Fact Check: Johnson DID Refer to Corrie as “Saint Pancake”

Does anybody remember what Charles Johnson told the readers of The Guardian last year, in the comment section of his (nearly as) disingenuous article about Pamela Geller*?  We do:

With regard to “St. Pancake”, this wasn’t the first time CJ had issued this denial, as the subject has periodically come up on his site in the past.  Never mind the fact that LGF golden boy Killgore Trout has used the term more than once (without consequence), or that Johnson used to give “hat tips” to someone using the nic “St. Pancake”, or that it was canonized in the (now defunct) LGF Dictionary, should we wonder how this came to be associated with (and popularized within) LGF, and why Charles has had to address this accusation so many times? 

Well, the Boiler Room crew has uncovered evidence that, contrary to his claims, the Grand Lizardoid did use this dreaded term as well. Proudly.

First, go to this thread (5/9/03):

littlegreenfootballs.com/article/6557_IDF_Raids_ISM

You’ll see that familiar image of Rachel Corrie in the article** (this picture of her burning a paper US flag was an LGF favorite at the time).  When you look at the comments, it is obvious that it wasn’t there when the thread was initially published, rather that it was quickly added upon request.  Let’s look at the exchange, because it is very revealing (especially comment #6):

Now, one doesn’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to deduce that the [deleted] comment in #3 belonged to Charles, and that he was being responded to in #5, and both quoted and responded to in #6.   Yes, Charles referred to Rachel Corrie as “Saint Pancake”, and at some point down the road, deleted his own comment (and this is likely the main reason why he made the move to block the Wayback Machine shortly after his emphatic Guardian statement, as it probably would have revealed comments like this uncensored).

Unfortunately, without the Internet Archive, we cannot resurrect the direct proof that “Saint Pancake” was mentioned in comment #3.  However, we can prove that comment 3 was Charles, and we’ll then leave it to the true LGF sycophants to twist themselves into knots denying the obvious. 

You see, contrary to popular belief, you do not have to be registered and logged in to see who authored a [deleted] comment.  All one needs is the comment URL (even the [deleted] comments have one).  For this comment #3, it is:

littlegreenfootballs.com/showc/3/218822

Then, roll your mouse over the little green football, and all will be revealed.  Check the target URL in your browser, and you’ll see: littlegreenfootballs.com/user/Charles/6557/0003/entry.  Or, just check our screenshot of the same (look in the lower left corner of the image).  Comment #3 was Charles.

Want further proof?  Just pull up the source code for the page, and you’ll see this:

It’s now safe to say that, much to CJ’s fault and chagrin, the old “fact check your ass” players are on our team now. 

Busted. 

The World’s Greatest Blog Search Engine™ also revealed that, while the lizards had already made a few assorted “pancake” jokes, the first use of the term “St. Pancake” came from the netizen “hobgoblin”, and the debate over whether Corrie’s nickname should be “St. Pancake” or “Flat Bitch” took place on this thread on 5/8/03:

littlegreenfootballs.com/article/6535_Zerbisias_Slams_LGF

Conclusion? The term was essentially christened by CJ the next day with the “Saint Pancake” reference, and the rest is history.

*Most folks who are familiar with my positions will tell you that I’m about as far from a Geller defender as a netizen can be, but CJ has conveniently deleted relevant material concerning her as well.

**You’ll also notice that CJ refers to Corrie as “Saint Rachel Corrie” and “Saint Rachel” in the current version of the article, and we suspect that this was also retroactively changed. But, without the Archives, the evidence is a lot more elusive.

(Hat tip: antilgfwarrior, spaceallah, The Boiler Room)

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