can to my teenage sons in a 21st century Massachusetts with a big assist from my soon to be 85 year old mother. I can’t speak for Charles but speaking for myself I can’t see how anyone could let that stand unanswered.
But Robert Stacy is just getting warmed up as he is setting up the next blow:
when I came under attack from LGF, my response may have struck some readers as an expression arrogance:
Charles Johnson will regret it but once,
and that will be continuouslyBecause I am a professional journalist, this was not a threat, but a statement of objective fact.
and then:
However, because he refused to admit or recant his error, he committed himself to a path of unjust vengeance against the innocent. In the process, he revealed himself to be a creature of unscrupulous cruelty, an immoral monster who can never expect anything but contempt from civilized people.
Another haymaker but is Johnson vulnerable to this line of attack?
McCain’s final blow covers dangerous ground, but not for Johnson:
There is a God in heaven, and the man who spitefully chooses to pursue unrighteousness will ultimately destroy himself. Therefore, wise men observe the madness of King Charles and shake their heads sadly, knowing what the final outcome must be.
Charles Johnson is already in a very deep hole and, at the frantic pace he’s digging now, can be expected to reach the fiery pit of hell no later than next Thursday.
This same God that he refers to is also a God of redemption, the bigger the sin the bigger the potential forgiveness re: Tim McVeigh . Robert Stacy invoking of the almighty in this way might set himself up for a huge counterblow; to wit:
I would remind all Christians of this little prayer that you likely pray every day:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one. Matt 6:9-13 emphasis mine
The next two verses are even more blunt:
If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions. Matt 6:14,15
Every time you say the Our Father (of you prefer the term The Lord’s Prayer) and you choose not to forgive you are condemning yourself. Christ was very explicit here. He meant to be. This is not an optional doctrine. These are the rules.
McCain has already said he is praying for Johnson so it is also possible that there is a different meaning here.
As I am not staying up for the end of the Round (I’ll update the post with any counter Charles puts up in the morning as he is on the west coast and I have a busy day tomorrow) so I’ll give my color commentary now.
DaTechguy’s roundup of Round 4
The attacks on Johnson’s honor may or may not have been effective depending on the store that Charles set on honor, but I think the big attack is still yet to come and might have been telegraphed, my theory is this:
Johnson excels at web search, his background in tech gives him a big head up on things and produces results, however Robert Stacy McCain is an ACTUAL REPORTER. This means that he is used to building stories over time. His tactic would be to use the reporters art to investigate Charles the old fashioned journalistic way, not by web searches alone, but by interviews and writing a story backed up by sources that could lead to a solid knockout.
Since a good story needs checking and background it likely wouldn’t be ready right away, it would take perhaps a week say next Thursday?
Now if there is no there there then such an effort would likely be as successful as the Nixon White House’s attempt to get dirt on Peter Rodino, (See O’Neill’s Man of the House.) but if there is something to find at the moment Robert Stacy is highly motivated to find it.
If I am correct then sometime before the 24th would be the proper time for each man’s seconds to meet to see if the matter can be resolved with honor. It is my nature to hope for such an ending. If not then I don’t think it will go 15 rounds, I think it will be bare knuckles a la John L. Sullivan and will go 75 rounds or more unless we see a knockout.
Stay Tuned.
Update: No counterpunches for Johnson; McCain wins that round 10-9 39-38 after 4.
