Nikki's Nest

Old Habits Die Hard

2011-05-26T16:57:00.000-05:00

A blast from the past, it seems that 41 months in a Federal prison didn't make a big enough impression on this 71-year-old Aryan Nations benefactor.

Richard Bertollini made the down-payment on Richard Butler's old Aryan Nation's compound in Hayden Lake, Idaho years ago. An ordained Christian Identity minister, Bertollini played a major role in Butler's group.

After three-and-half years in prison on a firearm's charge, he decided to get a fresh start - sort of.

http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2011/05/25/idaho-anti-semite-resurfaces-in-new-mexico-with-new-name-but-same-propaganda/

Wave Bye-Bye, Ron

2011-05-26T16:31:00.000-05:00

The halls of justice may not be perfect - but karma is! After his Klan group severely beat a Latino teen at a county fair in 2006, Ron Edwards was ordered to pay $2.5 million in damages only to have the judgement overturned and the case hanging in the breeze. But, there will be no such luck on the the four year sentence just handed down today.

Of course, according to Edwards, he's just being persecuted because he's a racist lunatic who just so happened to get caught trafficking methamphetamine. No one really understands him, right? Oh, well, a prison diet and a few years in a cage will fix him right up! Not!

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20110526/NEWS01/305260070/Ex-Klan-head-sentenced-4-years-drug-charges?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CHome

Nothing Changes But Scenery

2011-05-26T16:11:00.000-05:00

And the wheels on the bus continue to go round and round...

After taking a much needed sabbatical from the abyss known as the "hate movement," I am being greeted with notion that nothing much has changed but the scenery. As one after another of my nemeses have been neutered or caged, there will, evidently, always be others to take their place - sort of.

It seems that Travis Ricci, the cocky little Vinlander who featured himself as some kind of ethnic cleansing badass will be finding out just how badassed he isn't.

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2011-05-26/news/neo-nazi-travis-ricci-just-pulled-two-decades-in-the-joint-as-the-specter-of-his-death-waits/

The People of Wisconsin Fight For Our Rights Too!

2011-03-11T11:09:00.002-06:00

The People of Wisconsin Fight For Our Rights, Too!

by Les Aaron on Friday, March 11, 2011 at 8:58am

The people of Wisconsin have struggled hard to acquire their rights in a marketplace slanted
against the worker.

Up through the other day, Wisconsin people had one of the most liberating programs of benefits
that should be a model for most of America, the richest country in the world where no one should have
to worry about who is going to take care of them if they get ill so that they wouldn't be a burden to others,
and that they will be able to look forward to a level of security in their old age.

Now, a consortium of right wing interests has effectively unraveled these hard-earned rights virtually overnight by taking action without proper notification of all government officials and democrats on the Executive Boards, in violation of the Law, to limit worker rights to organize a planned decision by special interests to erode worker benefits into the future at a time of increasing uncertainty and job loss.

We are the people of Wisconsin.

If they lose their rights, as surely as night follows day, so will the rest of us.

For this is a concerted action to end Unions in America so that only the corporations and the powerful will set the rules that will eventually impact ever living American worker.

We must see that this doesn't happen because if the Unions are destroyed, there will be no counter-weight to the Republican Hard-liners who will be able to employ Citizen United monies to run rough-shod over any attempts at fair play and balance in future elections.

They will acquire the power to do as they like, maintain the status quo, pollute the airs and water, and neglect the infrastructure while building their own power bases. Eventually, it will prove impossible for any American to live under such rule and we will all revolt or surrender to slavery, which is not in the American character! But we can head off this eventuality by coming together now to support the American labor unions and the rights of every American.

We must not adapt Chamberlain's policies that assume everything will work itself out. It will not! We need to step up to the plate now and declare our support for everything that Wisconsin stands for to keep America democratic and serving the best interests of its people.

In Solidarity, we cannot forget the abuses of March 9th.

And we must go forward together and in solidarity to do what needs to be done to maintain our democracy and the rights of people intact to preserve our great system.

Together, brothers and sisters, to forge the next hundred years of peace and security and protection for all!

Please spread this message around.

And let's not forget Wisconsin!

U.S. Asks to Destroy Guns Owned by Blogger in Prison for Threats to Judges

2011-03-01T12:00:00.000-06:00

Some people just never learn anything from their experiences. I don't believe that you can't teach an old dog new tricks - but, in this case, there may be some credence to the adage. Hal Turner --- still blowin' and goin'.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-28/u-s-asks-to-destroy-guns-owned-by-blogger-in-prison-for-threats-to-judges.html

Federal prosecutors told a judge they want to destroy four firearms, including a Mossberg 12- gauge shotgun, owned by Hal Turner, the Internet radio host and blogger sentenced to 33 months in prison for threatening the lives of three U.S. appeals-court judges.

U.S. District Judge Donald E. Walter Brooklyn, New York, ordered the weapons returned to someone of Turner’s “designation who is licensed to have them” when he imposed the sentence Dec. 21. Turner asked that they go to his mother.

In a court filing today, prosecutors asked Walter to reconsider his order, in part because e-mails show it appears Turner plans to pursue judicial and law-enforcement officials after he’s released from prison.

“The government requests permission to destroy the firearms, rather than turn them over to Turner’s mother, and to compensate Turner for their fair market value,” prosecutors wrote in the filing.

Turner, 48, was convicted in August of threatening the judges because of their ruling upholding a gun ban. A jury found him guilty of a single count of threatening in Internet postings to assault and murder the three Chicago-based appeals judges. That was the only count he faced. Two previous trials ended in hung juries. Turner has appealed his conviction.

Semiautomatic Handguns

In addition to the shotgun, the government seized three semiautomatic handguns: a Sig Sauer Model P-229.40, a Star Firestar 9mm and a Walther PPK .380, according to the court filing.

Ronald G. Russo, a lawyer for Turner at Schlam Stone & Dolan LLP in Manhattan, didn’t immediately return a call for comment.

Turner told his mother in a Feb. 2 e-mail, written from prison, that “when I get out, I’m gonna go after some ‘problems’ and take care of them in a manner that will be horrific,” according to the filing. He made similar threats to his mother and an unidentified family member in other e-mails, prosecutors said.

In another Feb. 2 e-mail, Turner asked two unidentified family members to send him the personal information such as home addresses on “all the key members in my case,” including prosecutors and other judicial and law-enforcement officials, he had bought from an Internet site called Intelius, according to the court filing.

‘Law-Enforcement Individuals’

“Turner has expressed his plans for the future, some of which appear to be violent, in e-mails to his mother -- the very person whom Turner has designated to receive the firearms, and Turner has taken steps to receive personal information about the judicial and law-enforcement individuals involved in his case,” prosecutors wrote.

Lawyers from U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s office in Chicago prosecuted Turner, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Diane MacArthur and William Ridgway handling the trial. MacArthur signed today’s court filing.

Turner’s case was moved from Illinois to Brooklyn to ensure a fair trial. Two earlier trials in Brooklyn ended with hung juries in March 2010 and December 2009. Walter is a senior judge in federal court in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Prosecutors said Turner, of North Bergen, New Jersey, threatened judges Frank Easterbrook, Richard Posner and William Bauer because of their June 2009 ruling upholding handgun bans in Chicago and Oak Park, Illinois. A lower court previously dismissed a legal challenge to the ordinances by the National Rifle Association. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the handgun bans on June 28.

‘Tree of Liberty’

“Let me be the first to say this plainly: These judges deserve to be killed,” Turner wrote in a Web posting. “Their blood will replenish the tree of liberty. A small price to pay to assure freedom for millions.” Turner also posted the judges’ names, photographs and work addresses, and a map of their courthouse.

Turner has already served about 13 months of his sentence, before and after being convicted.

The case is U.S. v. Turner, 09-cr-00650, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn), and Turner’s appeal is U.S. v. Turner, 11-196, Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (Manhattan).

To contact the reporter on this story: Thom Weidlich in Brooklyn, New York, federal court at tweidlich@bloomberg.net.

DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

2011-02-22T14:27:00.000-06:00

Declaration of Human Rights
by Lee Burkett on Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 12:31pm

It is time for us, the People of Earth, without benefit of government or sovereigns, to declare our right to live on Earth, in peace, with abundance for all, in accordance with the following declaration of Human rights.

It is a Human right to live in a clean environment, to expect that the air, the water and the land is free from poisons, toxins and substances that are known to cause harm to living beings, and to have free access to same.

It is a Human right to have food, to expect that this most basic of human needs is available to all, and that it be unadulterated, free from substances or alterations that may cause harm to living beings, and to have free access to same.

It is a Human right to have shelter from the elements, and to have free access to same.

It is Human right to have benefit of medicine and health care, and to have free access to same.

It is a Human right to work, as a means of providing a living, and to expect that such work creates a livable wage, and to have free access to same.

It is Human right to believe and to worship in any way, so long as that belief or worship does not infringe on the Human rights of another, and to have free access to same.

It is Human right to live without fear of being killed by Armies foreign or Domestic.

It is a Human right to expect justice, and to expect that any and all laws reflect the equality of all Humans, and to have free access to same.

It is a Human right to love another Human being, and to express that love in any way so long as that love or it's expression does not infringe on the Human rights of another, and to have freedom to do so.

It is Human right to live without fear of being killed by Armies foreign or Domestic.

We, the People of Earth, do so declare.

Henceforth, any government, sovereign, corporate interest, private interest, group or individual guilty of with holding, delaying or denying Human rights to any nation, group or individual shall be guilty of Crimes Against Humanity, and subject to justice in a Court of Humanity, to face punishment as the People of Earth deem appropriate.

Arizona and The neo-Nazi's Breeding Domestic Terrorists

2011-02-03T16:46:00.000-06:00

Bombs, bullets, and insanity really don't mix well, but it seems that Arizona and the neo-Nazi element both have more than their share of all three. Breeding domestic terrorists appears to come easy these days.

Neo-Nazi Indicted for Bombs is Son of Movement Stalwart

Posted By Evelyn Schlatter On January 28, 2011 @ 4:24 pm In Neo-Nazi

A federal grand jury Wednesday indicted Jeffrey Harbin, 28, of Apache Junction, Ariz., on three counts of possessing explosive devices. Harbin, who has ties to the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement [1] (NSM) and was formerly a member of the neo-Nazi National Alliance, had in his possession 12 grenade-like improvised explosive devices. They were built with PVC pipe and filled with black powder, ball bearings, and an improvised fusing system.

The indictment alleges that Harbin unlawfully transported one of the devices. He was pulled over by law enforcement while driving his pickup truck on January 14 in Apache Junction. Dennis K. Burke, U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, told ABC15 News that “Jeffrey Harbin built these IEDs in such a away as to maximize human carnage.” If found guilty, Harbin faces up to 10 years in prison for each count and the possibility of a $250,000 fine.

Neo-Nazi sympathizer and former NSM member J.T. Ready [2], currently one of Arizona’s most visible self-appointed border patrollers, claimed that he personally recruited Harbin into the NSM, but that he himself is no longer a member of the group. When asked by ABC15 News in Phoenix if he knew what Harbin was planning to do with the bombs, Ready replied that things are still under investigation, and that the reporter “would have to talk to the feds and see what their official statement is…but I will say that domestic terrorism is real.” An NSM spokesman contacted ABC15 News reporter Christopher Sign and informed him that Jeffrey Harbin was “no longer with” the NSM.

Jeffrey isn’t the only Harbin to be involved in the neo-Nazi movement. Jeffrey Harbin is the son of Jerry Harbin [3], who has been active in white nationalist causes for years. In 1999, the senior Harbin was listed as the Phoenix contact for a new chapter of the racist Council of Conservative Citizens [4] in the Citizen Informer, the group’s newspaper. The CofCC, which evolved directly from the pro-segregation White Citizens Councils of the Jim Crow South, has referred to African Americans as “a retrograde species of humanity.”

In 2001, Jerry Harbin became the coordinator for the Phoenix chapter of the National Alliance [5] (NA), at that time one of the most dangerous and best-organized neo-Nazi groups in the country. Harbin’s chapter was active through 2005, when it switched to a chapter of National Vanguard (NV). In 2006, Harbin showed up [6] at the neo-Nazi Winterfest in Phoenix, which was hosted by the wife of Jesse Curnow, Arizona Coordinator for the white supremacist Nationalist Coalition [7]. By 2007, Harbin was no longer with NV, and instead turned his attention to other, perhaps more benign activities, like being the adjutant and choir director of the Phoenix camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans [8].

Repeated calls to Jerry Harbin for comment were not answered.

Insanity Begets Insanity

2011-02-03T16:31:00.000-06:00

And the insanity continues. This just goes to prove that in the neo-Nazi realm there is no loyalty...but, there is lots of insanity. Timothy Bland turned own his own and threatened not only the wife of a comrade - but their child. Insanity begets insanity and the insane attract others who are mad.

Man gets probation for threats to Va. neo-Nazi's wife

Posted to: Crime News Virginia

The Roanoke Times

© January 19, 2011

By Mike Gangloff

Timothy Bland, who pleaded guilty last year to threatening the wife of jailed neo-Nazi leader Bill White, was sentenced today to five years' probation.

Bland, 46, a Baltimore resident whose lawyer said he was a mentally ill follower of Bill White's online racist rants, told U.S. District Judge James Turk he was unaware of his actions when he phoned Meghan White.

"I feel terrible about what I did," Bland said. "I allowed someone to push me and prod me over a 2 1/2-year period until I lost control."

Defense lawyer Jim Crawford of Baltimore said Bland has a long history of mental illness and has been diagnosed as bipolar.

Federal sentencing guidelines suggested at least a year in prison. Crawford asked for probation, noting that Bland's mother, who financially supports him, has stage 4 breast cancer. Assistant U.S. Attorney Pat Hogeboom said he didn't object as long as strict controls were placed on Bland's activities.

Turk prohibited Bland from drinking alcohol and said he will be monitored by the federal probation office for five years.

Bland phoned Meghan White in December 2009, two days after a federal jury in Roanoke found Bill White guilty of four charges related to threatening people.

Bland told Meghan White he was coming to Roanoke to kill her and her infant daughter. He called back several times to say he was getting closer to the city, and finally that he had arrived and was getting a motel room. Bland also text messaged his victim a picture of his genitals, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office said.

The calls terrified Meghan White, who soon took her daughter and moved in with relatives. She said she didn't know Bland and didn't think her husband did either.

Crawford said Bland was "prime game" to be recruited by Bill White and followed White's racist proclamations online. Hogeboom said that in Bill White's trial, Bland was summoned as a prosecution witness to testify that he was willing to act on White's threats against minorities.

Bland was never actually called to the stand in White's trial. Meghan White was a potential defense witness. She also wasn't called to testify.

It was after Bland returned from the trial to Baltimore that he telephoned Meghan White.

Crawford said Bland feared retribution from Bill White or members of the American National Socialist Workers Party, the group White claimed to command.

After Bill White's trial, Bland told his lawyer he received phone calls from people connected to the group. He began drinking heavily, Crawford said, and when he called Meghan White, he was "clearly inebriated, clearly psychotic in many ways, clearly delusional."

The same night he threatened Meghan White, he called police in Baltimore to say that he was a former member of a Nazi group and that people were trying to kill him.

"Bland's vile, hateful threats directly caused the victim in this case real distress," U.S. Attorney Tim Heaphy said today in a statement. "Anyone who tries to intimidate or frighten another person by using the telephone, the internet, the U.S. mail, or any other instrumentality of interstate commerce will be prosecuted in this district."

Another neo-Nazi Circus Clown Bite The Dust...

2011-02-03T16:07:00.001-06:00

For the next few articles - let's talk insanity in the racist realm. I mean...look at this nutjob. Some of us remember him from his earlier NSM days when they paraded him around as some sort of rare find that would draw intelligent and articulate individuals into their neo-Nazi circus.

Neo-Nazi leader from Ridgewood charged with threatening New York Anti-Defamation League director

Wednesday, 26 January 2011 20:52 Jerry DeMarco

UPDATE: A former neo-Nazi leader from Ridgewood -- who won a court challenge to his posting Third Reich flags outside his home, made national headlines when he was dismissed as an adjunct from FDU, and keeps a swastika in his window -- was arrested this morning following a SWAT team raid on his apartment.

Jacques PlussHe is charged with threatening the director of the New York regional office of the Anti-Defamation League.

The New Jersey State Police Central Security Unit began investigating Jacques Pluss, 57, of Heights Road, after the ADL turned over emailed threats to Abraham Foxman, Acting NJSP Major Gerald Lewis told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

The unit investigates threats against politicians, judges and other public figures.

“As part of our investigation, we found that he has ties to neo-Nazi organizations, and that he frequently visited neo-Nazi websites,“ Lewis told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

At 6:30 a.m., the Troop B SWAT team -- armed with a search warrant -- descended on the apartment, along with detectives from the CSU, cyber crimes and K9 units, investigators from the Division of Criminal Justice, and Ridgewood police.

As Pluss was being arrested on charges of bias intimidation and harassment, a search turned up three rifles, Lewis told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

His wife was taken into

Jacques Pluss (courtesy NJSP)custody “for investigative purposes pertaining to possible weapons offenses,” Lewis said. Continued here...

Another Chapter Finished...

2011-01-06T19:04:00.000-06:00

You can't just DO what you want. You can't just SAY anything. With rights comes responsibility. Bill White gave up some very precious moments with his wife and daughter proving that being an irresponsible asshole is costly. Being a Nazi has consequences.

Neo-Nazi William A. White convicted in Chicago for Web posts

Just two weeks before his scheduled release, William A. White was convicted of soliciting violence.

By Laurence Hammack

Jan. 2: Neo-Nazi leader may face more time in prison

U.S. v. William White

Read complete coverage from the December 2009 trial in Roanoke, as well as previous William White coverage

A neo-Nazi whose online rants struck fear in Roanoke and across the country was convicted of using his website to solicit violence Wednesday, just two weeks before his scheduled release from prison.

William A. White was found guilty of encouraging harm to the foreman of a Chicago jury that convicted a fellow white supremacist in 2004. The verdict came on the third day of a trial in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

White, 33, the leader of a Roanoke-based white supremacy group, has been serving a 2½-year sentence following his convictions last year in Roanoke of threatening a bank employee in Missouri, a university administrator in Delaware and a group of apartment tenants in Virginia Beach.

Instead of a scheduled Jan. 18 release date, White now faces up to 10 more years in prison.

Defense attorneys had argued that even as bellicose bigot, White was entitled to free-speech protection.

But the all-white jury, which was granted anonymity to protect its members from possible harm or harassment by neo-Nazi sympathizers, rejected that argument after three hours of deliberation.

"While freedom of speech is among our most cherished rights, the First Amendment does not protect anyone who intends to induce others to kill or injure," U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said after the verdict.

White -- once described as one of the loudest voices in America's neo-Nazi movement -- was charged with soliciting violence with an online post to overthrow.com, a website that served as the megaphone for his racist views.

Mark Hoffman, the foreman of a Chicago jury that convicted white supremacist Matthew Hale in an unrelated case in 2004, testified this week that he was dismayed to learn, four years later, that White had posted his name, address and telephone number to the website.

The post identified Hoffman as the "gay anti-racist" juror who played a key role in convicting Hale of soliciting the murder of a Chicago judge who ruled against him in a civil case. Hale is serving a 40-year prison sentence.

Hoffman testified that within minutes, be began to receive hateful text and phone messages, some of them including racial and ethnic slurs.

"They were coming in every two seconds, so many that they killed the battery" on his cellphone, Assistant U.S. Attorney William Hogan said.

Neither the post nor the responses it generated contained direct threats. Prosecutors argued that White's words amounted to an invitation to harm the juror -- especially when taken in context with other missives that appeared on overthrow.com.

The jury was told of numerous posts: White's call to lynch six black youths at the center of a civil rights demonstration in Jena, La.; his delight over the slayings of two family members of a Chicago judge; his opinion that a Canadian civil rights lawyer should "be drug out into the street and shot;" and his own growing urges to "kill, kill, kill."

Defense attorney Nishay Sanan said prosecutors succeeded in scaring the jury into convicting his client.

In fact, jurors asked that all spectators and reporters be removed from the courtroom before they delivered the verdict. They also asked to be allowed to leave from an alternate courthouse exit. Judge Lynn Adelman declined to clear the courtroom, but ordered that jurors be escorted safely from the building.

"The verdict was based on fear and not the law," Sanan said. "This is a sad day for the First Amendment."

Prosecutors said there was more to the case than just inflammatory rhetoric. They cited the testimony of two former members of White's organization, the American National Socialists Workers Party.

Mike Burks and Phil Anderson told the jury about letters they received from White within days of his arrest in October 2008, which came shortly after his post targeting the Chicago juror.

White instructed Burks and Anderson to make sure no harm came to the juror at the hands of white supremacists. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Ferrara, who prosecuted the case with Hogan, said the letters suggested a plan had already been set in motion.

"Why would he want to ask these people to stand down if they were not asked to stand up in the first place?" Ferrara said.

As in his previous cases, White did not testify or present evidence.

White, who moved to Roanoke seven years ago to start a rental home business, has been called "possibly the loudest and most obnoxious neo-Nazi leader in America" by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups.

Both White's business and his hate group have dissolved since his arrest.

No sentencing date has been scheduled. Although the maximum punishment is 10 years, sentencing guidelines will likely call for a lesser term. Sanan said he will ask that White be released on bond after Jan. 18, the end of his sentence on the Roanoke charges.

A bond hearing would give prosecutors another chance to argue that White is a danger, a theme they have sounded consistently.

White's writings may well have encouraged violence by at least one of his followers in a case cited by the indictment, which takes 12 pages to recount some of his diatribes.

In 2007, Eric Hunt -- identified by White on overthrow.com as "a fan of this website" -- was convicted of assaulting Elie Wiesel, an internationally known Holocaust survivor, author and Nobel laureate.

In commenting about the case, White included Wiesel's address "in case anyone was looking for him."

In another post two weeks later, White wrote that he had received a call from The Associated Press about the incident. According to the indictment, White made the following statement to the news outlet:

"Insofar as my views may have played a role in motivating Mr. Hunt, I can only say that I hope to inspire a hundred more white young people to sacrifice themselves for our collective racial whole. The only thing more noble than sacrifice is victory.

"Heil Hitler."

Obama Administration Stunned Human Rights Groups

2010-11-15T12:34:00.000-06:00

"Obama’s memorandum may look jarring on paper, but it’s grimly consistent with Washington’s agenda of waging war indefinitely, without boundaries, against an enemy we can no longer really define. The U.S. supports warfare that uses children as weapons, warfare that kills civilian children indiscriminately, warfare that ultimately sends our own children to perish on foreign soil. And so America marches on in a world of conflict where the first casualty is innocence itself."

White House Says Child Soldiers Are Ok, if They Fight Terrorists

by Michelle Chen

“You cannot be completely happy with all these wounds—both in your body and in your mind.” —15 year-old child soldier

The phenomenon of child soldiers, like genocide, slavery and torture, seems like one of those crimes that no nation could legitimately defend. Yet the Obama administration just decided to leave countless kids stranded on some of the world’s bloodiest battlegrounds.

The administration stunned human rights groups last month by sidestepping a commitment to help countries curb the military exploitation of children. Josh Rogin at Foreign Policy reported that President Obama issued a presidential memorandum granting waivers from the Child Soldiers Prevention Act to four countries: Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and Yemen. The memo instructed Secretary of State Hilary Clinton that it is in our “national interest” to continue extending military aid to those countries, despite their failure to comply with the rules Congress passed and George W. Bush signed in 2008.

A thumbs-up for child soldiers from the pen of President Obama? Whitehouse spokesperson P.J. Crowley explained it was a strategic decision to ease the 2008 law. The rationale is that on balance, it’s more effective for the U.S. to keep providing military assistance that will help countries gradually evolve out of the practice of marshaling kids to the battlefield, rather than isolating them.

According to the Christian Science Monitor, Crowley argued, “These countries have put the right policies in place… but are struggling to correctly implement them.” The New York Times reported that administration spokespeople also cited the countries’ crucial role in global counter-terrorism efforts.

Strategically granting certain countries a pass on child rights reflects Washington’s warped attitude toward the global human rights regime. The U.S. has failed to ratify, or simply ignored, numerous human rights protocols, and our ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child has languished. Human Rights Watch points out, “Only the United States and Somalia, which has no functioning national government, have failed to ratify the treaty.” (Although we did ratify two optional protocols in 2002, relating to child soldiers and other forms of exploitation.)

Somalia, by the way, is one of just two countries that the White House allowed to be sanctioned under the 2008 law; the second was Burma. Presumably this is because Somalia is not receiving direct military funding, reports the Monitor. Yet the U.S. continues to support Somali government forces as they fight Islamic insurgents—with the help of a large force of child soldiers. (To their credit, Somalia has at least promised the U.N. they”ll stop arming kids eventually, according to the Washington Post).

Maybe you could argue that the U.S. is so “advanced” it needn’t bother with rules about children’s rights to education and whatnot. Obama’s waivers might be seen as realpolitik in areas like Yemen, whose military we support as part of our sprawling counter-terrorism operations. But the bottom line is that the administration has carved out an exception to a law intended to ethically guide the flow of U.S. aid money around the world.

According to the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, which holds America to the same scrutiny that countries like Uganda and DRC routinely face in the media, we benefit indirectly and directly from the exploitation of child fighters:

In 2006 the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) registered 59 children in detention during 16 visits to five places of detention or internment controlled by the USA or the UK in Iraq. US soldiers stationed at the detention centres and former detainees described abuses against child detainees, including the rape of a 15-year-old boy at Abu Ghraib, Iraq, forced nudity, stress positions, beating and the use of dogs. Following US troop increases in Iraq in early 2007, US military arrests of children there rose from an average of 25 per month in 2006 to an average of 100 per month. Military officials reported that 828 were children held at Camp Cropper by mid-September, including children as young as 11. A 17-year-old was reportedly strangled by a fellow detainee in early 2007. In August 2007 the USA opened Dar al-Hikmah, a non-residential facility intended to provide education services to 600 detainees aged 11-17 pending release or transfer to Iraqi custody. US military officials excluded an estimated 100 children from participation in the program, apparently on the grounds that they were “extremists” and “beyond redemption”.

Omar Khadr, the young Canadian detainee at Guantanamo Bay, remains trapped in a Kafkaesque quasi-judicial system without regard to the fact that he was a child when captured. Rights advocates like Monia Mazigh in Ottowa have called for Khadr to be recognized as a child soldier, but the administration seems to think securing a conviction in Kangaroo Court takes precedence over international law. And because Khadr, like the other Gitmo prisoners, is identified with that faceless dark horde the U.S. has branded “terrorists,” Americans aren’t even inclined to see him as a human being, let alone as a juvenile soldier deserving of sympathy.

So America’s hypocrisy on children in war has many layers. Obama condemns the practice in theory, then undermines federal law by issuing waivers for our partners in Africa and the Middle East. And of course, Washington sees no problem with punishing child soldiers as adults when they’re aligned with the terrorists who are bent on destroying America.

UN Treaties alone obviously won’t demobilize all the world’s child soldiers, but their main role is to put down a legal placeholder. And it’s that moral guidepost that the U.S. undermines every time it waives parallel U.S. laws based on the “national interest.”

Obama’s memorandum may look jarring on paper, but it’s grimly consistent with Washington’s agenda of waging war indefinitely, without boundaries, against an enemy we can no longer really define. The U.S. supports warfare that uses children as weapons, warfare that kills civilian children indiscriminately, warfare that ultimately sends our own children to perish on foreign soil. And so America marches on in a world of conflict where the first casualty is innocence itself.

WHO WILL STAND UP TO THE SUPERRICH?

2010-11-14T14:24:00.001-06:00

Photo by Damon Winter

Yesterday, Frank Rich, a columnist for the New York Times, wrote an opinion piece dealing with one of the biggest problems that we are currently faced with in this country and one that is grabbing a lot of headline attention - the Bush Tax Cuts and the corporate gurus who are really running this country.

As it appears that President Obama is waffling yet again in an effort to appease the right-wing elements of Congress, and signaling some sort of "compromise" on extending these tax cuts, many of us are becoming more and more incensed by his wishy-washy, mamby-pamby performance.

Frank Rich, questions who, then, will stand up against those who represent the upper echelon of the out-of-control economic ladder:

The wealthy Americans we should worry about instead are the ones who implicitly won the election — those who take far more from America than they give back. They were not on the ballot, and most of them are not household names. Unlike Whitman and the other defeated self-financing candidates, they are all but certain to cash in on the Nov. 2 results. There’s no one in Washington in either party with the fortitude to try to stop them from grabbing anything that’s not nailed down.

The Americans I’m talking about are not just those shadowy anonymous corporate campaign contributors who flooded this campaign. No less triumphant were those individuals at the apex of the economic pyramid — the superrich who have gotten spectacularly richer over the last four decades while their fellow citizens either treaded water or lost ground. The top 1 percent of American earners took in 23.5 percent of the nation’s pretax income in 2007 — up from less than 9 percent in 1976. During the boom years of 2002 to 2007, that top 1 percent’s pretax income increased an extraordinary 10 percent every year. But the boom proved an exclusive affair: in that same period, the median income for non-elderly American households went down and the poverty rate rose.

More here...

A SIGN OF THE TIMES

2010-11-14T01:24:00.000-06:00

A LITTLE MESSED UP ISN'T IT?

HE'S....BACK...hopefully not for long

2010-11-13T12:37:00.000-06:00

(Image: Lance Page / t r u t h o u t; Adapted: Eric Draper, John Ott,
Dirk Wüstenhagen)

A Small Fraction of a Man

Saturday 13 November 2010
by: William Rivers Pitt

George W. Bush was all over my television this past week, all over the newspapers, and the feelings inspired by his sudden reappearance are almost beyond my capacity to describe. There was the story about his hearty approval of waterboarding. There was the story that had him contemplating dropping Dick Cheney from the administration. There was the story that had him describing himself as a "dissenter" on the Iraq invasion. He did interviews, and excerpts of his new book dribbled out, and it was all too much to endure.

This is the guy, I thought to myself when I saw his face or heard his voice. This is the guy.

This is the guy who took a massive Clinton administration budget surplus and gave it away to his friends at the top of the tax bracket, a move that laid the groundwork for our current economic calamity.

This is the guy who breezed past a pointed warning about Osama bin Laden, terrorism and airplanes on August 8, 2001, because he was on vacation and couldn't be bothered.

This is the guy who parlayed that massive failure into a constant goad of fear to be wielded with impunity against the people he purported to lead. Plastic sheeting and duct tape, anthrax under your pillow, and of course, weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

This is the guy who, not even a month after the Towers came down, looked into a television camera and said, "We need to counter the shockwave of the evildoer by having individual rate cuts accelerated and by thinking about tax rebates."

Oh yes, this is the guy who stood before the American people in January of 2003 and proclaimed that Iraq was in possession of 26,000 liters of anthrax, 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin, 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX gas, mobile biological weapons labs, uranium from Niger for use in a "robust" nuclear weapons programs, and that Iraq enjoyed connections to al Qaeda that led directly to the attacks of September 11.

This was the guy who presided over the outing of a deep-cover CIA agent after her husband had the temerity to call him a liar in the public prints. That agent was running a network for the purpose of thwarting any person or group that might try to deliver weapons of mass destruction to terrorists.

This is the guy who strutted like a bantam rooster under a banner reading "Mission Accomplished," bragging about the end of a war that was to grind on for seven more years, and grinds on even to this day, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow.

This is the guy who said "Bring it on" and put a target on the backs of tens of thousands of US troops. This is the guy who is personally responsible for the death and injury of hundreds of thousands of innocent human beings. The body count from his administration is breathtaking in size and scope.

This is the guy who allowed the intelligence services of this nation to violate the Constitutional rights of its citizens in a way never seen before.

This is the guy who turned the entire world against America after that same world embraced us so completely after September 11. World leaders could not stand to be in the same room with him, and openly mocked him, thus humiliating us all.

This is the guy who literally fiddled while Hurricane Katrina devoured the city of New Orleans.

This guy actually said he considered dropping Cheney from the administration? It would be comic if it were not so pointedly fraudulent. Cheney ran the government, ran roughshod over every right he found meddlesome, and Bush sat by and let him do it with that same simpering smirk on his face.

This is the guy who set stem cell research back more than a decade because of his overarching fealty to "snowflake babies" over living, breathing, suffering people.

This is the guy who unleashed all the horrors of the torture chamber because the lawyers said it was OK. If the president does it, it's not illegal, right? Nixon came up with that line, but this is the guy who took it farther than it has ever been taken before.

This is the guy, and now he's back on my television again, and it makes me want to eat my own teeth. I endured him for eight long, brutal years, and have often thought since that no matter how bad things get - and they have, indeed, gotten pretty damned bad - I don't have to endure his face or his voice or his abject serial failures anymore.

But now he's back, and it is like returning to a nightmare.

I don't know what this George W. Bush Reputation Rehabilitation Tour will actually accomplish in the end. The same 20% of the country that kept his approval ratings from slipping into single digits - said group now being known as the "Tea Party" - will go out and buy his book. They will lap up his mealy-mouthed pabulum like cats into the cream, and some of our "mainstream" commentators will try to shoehorn the idea that he is missed into the national conversation.

He is not. George W. Bush was, and likely will forever be, the single worst American president in the nation's history. To outstrip his remarkable record of failure, criminality and disgrace, a future president will have to personally cause the Earth to crash into the sun.

All I can do for now is avoid the TV, stay away from the newspapers, and pray to God on High that this small fraction of a man will soon retreat back into the ignominy from which he has emerged. There is no salvaging him, and thanks to him, there may be no salvaging America in his aftermath.

We are all children of this bastard fool now. The least he can do is stay in the shadows where he belongs, while we toil and sweat to repair what he wrought

Nooses Are A No-No - Goodbye Daniel

2010-11-08T16:55:00.000-06:00

Department of Justice

Office of Public Affairs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, November 8, 2010

Oregon Man Sentenced for Threatening Lima, Ohio, Civil Rights Leader by Mailing Noose

Daniel Lee Jones

WASHINGTON - Daniel Lee Jones, a Portland, Ore., white supremacist, was sentenced today to 18 months in prison and three years supervised release for threatening the president of the Lima, Ohio, chapter of the NAACP by mailing him a noose. Jones entered a guilty plea on May 17, 2010, to using the U.S. Postal Service to send a threatening communication.

In the plea agreement, Jones admitted to mailing F.M. Jason Upthegrove a hangman’s noose, which arrived at Mr. Upthegrove’s home on or about Feb. 14, 2008. Jones stated in the plea agreement that he mailed the hangman’s noose in order to convey a threat to Mr. Upthegrove because he was an African-American who publicly advocated for better police services for African-Americans in Lima, Ohio. The indictment indicated that Mr. Upthegrove also spoke out in the media against Jones’s white supremacist group’s mailing of hate flyers related to the shooting of an African American woman by a member of the Lima Police Department.

"A noose, an unmistakable symbol of hatred in this nation, was used by this defendant as a threat of violence aimed at silencing a civil rights advocate," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division. "The Department of Justice will vigorously prosecute those who use threats of violence to attempt to silence proponents of racial equality."

"We will not tolerate those who use threats of violence, such as by mailing a noose, to intimidate individuals who are advocating for racial equality," said U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio Steven M. Dettelbach.

The case was investigated by Special Agent Brian Russ of the FBI, and the prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Bauer from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and Special Legal Counsel Barry Kowalski and Trial Attorney Shan Patel from the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

An Open Letter To The White Right On The Occasion of Your Recent Successful Temper Tantrum

2010-11-03T18:33:00.001-05:00

An Open Letter to the White Right, On the Occasion of Your Recent, Successful Temper Tantrum
By Tim Wise

Posted on November 3, 2010

For all y’all rich folks, enjoy that champagne, or whatever fancy ass Scotch you drink.

And for y’all a bit lower on the economic scale, enjoy your Pabst Blue Ribbon, or whatever shitty ass beer you favor.

Whatever the case, and whatever your economic station, know this…

You need to drink up.

And quickly.

And heavily.

Because your time is limited.

Real damned limited.

So party while you can, but mind the increasingly loud clock ticking away in the corners of your consciousness.

The clock that reminds you how little time you and yours have left.

Not much more now.

Tick, tock.

Tick, tock.

Tick.

Tock.

I know, you think you’ve taken “your country back” with this election — and of course you have always thought it was yours for the taking, cuz that’s what we white folks are bred to believe, that it’s ours, and how dare anyone else say otherwise — but you are wrong.

You have won a small battle in a larger war the meaning of which you do not remotely understand.

‘Cuz there is nothing even slightly original about you.

There have always been those who wanted to take the country back.

There were those who, in past years, wanted to take the country back to a time of enslavement and indentured servitude.

But they lost.

There were those who wanted to take us back to a time when children could be made to work in mines and factories, when workers had no legal rights to speak of, when the skies in every major city were heavy with industrial soot that would gather on sidewalks and windowsills like volcanic ash.

But they lost.

There were those who wanted to take us back to a time when women could not vote, or attend any but a few colleges, or get loans in their own names, or start their own businesses.

But they lost.

There were those who wanted to take us back to a time when blacks “had no rights that the white man was bound to respect,” – this being the official opinion of the Supreme Court before those awful days of judicial activism, now decried by the likes of you – and when people of color could legally be kept from voting solely because of race, or holding certain jobs, or living in certain neighborhoods, or run out of other towns altogether when the sun would go down, or be strung up from trees.

But they lost.

And you will lose.

So make a note of it.

Tweet it to yourself.

Put it on your Facebook wall and leave it there so you’ll remember that I told you so.

It is coming, and soon.

This isn’t hubris. It isn’t ideology. It is not wishful thinking.

It is math.

Not even advanced math. Just simple, basic, like 3rd grade math.

The kind of math that proves how your kind — mostly older white folks beholden to an absurd, inaccurate, nostalgic fantasy of what America used to be like — are dying.

You’re like the bad guy in every horror movie ever made, who gets shot five times, or stabbed ten, or blown up twice, and who will eventually pass — even if it takes four sequels to make it happen — but who in the meantime keeps coming back around, grabbing at our ankles as we walk by, we having been mistakenly convinced that you were finally dead this time.

Fair enough, and have at it. But remember how this movie ends.

Our ankles survive.

You do not.

Michael Meyers, Freddie Kreuger, Jason, and that asshole husband in that movie with Julia Roberts who tracks her down after she runs away and changes her identity–they are all done. Even that crazy fucker in Saw is about to be finished off for good. Granted, he’s gonna be popping out in some 3-D shit to scare the kiddies, so he isn’t going quietly. But he’s going, as all bad guys eventually do.

And in the pantheon of American history, old white people have pretty much always been the bad guys, the keepers of the hegemonic and reactionary flame, the folks unwilling to share the category of American with others on equal terms.

Fine, keep it up. It doesn’t matter.

Because you’re on the endangered list.

And unlike, say, the bald eagle or some exotic species of muskrat, you are not worth saving.

In forty years or so, maybe fewer, there won’t be any more white people around who actually remember that Leave it to Beaver, Father Knows Best, Opie-Taylor-Down-at-the-Fishing Hole cornpone bullshit that you hold so near and dear to your heart.

There won’t be any more white folks around who think the 1950s were the good old days, because there won’t be any more white folks around who actually remember them, and so therefore, we’ll be able to teach about them accurately and honestly, without hurting your precious feelings, or those of the so-called “greatest generation” — a bunch whose white members were by and large a gaggle of miscreants who helped save the world from fascism only to return home and oppose the ending of it here, by doing nothing to lift a finger on behalf of the civil rights struggle.

So to hell with you and all who revere you.

By then, half the country will be black or brown. And there is nothing you can do about it.

Nothing, Senõr Tancredo.

Nothing, Senõra Angle, or Senõra Brewer, or Senõr Beck.

Loy tiene muy mal, hijo de Puta.

And by then you will have gone all in as a white nationalist movement — hell you’ve all but done that now — thus guaranteeing that the folks of color, and even a decent size minority of us white folks will be able to crush you, election after election, from the Presidency on down to the 8th grade student council.

Like I said, this shit is math, baby. And numbers don’t lie.

Bottom line, this too shall pass.

So enjoy your tax cuts a while longer.

Go buy whatever you people buy when your taxes get cut: a new car or two, a bigger house, an island. Whatever.

Go back to trading your derivatives, engaging in rampant financial speculation that produces nothing of value, that turns the whole world into your personal casino. Whatever.

Play your hand, and for the love of God play it big. Real big. As in, shoot for the moon big. As in, try to privatize Social Security, and health care, and everything else. Whatever.

At least that way everyone will be able to see what you’re really about.

We’ve been trying to tell them, but nothing beats seeing it with your own eyes, so “Go big or go home,” Bubba.

“Git ‘er Done.”

“Cowboy up,” or whatever other stupid-ass catch phrase strikes your fancy.

Just promise you’ll do more than talk this time.

Please, or as one of your celluloid heroes might put it, “make my day.”

Do whatever you gotta do, but remember that those who are the victims of your greed and indifference take the long view.

They know, but you do not, that justice is not for the sprinters, but rather for the long distance runners who will be hitting their second wind, right about the time that you collapse from exhaustion.

They are like the tortoise to your hare.

They are like the San Francisco Giants, to your New York Yankees: a bunch that loses year after year after year, until they finally win.

You have had this confidence before, remember?

You thought you had secured your position permanently after the overthrow of reconstruction in the wake of the civil war, after the elimination of the New Deal, after the Reagan revolution, after the Republican electoral victory of 1994. And yet, they who refuse to die are still here.

Because those who have lived on the margins, who have been abused, maligned, targeted by austerity measures and budget cuts, subjected to racism, classism, sexism, straight supremacy and every other form of oppression always know more about their abusers than the abusers know about their victims.

They have to study you, to pay careful attention, to adjust their body armor accordingly, and to memorize your sleep patterns.

You, on the other hand, need know nothing whatsoever about them. And this, will surely prove fatal to you in the end. For it means you will not know their resolve. Will not fear it, as you should.

It means you will take their greatest strength — perseverance — and make of it a weakness, called losing.

But what you forget, or more to the point never knew, is that those who lose know how to lose, which is to say they know how to lose with dignity.

And those who suffer know how to suffer, which is to say they know how to survive: a skill that is in short supply amid the likes of you.

You, who could not survive the thought of minimal health care reform, or financial regulation, or a marginal tax rate equal to that which you paid just 10 years earlier, perhaps are under the illusion that everyone is as weak as you, as soft as you, as akin to petulant children as you are, as unable to cope with the smallest setback, the slightest challenge to the way you think your country should look and feel, and operate.

But, surprise…they are not.

And they know how to regroup, and plot, and plan, and they are planning even now — we are — your destruction.

And I do not mean by that your physical destruction. We don’t play those games. We’re not into the whole “Second Amendment remedies, militia, armed resistance” bullshit that your side fetishizes, cuz, see, we don’t have to be. We don’t need guns.

We just have to be patient.

And wait for your hearts to stop beating.

And stop they will.

And for some of you, real damned soon, truth be told.

Do you hear it?

The sound of your empire dying? Your nation, as you knew it, ending, permanently?

Because I do, and the sound of its demise is beautiful.

So know this.

If you thought this election was payback for 2008, remember…

Payback, thy name is…

Temporary.

Tea Parties - Racism, Anti-Semitism and the Militia Impulse

2010-10-21T11:18:00.000-05:00

Written by D. Burghart & L. Zeskind

This section of the Special Report compiles opinion polling data, documents significant examples of racist vitriol on the part of Tea Party leaders, shows incidents where well-known anti-Semites and white supremacists have been given a platform by Tea Partiers, and analyzes the attempt by white nationalist organizations to find new recruits in Tea Party ranks.

Tea Party leaders have bristled at any mention of the racism, Christian nationalism and white supremacy that is a part of their movement. In several notable instances, people of color have been prominently put forward as speakers or entertainers at Tea Party rallies, as if to say: look, this is a racially diverse movement that wants to add more color to its ranks. Prominent among these few individuals has been Lloyd Marcus, previously mentioned in this report as a paid consultant of Tea Party Express.

Nevertheless, Confederate battle flags, signs that read “America is a Christian nation,” and racist caricatures of President Obama have been an undeniable presence at Tea Party events in both local communities and in Washington, D.C. The venom (and spittle) directed at African-American Congressmen during the health care debate carried an unmistakably racist message. It is not the contention of this report that all Tea Partiers are consciously racist. The evidence presented, however, speaks for itself.

Providing a Platform to Bigots

Tea Party leaders have promoted and provided a platform to known racists and anti-Semites on multiple occasions. Dale Robertson, the chairman of the 1776 who displayed the infamous “n****r sign,” for example, brought Martin “Red” Beckman on as a guest to the Tea Party Radio hour that he co-hosts with Washington state talk show host Dr. Laurie Roth. Beckman has been known for over twenty-five years for his anti-Semitic writings and his defense of militias. In 1994, Beckman was evicted from his property in Montana by the IRS for refusing to pay taxes. He now resides in southwestern Washington State.[199]

While introducing Beckman, Robertson said, “Red’s a great guy. He’s been actually leading this fight long before I probably was even born. Red has written many books, one is Walls in Our Minds, another is Why the Militia. And so you’ll find that he agrees with you Laurie wholeheartedly that owning a gun is a constitutional right. And he is an authority on the Constitution and what the government has done to undermine our authority as citizens. It’s a pleasure to have him on board.”[200]

At the end of this program, Beckman promoted his book and noted that “Dale is talking about putting it on his website and I have no quarrel with that.”[201] Robertson added, “I’ve read his books, and they are a must read. Once you read them you’ll realize that we’ve definitely been deceived by our government and we need to do everything in our powers to take our nation back.”[202]

In a separate incident, Robertson endorsed Pastor John Weaver on the 1776 Tea Party Meet Up website. According to Robertson, “John Weaver is a very knowledgeable Christian leader who presents scriptural basis for Constitutional Rights. The Church has not exercised these rights and consequently is in decline. The Constitution is founded on the principal of God and a moral people, without either then the Church and the people of this land will fall victim to an oppressive government.”[203] Robertson also used this Meetup site to advertise an August 29, 2009 “family retreat” with Pastor Weaver in Magnolia, Texas.[204] The site also indicates that Robertson attended that retreat.

Weaver, of Fitzgerald, Georgia, has a sprawling set of connections to neo-Confederates and those preaching the so-called Christian Identity doctrine. He is the former Chaplain in Chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.[205] He has spoken at “Christian Identity” gatherings in Branson, Missouri in 1998 and 1999.[206] According to this particular theology, Jews are considered a satanic force (or the incarnation of Satan himself), and people of color are considered less than fully human. By contrast, the white people of northern Europe are considered racial descendants of the Biblical tribes of Israel, and the United States of America is considered their “promised land;” a theory descended from a theology known as British-Israelism. Although Weaver describes his particular outlook as a variant of “Dominionism,” his essay, “The Sovereignty of God and Civil Government” was listed in a book catalogue published by the British-Israel World Federation. As such, this would place Weaver just one step to the right of the most radical forms of Christian fundamentalism.[207]

The list of out-front anti-Semites on Tea Party platforms includes an event in July 2009. One thousand people gathered in Upper Senate Park for a rally in D.C. A full line-up of speakers included representatives from several tax reform groups, FreedomWorks, and talk show hosts. Also on the platform that day was the band Poker Face, playing music, providing technical back up, and receiving nothing but plaudits from the crowd.[208] The band, from Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, already had a reputation for anti-Semitism. Lead singer Paul Topete was on the public record calling the Holocaust a hoax, and writing and performing for American Free Press--a periodical published by Willis Carto, the godfather of Holocaust denial in the United States. According to Topete, “The Rothschilds set up the Illuminati in 1776 to subvert the Christian basis of civilization.”[209] Because of their bigotry, the band had been kicked off venues at Rutgers University in 2006 and a Ron Paul campaign event in 2007.[210] But they made it to the stage of the Tea Party without any questions asked.

More insidiously, it is common for rank and file activists to use anti-Semitic rhetoric in their web postings. For example, one Hutchinson, Kansas woman, using the name “salthawkmom,” recently wrote a message on a Tea Party website reading: “An international cult, called the Order of the Illuminati-Cabalistic bankers and Freemasons control WORLD finances, their goal is to degrade and enslave humanity.”[211] The “Illuminati - Cabalistic” language is widespread among followers of the John Birch Society and more radical Christian patriot-types active in Tea Parties in the Midwest and South.

In another instance, in April 2009, the San Mateo, California Republican Party chairman was moved to comment on an anti-Semitic graphic used to advertise a Tea Party event, “we strongly condemn the use of anti-Semitic imagery in the promotion of a recent event.”[212]

Signs claiming that “This is a Christian nation” have been part of many Tea Party protests, and they were in particular abundance in September 2009 during the large demonstration in Washington D.C. This should not come as a surprise, since organizations usually associated with the so-called Christian right have been a part of this movement since the beginning. The American Family Association, for example, signed up more than 1,500 organizers to lead protests in their home towns during July 2009.[213]

Founded by the Rev. Don Wildmon in Tupelo, Mississippi, this organization was initially known as the National Federation for Decency. It organized boycotts of the sponsors of television shows such as “Saturday Night Live,” and “Roseanne,” in opposition to the supposed “anti-Christian” character of these programs. It sponsored a boycott of Disney because of its “attack on American families.” And it has otherwise attempted to make its narrow vision of Christianity the law of the land.[214]

Members of this organization continued to participate and lead Tea Party events into 2010. Notably, the president of American Family Association of Kentucky, Inc., Frank Simon, became a director of Tea Party of Kentucky, Inc., and ensured that Louisville Tea Party events had an anti-gay cast to them, according to local reports.[215]

Enter White Nationalists...continued here...

2010-10-01T10:59:00.000-05:00

FROM THE THIRD WAY & TALKING POINTS MEMO

Exteme Secrets - by Barton Gellman

2010-09-30T14:15:00.001-05:00

"James Cummings appeared to have accumulated explosive ingredients and radioactive samples. He had filled out an application to join the National Socialist Movement and declared an ambition to kill the President-elect."

In an excellent expose on what some of the extreme elements of our society look like, Barton Gellman walks us through the dark and secret corridors of hate.

Camouflaged and silent, the assault team inched toward a walled stone compound for more than five hours, belly-crawling the last 200 yards. The target was an old state prison in eastern Ohio, and every handpicked member of Red Team 2 knew what was at stake: The year is 2014, and a new breed of neo-Islamic terrorism is rampant in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio ... The current White House Administration is pro-Muslim and has ordered a stand-down against Islamic groups. The mission: Destroy the terrorist command post — or die trying. The fighters must go in "sterile" — without name tags or other identifying insignia — as a deniable covert force. "Anyone who is caught or captured cannot expect extraction," the briefing officer said.

At nightfall the raiders launched their attack. Short, sharp bursts from their M-16s cut down the perimeter guards. Once past the rear gate, the raiders fanned out and emptied clip after clip in a barrage of diversionary fire. As defenders rushed to repel the small team, the main assault force struck from the opposite flank. Red Team 1 burst through a chain-link fence, enveloping the defense in lethal cross fire. The shooting was over in minutes. Thick grenade smoke bloomed over the command post. The defenders were routed, headquarters ablaze. (Watch TIME's video "Homeland Security Tradeshow.")

This August weekend of grueling mock combat, which left some of the men prostrate and bloody-booted, capped a yearlong training regimen of the Ohio Defense Force, a private militia that claims 300 active members statewide. The fighters shot blanks, the better to learn to maneuver in squads, but they buy live ammunition in bulk. Their training — no game, they stress — expends thousands of rounds a year from a bring-your-own armory of deer rifles, assault weapons and, when the owner turns up, a belt-fed M-60 machine gun. The militia trains for ambushes, sniper missions, close-quarters battle and other infantry staples.

http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,2022516,00.html

Holocaust Museum Shooter Eyed Axelrod

2010-09-30T14:07:00.000-05:00

Photo courtesy of Talking Points Memo

Von Brunn Had Axelrod In His Sights...

The President was too hard to reach, in Von Brunn's view, but that was of no consequence. "Obama was created by Jews," he wrote. "Obama does what his Jew owners tell him to do."

The episode sent a jolt through the FBI and DHS. Von Brunn had demonstrated motive, means and intent to kill one of the President's closest aides. The Secret Service assigned Axelrod a protection detail and took other, undisclosed steps to broaden its coverage. The DHS put out bulletins to state and local law-enforcement agencies on the tactics, warning signs and other lessons of the case. FBI agents need to understand, a senior supervisor says, that "it isn't just the threat from Islamic extremists but also from homegrown or domestic terrorists" with antigovernment agendas

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/09/report_holocaust_shooter_wanted_to_kill_axelrod.php?ref=fpb

The "Half-Millionaire Nazi

2010-08-28T12:22:00.000-05:00

Times are tough all over and even tougher for the loons on the right. Hal Turner didn't fare too well last week, and it looks like along with being incarcerated, Bill White is now on his way to the poor house.

In a civil suit that was heard this week, a jury found in favor of the plaintiff's awarding them over a half-million in Bill's ill-gotten green-backs. It just goes to show you that not all speech is protected.

The Roanoke Times

© August 28, 2010

By Laurence Hammack

Neo-Nazi leader William A. White, serving prison time for racially motivated threats, lost a civil lawsuit brought by five women victimized by his diatribes and, along with the American Nazi Party, must pay them $545,000, a federal jury decided Friday.

The jury of seven white men held White liable for compensatory damages of $265,000 and the American National Socialist Workers' Party for $280,000.

In a trial that began Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Roanoke, five black tenants from a Virginia Beach apartment complex claimed White harassed them in May 2007 after learning of a discrimination lawsuit they had filed against their white landlord.

As the commander of a now-defunct neo-Nazi organization in Roanoke, White became so angry when he learned of the lawsuit that he fired off letters to the women with racial epithets.

It was a tactic White - described by one hate watch group as perhaps America's loudest and most obnoxious neo-Nazi - employed for years before he was jailed in 2008 on charges of making racially motivated threats.

White is serving a 2-1/2-year prison sentence.

During the trial, the women described their reactions to the letters.

One said she began to suffer seizures. Another developed an ulcer. All said they live in fear of White and his followers.

Annette Reddick testified that she no longer lets her 10-year-old grandson outside to play or ride his bike alone.

"I didn't know what was around the corner waiting for us," she said.

White, 33, did not testify or present any evidence.

White, who moved to Roanoke in 2004, once owned about 20 houses in the West End neighborhood. He claimed nearly $2 million in assets at one point but ended up filing for bankruptcy protection in 2008.

Because the jury found White's actions to be willful and malicious, the $545,000 judgment against him will stand regardless of the bankruptcy proceedings.

After deliberating about three hours Friday, the jury awarded damages to Reddick, her daughter Tasha Reddick, Arlene Carter, Tiese Mitchell and Crystal Lewis. White was ordered to pay the women amounts from $45,000 to $65,000. His now-defunct organization, the American National Socialist Workers' Party, was found liable for another $280,000.

The jury chose not to impose punitive damages.

After hearing from the women, the jury watched a videotaped deposition of White taken two years ago.

He yawned often and spoke in a flat tone when questioned by lawyers for the plaintiffs and the U.S. Justice Department.

"I don't like people who lie," he said when asked why he wrote the letters.

"The complaint is so obviously false; it's clearly make-believe. If you read it, it looks like the kind of thing blacks make up. Blacks like to make up crazy stories that make them look like victims when they are wrong."

He described blacks as animals and Jews as demons.

"You may find Mr. White reprehensible," his attorney, John Weber, told the jury. "But you still have to decide this case under the rules of the law."

Weber had argued that the women had not proved their case, in part because they chose to stay in the apartment complex after receiving White's letters.

The "Downsizing" of a neo-Nazi

2010-08-25T10:07:00.000-05:00

The "Millionaire Nazi" may just have to downsize. After all of his time in prison, attorney's fees, court costs, and now a civil suit, Bill White might very well find himself on the dole. Of course, this trust-fund sociopath might still be able to tap Mom & Dad for another hand-out. That is...until he takes them to the poor house with him. Karma bites, Bill.

Neo-Nazi Bill White faces financial hit in civil trial

The jailed racist goes on trial for slurring Virginia Beach apartment residents

By Laurence Hammack
The Roanoke Times

U.S. v. William White

Read complete coverage from White's Roanoke trial, as well as previous William White coverage

Neo-Nazi leader William A. White, already serving prison time for making racially-motivated threats, is now facing the possibility of financial punishment.

In a civil trial that began today in U.S. District Court in Roanoke, a group of black tenants from a Virginia Beach apartment complex is claiming that White harassed them in May 2007 after learning of a discrimination lawsuit they had filed against their white landlord.

As the leader of the Roanoke-based American National Socialist Workers Party, White sent the tenants letters adorned with swastikas and addressed to "Whiney Section 8 N-----."

Following a rant about blacks on welfare, White concluded: "You may get one over on your landlord this time, and you may not. But know that the white community has noticed you, and we know that you are and never will be anything more than a dirty parasite — and that our patience with you and the government that coddles you runs thin."

After hearing testimony about White’s actions in December, a federal jury convicted him of threatening several residents with the intent of intimidating them into dropping their lawsuit.

White, 33, is serving a 2½-year prison term for that and two other threats. He also faces charges in Chicago of encouraging violence against the foreman of a jury the convicted a fellow white supremacist, a charge that was dismissed on free-speech grounds and later reinstated on appeal.

The civil trial that began today is scheduled to last three days. The plaintiffs are seeking an unspecified amount in damages.

3rd Time A Charm

2010-08-13T17:35:00.001-05:00

TURNER CONVICTED

Hal Turner was convicted today after only a two-hour jury deliberation.

Turner's mom and teenage son gasped and sobbed as the jury found the Internet shock jock guilty of a single charge of threatening to murder the judges - a charge that carries up to 10 years in prison.

An ashen-faced Turner stripped off his tie and belt and handed his wallet to a clerk before he was led out of the courtroom in downtown Brooklyn.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/08/13/2010-08-13_conservative_internet_shock_jock_harold_hal_turner_convicted_of_threatening_to_k.html#ixzz0wWnUkZpq

Is The Third Time A Charm?

2010-08-10T17:50:00.001-05:00

Well, the third time is usually a charm. Let's see what the prosecution does with this one. One thing is for certain - they really want to put poor little Hal behind bars badly. I just wonder how much all of this has cost the taxpayers and just what will happen if the jury gets hung for a third time.

Jury selection underway

in 3rd trial for North

Bergen shock jock Hal

Turner

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Last updated: Tuesday August 10, 2010, 1:01 PM

BY PETER J. SAMPSON

The Record

STAFF WRITER

Jury selection got underway this morning in a

federal courtroom in Brooklyn where Hal

Turner, the ultra-right-wing shock jock and

former FBI informant, is facing his third trial

on charges of threatening to assault or

murder three appellate judges last year.

A pool of 45 residents from Brooklyn,

Queens, Staten Island and Long Island were

summoned before U.S. District Judge Donald

E. Walter who expects to seat a jury of 14 by

this afternoon.

Among the prospective jurors were school

teachers, a supermarket worker, an engineer,

a university dean and an assistant to the

chairman of Barnes and Noble.

The jurors were preliminarily asked about

how they get their news, how they use the

internet, whether they harbor any feelings

about the Justice Department and FBI that

would prevent them from being fair to both

sides, and if they have any close friends or

relatives who are judges.

Other questions of a more private nature

were explored by the judge and attorneys

behind closed doors.

A federal prosecutor will deliver the

government’s opening statement later this

afternoon and the trial will then recess until

tomorrow.

Turner’s two previous trials, in December

and March, ended in mistrial after jurors

failed to reach a unanimous verdict.

The 48-year-old North Bergen resident is

charged with a single count of threatening t

hree Chicago-based judges from the 7th U.

S. Circuit Court of Appeals after writing on

his blog in June 2009 that they “deserved to

be killed” for upholding local gun-control

ordinances.

Squirrels and Nuts

2010-08-03T20:50:00.000-05:00

What's the old saying, "If there's a squirrel, I'm the nut?" Well, that's sort of the story of my life and I have attracted a number of squirrels, but none quite as confused as Hardy Lloyd. First he was a rosy-cheeked, chubby kid worshiping some made-up god and trying to build up a cult-like legion of racist goons. Then he knocked off his girlfriend, beat the rap and emerged claiming to be some sort of bad-assed skinhead and leader of the defunct Creativity Movement. But, even though the Creativity Movement prohibits people of color and would love nothing more than to ethnically cleanse the world of non-whites, Mexicans, according to Hardy, made up most of his army. I not only wouldn't, but couldn't, make this kind of shit up.

So...this Hardy character has this whole love/hate relationship going with me. He sends me messages being all cozy and sweet and crazy then he sets up a blog where he rants about the government, goes on tirades about law-enforcement, threatens me and anyone else who calls him out, boasts about offing his girlfriend and getting away with it, offers to sell her autopsy photos to people on line and praises the killer who was responsible for the deaths of three Pittsburgh police officers.

Yep...he's definitely at the top of my squirrel list.

Last year he finally got arrested again on weapons charges. They say it's because he posted a picture of himself online holding a gun so they checked it out and found a small arsenal - they really don't like it when crazy people have weapons. But...I got a feeling that it had a lot more to do with the online bloggers who brought his outrageous behavior to the attention of those who are in charge. Wanna bet?

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_693252.html#

By Brian Bowling

PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

A Crafton man whose online praise for an attack on police caught the attention of federal authorities was sentenced Tuesday to two years and six months in prison for illegally possessing a firearm.

Hardy Lloyd, 32, pleaded guilty April 12 to the charge.

Defense attorney John Knorr argued for a lighter sentence but said Lloyd should spend some more time in confinement because he suffers from Asperger's syndrome and only recently started functioning on a 10th-grade level.

Lloyd's illness "is marked by failure to recognize, in truly adolescent fashion, the consequences of his action," Knorr said.

Consequently, he needs to be incarcerated to see why it was wrong to stockpile 10 firearms and ammunition while on probation and to continue treatment, Knorr argued.

Knorr asked U.S. District Judge Gustave Diamond to consider a sentence of three months in a halfway house or community confinement center and three months on home detention. Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret Picking argued for a sentence of 24 to 30 months -- within federal guidelines -- because Lloyd continues to be a danger to himself and others.

Lloyd declined to speak on his own behalf.

Anthony Mastroianni, a therapist who has been treating Lloyd for 10 years, told Diamond that Lloyd was under his treatment when he fatally shot his girlfriend, Lori Hann, 41, on Aug. 3, 2004, in Squirrel Hill.

Lloyd claimed self-defense and an Allegheny County jury acquitted him in 2006 of homicide charges but convicted him of carrying a firearm without a license. As a convicted felon, he cannot legally possess a firearm.

In April 2009, the FBI started investigating Lloyd's website because he posted a message praising Richard Poplawski. The Stanton Heights man is awaiting trial on charges he fatally shot three Pittsburgh police officers who responded to a domestic call at his home on April 4, 2009.

The investigation turned up a blog entry in which Lloyd talked about his shotgun. During a search of Lloyd's home, agents found 10 firearms as well as white supremacist literature and Nazi propaganda booklets. Lloyd was on probation from his 2006 conviction of the firearm charge. He is scheduled to be sentenced on the probation violation in September before Common Pleas Judge Lawrence J. O'Toole.

Picking said that stockpiling weapons and exhorting others to commit violence shortly after the police officers were killed show Lloyd remains a danger to himself and others.

Diamond agreed.

"He had a small arsenal of weapons of various calibers and types. He had ammo for all those weapons," the judge said.

Diamond also sentenced Lloyd to three years of probation. During his incarceration and probation, Lloyd is not allowed to host a website.

Now, the subject of Asperger's Syndrome emerges every time Hardy gets himself in trouble. That really pisses me off. As a teen, Hardy's father would follow him around tearing down the racist fliers that Hardy was nailing to poles and generally cleaning up Hardy's messes. When Hardy shot Lori Hahn, a big deal was made about his "condition." I've worked with many kids who had Asperger's, and every single one of them have learned to cope and to function in society without killing anyone.

While Hardy might have been in therapy for the last 10 years, I have dealt with him off and on for at least 8 of those 10 years. I'm here to tell you that Hardy Lloyd DOES know about consequences - and his intellectual functioning is far above most tenth graders I have known. Of course, when daddy is a well-to-do doctor, I guess sociopathy can be explained as anything he wants it to be.

FCC SAYS NO TO SLEAZY GLENN MILLER

2010-06-30T12:33:00.000-05:00

The white supremacist and federal informant, Frazier Glenn Miller, was dealt quite a blow this week when the FCC made a ruling on whether or not his radio ads in his bid for a U.S. Senate Seat have to be accepted and aired unedited.

In its' answer to the Missouri Broadcasters Association the FCC said that not only do they not have to air them unedited, but that Miller isn't a "bona fide contender under the political ad rules."

Miller is a write-in candidate as no viable political party would accept him on their ballot. The recent radio ads bought by Miller have met with a lot of protest because of his vitriolic attacks on Jews and minorities. According to Miller, the Chief FCC Attorney, Robert Baker, telephoned him to convey the ruling. "Quickly growing tired of his usual vague, ambiguous, snivelings, I cussed him out along with all his fellow traitor bureaucrats working for the GD jews, before hanging up in his face," said Miller on the Vanguard News Network Forum.

Well, Glenn, the public grew tired of your reprehensible and disgustingly racist and anti-Semitic rantings infecting the public airways and hung up in your face. Repugnant, warped, twisted, and demented old men really should not try and represent others in the political arena - we're already waging a big enough battle against those currently in office.

We're Not Quite Done With You Yet...

2010-06-28T17:34:00.000-05:00

Well, the Millionaire Nazi just can't seem to catch a break with the legal system. Just when he thinks he might be sprung for the holidays, the federal government says..."Not so fast...we're not done with you yet."

We knew this could happen and that it had been in the works for awhile and now he will be going back to Chicago to stand trial again.

Jailed Roanoke neo-Nazi Bill White faces jury intimidation trial in Chicago

By Laurence Hammack
The Roanoke Times

William A. White, the leader of a Roanoke-based neo-Nazi organization, is facing criminal charges once again.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, in a decision released today, reinstated a charge that White encouraged violence against the foreman of a jury that convicted a fellow white supremacist years ago.

A Chicago judge dismissed the charge last July, before White went on trial in Roanoke and was convicted of similar charges. White, who is serving a 2½-year prison sentence, will now be returned to Chicago for another trial.

Federal prosecutors in Chicago say that White posted the name, address and telephone of the foreman of a jury that convicted Matthew Hale, the former head of the neo-Nazi World Church of the Creator, of plotting have a federal judge killed.

Although White made no direct threats against the juror, prosecutors argued that the post must be viewed in the context of other material on overthrow.com, the now-defunct website that served as a megaphone for the neo-Nazi’s inflammatory words.

In its decision, the Court of Appeals noted that White once wrote that "everyone associated with the Matt Hale trial has deserved assassination for a long time."

White, who moved to Roanoke in 2004 and created the American National Socialist Workers Party, is currently serving time for the racially-motivated threats and harassment of people in Missouri, Delaware and Virginia Beach.

A 'Frail,' and 'Elderly' Nazi?

2010-06-18T10:56:00.001-05:00

The pieces of this puzzle are all starting to come together as new details emerge. Edgar J. Steele has been indicted and charged with use of interstate commerce for the commission of murder for hire. He is accused of hiring an assassin to kill his wife and his mother-in-law.

A well known defense attorney for white supremacists and other nefarious characters, Steele pled with the court to be released and assured the judge that he was not a flight risk. He characterized himself as a "frail" and "elderly" man.

The 64 year-old is an anti-Semitic and racist attorney out of Sandpoint, Idaho. He is probably most well known for his defense of Richard Butler, head of Aryan Nations, in a 2000, suit that was brought about when Aryan Nation's guards attack a woman and her son. Steele lost the case and Richard Butler lost his compound.

Prior to his recent arrest, Steele ran a website called "Conspiracy Pen Pal," where he posted his anti-Semitic and racist rants.

According to the Anti-Defamation League…

"Steele also regularly attacks blacks in his books, columns and speeches. He alleges the existence of a "Black-on-White race war" in the U.S., and claims that blacks have "inherited" a distinctly "African" culture of "rape…murder…violence…[and] single-parent families." He has also called for organized opposition to African Americans in the entertainment industry, asking his readers to join him in boycotting "products advertised with black actors and models," and "TV shows and movies with black actors."

"Steele publishes a weekly commentary on his Web site, and his writings are also distributed widely through E-mail lists. Steele's open association with white supremacists has become well-known, and he is a sought-after speaker at conferences of right-wing extremists, including those conducted by the National Alliance, Volksfront, and the Institute for Historical Review."

IN EDGAR STEELE'S OWN WORDS…

"Truly the Masters of Disaster on a national scale, Jews have been ejected from society after society, down through the ages -- always for the same reasons and always claiming to be the victims of unjustified persecution. Today, however, they are engineering a disaster global in its reach -- their "final solution," if you will: the New World Order. And America is their intended vehicle. America's founders were well aware of the dangers presented by the Jewish race." (August 25, 2003)

"Join me, won't you? Boycott products advertised with black actors and models. Make a statement: If you see black, don't go back. Boycott TV shows and movies with black actors. Send the message that we are fed up: If we see "black, we don't go back. Cancel your subscriptions to newspapers and magazines that push black articles, columnists and advertisements into your face. There are plenty available that don't. Not coincidentally, those that don't promote blacks are the same ones that actually tell the truth about other things, too. Tell them when you cancel: If we see black, we don't go back."

"Wherever blacks are congregated in America, one observes the manifestation of their inherited behavioral response patterns, directly traceable to the behavior to be observed in African blacks. Realizing that America's black problems are rooted in African culture goes a long way toward explaining the black-on-white race war being waged in the streets of America, the rapes, the murders, the violence, the short-term outlook, the single-parent families and so on."

"So, what color are Jews? Jews are the color of avarice and greed. Jews are the color of deception, manipulation and the lust for power. Jews are the color of dishonesty, selfishness and heartlessness. "

"Jews are right about anti-Semitism being a disease, you know, just as fourteenth-century Europeans were right about the nature of bubonic plague. However, just as with bubonic plague, American Jews seem not to have identified the Jewish Plague's real carriers. But you and I know who they are. Anti-Semitism is a disease. You catch it from Jews."

"Jews, themselves, were responsible for Adolf Hitler. There is a pattern to Jewish tyranny in country after country, you know….Hitler was the response to the pre-World-War-II Jewish takeover and pillaging of Germany, similar to how Jewish robber barons recently gutted Russia."

"Personally, give me real skinheads any day of the week for loyalty, honesty and passion, versus the girly-man traitors now running America! I learned that many years ago when I had the honor of helping to defend your right to free speech by representing Richard Butler and the Aryan Nations in a trumped-up lawsuit designed to silence them."

The charge currently being levied against Steele carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. However, just hours before he stood before Judge Candy Dale, a pipe bomb was found under his wife's SUV and a subsequent arrest of Larry Fairfax was made. Fairfax has confessed to building and placing the bomb and being paid by Steele to do so.

During the hearing, Steele represented himself and whined to the Judge, "This is a very emotional situation for me."

Edgar J. Steele is representative of some of the most pernicious members of our society. Well educated, articulate, and revered by the racist extremes among us, Mr. Steele wielded a lot of influence within the white-supremacist realm. His writings and public appearances were always met with much appreciation among the fringe element. The news of his arrest and the charges against him has sent shock waves through the rank and file and has been responded to with typical and predictable anti-government sentiment and, of course, denial.

Strange Goings On...

2010-06-16T13:27:00.001-05:00

And the case just gets stranger and stranger...

(Source: The Idaho Statesman, Boise)By Kathleen Kreller, The Idaho Statesman, Boise

Jun. 16--The convoluted murder-for-hire case involving a North Idaho lawyer just got a lot more complicated.

On Tuesday, a bomb was found beneath a car registered to Edgar J. Steele, who is in the Kootenai County Jail on murder-for-hire charges.

The bomb was discovered when a woman brought the vehicle -- registered to Steele -- to a Coeur d'Alene oil change shop. Employees found the bomb, moved the vehicle and called police, said Lt. Jay Heintz with Coeur d'Alene police.

"Two vehicles were towed from the scene, pending processing for possible evidence," Heintz said. The other vehicle also could have evidence of the bomb, Heintz said. No other device was found.

The device police found looked like a pipe bomb, witnesses told the Spokane Spokesman-Review newspaper.

Employees described the customer as a women in her 50s. The bomb was a 1-foot piece of galvanized pipe with cap screws and two fuses attached to the exhaust system, the newspaper reported.

U.S. 95 near the shop was shut down for hours as the bomb was removed and rendered safe, Heintz said.

Later Tuesday, during his first court appearance, Steele pleaded not guilty to the murder-for-hire charges, according to the Spokesman-Review. The judge declined to release Steele and barred him from contacting his wife or mother-in-law, said Assistant U.S. Attorney for Idaho Traci Whelan.

The judge also appointed federal public defenders to represent Steele.

Steele's original hearing Monday was delayed after the U.S. Attorney's Office in Coeur d'Alene received a letter containing suspicious white powder that tests showed were non-hazardous.

Steele faces up to 10 years in prison for the charge of using interstate facilities for murder-for-hire.

Steele, 64, was charged Friday -- the same day the women allegedly were to be killed in a car crash meant to look like an accident, according to a probable-cause affidavit obtained by the Idaho Statesman.

A confidential witness occasionally employed by Steele met agents last week and said Steele would pay him to murder the women.

The witness said Steele had discussed a list of people he wanted dead, including his wife and her mother, six months earlier. The witness agreed to the plot and accepted travel money, court documents say.

According to the affidavit, agents concealed a device on the informant and recorded Steele planning the murders, according to court documents.

The witness told the FBI Steele paid $500 in cash for travel expenses and promised as much as $25,000 if the murders were completed on Friday. According to the affidavit, Steele promised the witness another $100,000 if an insurance policy paid out after his wife's murder.

Steele is well known from his work for hate groups such as the Aryan Nations. He unsuccessfully defended the hate group and its founder Richard Butler in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit brought against them in 2000. That loss ultimately bankrupted the Aryan Nations. Steele is also known for vocal anti-Semitic and racist rants on the Internet.

FOR INFO ON THE INDICTMENT CHECK THIS OUT...

2010-06-14T14:50:00.000-05:00

What's the old saying..."Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me?" Well, apparently, within the desperate bowels of white supremacist groups a fool really IS born every minute. They just can't catch a break these days.

ORIGINAL SOURCE
Advertiser on Local White Supremacist Site May Not Be Legitimate Racist
By Thomas Francis, Monday, Jun. 14 2010 @ 1:32PMCategories: Business, Crime, Religion

Guile Hitler: Does Browne believe in White Power? Or just the Green?

His friends in the white supremacist community may be able to forgive John Harold Browne for being a scam artist -- and with his legal history for fraud, that's a strong possibility. But they must be positively scandalized by the possibility that Browne's only pretending to be racist hate-monger.

After this article in Intelligence Report, by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Browne's dirty secrets are laid bare.

The article documents a litany of financial crimes, large and small. Browne, it seems, can't be trusted handling his boss' money; and he has a tendency to bounce checks. In 2007, he entered a plea of no contest in two criminal cases and was sentenced to 15 years probation.

And yet this resilient entrepreneur launched Tip of the Spear Consulting in September 2009. The company is cloaked in secrecy, though the magazine found that the company offered consultations "on matters such as tax shelters, corporate veil protection and anonymous banking."

Clearly, Browne has accumulated legal experience in the field of creative money management.

What's less clear is Browne's choice in clientele. He advertises Tip of the Spear on Stormfront.org, the white supremacist website of former Alabama KKK leader Don Black and his fast-rising son Derek.

In addition to the financial sleight of hand, Tip of the Spear's web banner offers "intellectual and physical protection." In that latter capacity, Browne attended the October 2009 speech by Nazi Holocaust denier John Irving at the Ritz-Carlton in Manalapan.

After a fracas led to one neo-Nazi stabbing another, Irving blamed Browne for being slow to react. Browne is the surname of the "John" we referenced in this November 17 Juice post about hackers who leaked Irving's emails, including those the historian had with Browne.

This role brought more attention to Browne, who then found his racist credentials being assailed by Stormfront regulars.

Intelligence Report spoke with one of Browne's former employers, who was Jewish and said that Browne never displayed any racial or ethnic hatred. The magazine muses that Browne may be an "'affinity scammer' -- a man who uses the very particular interests of a certain set of people to lure them into parting with their money."

Confronted by Stormfront readers, Browne defended himself, saying to his critics, "Look for yourself how many non-whites I employ, look at the bank statements and see how many non-whites are given money. The answer to both is zero!"

Browne's business still advertises on Stormfront but today the website is "undergoing renovations."

Browne did not immediately respond to an email message requesting comment.

"There May Not Be an "I" in Team, But There Are Three "U"s In STFU."

2010-06-12T14:08:00.000-05:00

FROM BRAINSPANK

I’m somewhat loathe to take this on.

Again.

I’ve already written about it once and fairly well forecasted what wicked this way came if I do say so myself.

http://www.brainspank.org/2010/05/just-over-the-edge/

And it’s not like everyone one else hasn’t been piling on. What’s the use unless I have something new to say, some new devilry to contribute?

I will tell you this and thus reiterate: it is way worse than the media dares to speculate and far more widespread and destructive than you imagine. This shit is fucked up.

I am a little surprised at just what a vulgar carnival it has devolved into. As if the tragedy itself does not merit our horror enough, the politicization thereof inspires Grand mal projectile vomiting. Partisan pricks screeching that the President hasn’t done enough. Of such pinheads I would merely ask what more would you have him do? What different? He was on the scene from the very beginning, long before the obfuscation by BP began to suffer the antiseptic of both sunlight and science. Understand that this is in no way his fault despite it being most definitely his problem.

Anyone with more than a clump of toxic crude for an intellect is by now well aware that comprehensive culpability is the exclusive purview of BP, Halliburton, Transocean, Darth Fucking Cheney and the various virtues of avarice. This, despite shrill exhortations of porcine pundits like Palin, and Limbaugh, that the fault somehow lies with the environmentalists for forcing dangerous oil extraction further off shore. “Drill bay drill”, you stupid fucking cunts.

Heard this one the other day: Only an idiot can perceive another idiot as genius.

I’m willing to wager that lipsticked pig Palin fails to realize that any or all domestic oil production does not somehow magically stay within our borders for our exclusive consumption. No, it goes on the open market to the highest bidder. Nor would she admit that Deepwater Horizon padded it’s possibilities for production with the same bogus ecological impact studies submitted to her state of Alaska. They cheated from their very own homework. I’m not here to write a term paper but understand that the paperwork BP submitted for that very well in the Gulf of Mexico references remedies they would undertake were the walrus population threatened. Walruses? In the Gulf of goddamn Mexico? They would have promised to protect penguins too if they thought it would help their chances.

As I predicted, BP has lied to us with simultaneous shamelessness and fierce diligence. They lied that there was a leak to begin with. They lied about the flow, it’s rate, it’s hideous volume. They lied about the vast underwater plumes. They lied about the safety, efficacy and consequences of the dispersants they insisted upon using. They lied about having a fucking clue what to do. They lied about who’s fault it was and what actually happened. They’ve manipulated the media, restricted access to fouled beaches and even engaged in search engine fuckery in a blatant attempt to sensor the extent of the worst man made disaster since Chernobyl.

True to form, assholes like Eric Cantor take to the air whining about the counter productivity of Obama making BP into a villain. He actually lamented Obama’s endeavor to find the right “ass to kick”. The Tea Party jackass Rand Paul has the the stones to posit that it’s “Un-American” for Obama to say he intends to keep his boot on the neck of BP. Boehner, or Representative Agent Orange, had the retarded audacity to side with US Chamber of commerce when it posited that the liability cap of a paltry $75 million not be lifted retroactively. “I think the people responsible in the oil spill — BP and the federal government — should take full responsibility for what’s happening there,” Boehner croaked.

This brings us to Bobby Jindal, the once rising star, the great other skin color hope of the Republican party. No, not Michael Steele. Bobby “I hate big government so much I’ll decry and pretend to deny federal stimulus money until I take it and ask for more” Jindal. Now the little bastard is out of the closet all the way. Pontificating ad nauseum in public like a chronic masturbator with demands on the federal government and the Obama administration and how the money and the resources aren’t nearly enough.

You know what chaps my ass? His stock is rising. His second act in American politics is in full swing as a result of overt politicization of this staggering clusterfuck of a disaster. Oh and they’re all pissing and moaning about Obama’s moratoriums on deep water off shore drilling.

To all of them I say: There may not be an “I” in Team, but there are three “U”s in Shut The Fuck Up.

I saw a clip on Comedy Central today where my hero Lewis Black said something like just because Dumbya is no longer president doesn’t mean idiocy fled the country. It’s like whack-a-mole he said, you get rid of one and three more pop up. He also said that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico means there won’t be any shrimp for your shrimp cocktails you jackasses! I loves me some Lewis, he likes to through fossils at creationists.

I love the levity but here’s some gravity. Barack Obama may just, might could, enjoy a unique opportunity here. Whence upon a time, the dust will settle, the chattering, nattering class will have shut up and the brackish blackness from the mesozoic will finally cease to flow from depths to shores, polluting everything in it’s path. It will come time to mitigate and metamorphose this most heinous of episodes into gorgeous things. This could very well be the catalyst for the ghost of our human future. Mr. Obama may just be able to lean on it as an abject example, a final lesson, of greed and recklessness and harness it to steer us in the right direction.

Energy, after all, could and should be free. Our entire world has been powered by the sun which begat the wind and the waves long before we ever emerged from the primordial soup, tails dragging. Technology has advanced significantly enough for us to abandon this archaic, insidious and poisonous methodology and embrace the sun, literally the star of our solar system, in it’s stead.

It’s no secret. Any scientist or physicist would concur; that awesome, perpetually exploding ball, some 93 million miles away in the sky, is all we really need. All we ever have needed. It’s the reason we are here. It really is that simple.

It’s time. We put a man on the moon with a hundredth of the computing power now available in any given laptop and even some cell phones.

This is big picture stuff and he is a big picture guy.

C’mon Barry. You can do this.

Drinks for my friends.

LAWYER UP! KARMA BITES!

2010-06-12T12:34:00.000-05:00

Ain't it funny how karma catches up to you? Now, there's good karma and bad karma and Edgar Steele is about to get a healthy dose of the putrid kind.

This repugnant puke has made a name for himself in the white supremacsit realm and has been revered by many in that realm of the gutter.

It seems he fancied himself invincible and, like Santa, he made a list and checked it twice - only he had murder on his mind.

FULL STORY & MORE HERE

Edgar J. Steele, 64, was charged Friday - the same day the women were to be killed in a car crash meant to look like an accident, according to a probable-cause affidavit.

A confidential witness occasionally employed by Steele met with the FBI Wednesday and told agents Steele would pay him to murder the women.

The witness said Steele had discussed a list of people he wanted dead, including his wife and her mother, six months earlier. The witness agreed to the plot and accepted travel money, court documents say.

According to the affidavit, the witness was supposed to kill the women Friday because Steele had an alibi for that day. So agents concealed a deviceon the informant and recorded Steele planning the murders, the document said.

"The United States magistrate had found probable cause for the offense," said Traci Whelan, an assistant U.S. attorney for Idaho. "As for the timing of the arrest, it was prudent, given he had apparently set a deadline for it."

Steele is well known from his work for hate groups such as the Aryan Nations and other high-profile clients, including the McGuckin family, who held off police during a 2001 Idaho standoff. He's also known for vocal anti-semitic and racist rants on the Internet.

The witness told the FBI Steele paid $500 in cash for travel expenses and promised as much as $25,000 if the murders were completed on Friday. According to the affidavit, Steele promised the witness another $100,000 if an insurance policy paid out after his wife's murder.

"Edgar Steele told (the witness) that he has no second thoughts and he wants the plan carried out," the affidavit said. "This statement was made multiple times during the meet."

According to the affidavit, Steele said he would deny knowing the witness if he were caught, but he would compensate the witness's family if Steele was never implicated.

The motive for the alleged plot is unclear. Whelan said she believes the couple is still married and has not separated. Steele's wife was visiting or helping out with a health care issue at her mother's house in Oregon this week, Whelan said.

Calls to the Oregon house were not immediately returned on Friday.

Whelan said the complaint is just a charging document and is not proof of guilt. Steele will likely appear at a preliminary hearing on Monday, and the case must go before a grand jury, she said. Steele was arrested Friday at his Sagle home.

"Neither the FBI or U.S. Attorney's Office would proceed in a case where we didn't feel there was proof to charge," Whelan said.

Steele is in custody on federal felony charges, she said, but she declined to reveal where he is being held.

According to his website, Steele is an author and trial lawyer who graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law and has a law practice that is "noteworthy for cases that test the limits of constitutional law on behalf of politically incorrect clients." The website also says Steele recently considered a run for Idaho governor.

He unsuccessfully defended the Aryan Nations and its founder, Richard Butler, in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit brought against them in 2000. Steele penned the book "Defensive Racism: An Unapologetic Examination of Racial Differences."

Last year, in response to the shooting of a security guard at the national Holocaust Memorial Museum by neo-Nazi James von Brunn, Steele said, "Why did von Brunn choose to unload at the National Holocaust Museum? Because it is an edifice to one of the most stupendous lies of modern times, paid for and maintained with taxpayer dollars, that's why."

TO NUKE OR NOT TO NUKE

2010-05-31T14:27:00.000-05:00

The travesty in the Gulf of Mexico is on everyone's mind today. With the wetlands and marshes being ravaged, the wildlife dying, a whole way of life coming to an end, and an entire ecosystem in peril it appears that no one has a solution.

The political posturing and the ineptitude of British Petroleum is creating an atmosphere of anger and anguish as we watch what can only be characterized as one of the biggest disasters in American history.

With terms like "Top Kill" and "Junk Shot" being bandied about, we are now faced with what some are suggesting as another possibility - "Nuke it." Please take a moment to consider the following from Crooks & Liars:

Simmons said the US government should immediately take the effort to plug the leak out of the hands of BP and put the military in charge.

"Probably the only thing we can do is create a weapons system and send it down 18,000 feet and detonate it, hopefully encasing the oil," he said.

His idea echoes that of a Russian newspaper that earlier this month suggested the US detonate a small nuclear bomb to seal the oil beneath the sea. Komsomoloskaya Pravda argued in an editorial that Russia had successfully used nuclear weapons to seal oil spills on five occasions in the past.

No, see..."probably" isn't going to cut it for me.

STORY AND VIDEO CONTINUED HERE

OVERSTEPPING OR LEGITIMATE?

2010-05-31T14:10:00.000-05:00

In this video, a school bus driver lectured a student about gay rights. Her dad said she "overstepped her bounds." The school district said she acted in accordance with school policy and did nothing wrong. A debate is ensuing - what do you think?

FATHER & SON TEAM GONE AMOK...

2010-05-23T15:15:00.000-05:00

FULL STORY AND MORE HERE

In the final moments of their lives, West Memphis Police Department veterans Brandon Paudert and Bill Evans encountered Thursday an old white Plymouth Voyager minivan carrying 16-year-old Joe Kane and his 45-year-old father, Jerry R. Kane -- a man who unbeknownst to them harbored extreme anti-government views. He also had a record of previous trouble with police and a philosophy, which he credited to the Bible, of applying overwhelming violence to "conquer" foes.

Increasingly surreal revelations Friday about the Kanes gradually led to a late-evening confirmation by Arkansas State Police that Jerry Kane of Chester, Ohio, and Joe, of unknown residence, were indeed the dead suspects they believe killed Evans and Paudert -- the son of the town's chief of police.

The Kanes later wounded Crittenden County Sheriff Dick Busby and Deputy Chief W.A. Wren in the conclusive shootout at Walmart in which father and son were killed.

Jerry Kane traveled the country with his son giving seminars on what he called "mortgage fraud" and offering advice on foreclosure strategies. A website promoting those seminars provided a trove of information -- audio files and YouTube videos and links to various documents -- detailing his world views.

One particularly chilling YouTube clip involves Kane fielding a question about a "rogue" Internal Revenue Service agent: "Violence doesn't solve anything, OK. It's not violence that we're after. The Bible even tells us that if you're going to go and make war against somebody, you have to kill their sheep and their goats and their chickens and their babies and their wives. OK?"

In the YouTube video he said, "You have to kill them all. So what we're after here is not fighting, it's conquering. I don't want to have to kill anybody, but if they keep messing with me, that's what it's going to have to come out. That's what it's going to come down to, is I'm going to have to kill. And if I have to kill one, then I'm not going to be able to stop, I just know it." CONTINUED...

LIKE FATHER - LIKE SON

2010-05-21T10:23:00.000-05:00

Well, I just thought I was through with the whole Ron Paul saga after the last election. After writing page after page about his racist past and his white supremacist ties, I thought I could put it all to rest - at least for awhile. Then comes Rand Paul, the second coming of Ron, intensified.

Rand Paul won the Republican nomination in the Tuesday night Kentucky primary and it seems that he thinks he can join Daddy Bear, better known on the Hill as "The Little Turd," in the Senate. Think again you cretin. There's enough dirt out there to build a mountain for you to climb and at the rate you are digging yourself into a hole, you don't stand a chance. Lets start with Chris Hightower:

PART OF THE STORY HERE:

Controversy is swirling over Rand Paul's doctrinaire libertarian take on the civil rights legislation of the 1960s. But this is not the first time the Kentucky Republican's campaign has hit a bump in racially sensitive territory.

In December, Chris Hightower, the spokesman for Paul's senate campaign, was forced to resign after a liberal Kentucky blog discovered that his MySpace page had a comment posted around Martin Luther King Day that read: "HAPPY N***ER DAY!!!" above what appears to be a historical photo of the lynching of a black man.

The photo and comment appeared to have been posted to Hightower's MySpace page by a friend, not by Hightower himself. The comment has since been removed but at the time it was discovered by the local blog it had been up for nearly two years.

According to the Barefoot and Progressive blog, Hightower, who was also the frontman of a local Megadeth-style metal band called Commander, wrote a MySpace post referring to "Afro-Americans" titled "Blacks don't like my Napalm Death hoodie":

So, I was in Rivergate Mall today in line to get some pizza and I noticed a group of Afro-Americans were looking at me with hate and whispering stuff. I was wondering WTF and procceeded to sit facing them and give them the "what the fuck are you looking at look". Anyway after a few snarls they quit looking at me. I was like do these fuckers think I am someone else or what? Anyway I finished my food and went to find some new shoes. About 10 minutes later, another group of Afro-Americans are giving me the same looks, it then dawns on me, there has to be something on this hoodie that is pissing off the Afro-Americans. And sure enough when I get outside the mall I look and bingo. KKK .... LOL!"In a statement at the time of Hightower's resignation in December, the Paul campaign said:

"The images were not placed there by this employee but by someone posting on the site. These images in no way represent Dr. Paul or his campaign nor do they represent the beliefs of this staff member. These images are reprehensible and have no place in civil discourse."

And Paul himself said:

"I have never heard a single utterance of racism from this staffer nor do I believe him to have any racist tendencies. However, it is impossible to present the ideas and reforms we need in this country with this controversy present. Therefore I have accepted his resignation."
MORE OF THE STORY ALONG WITH GOOD SCREEN SHOTS HERE

And if that isn't enough to toast your ass, there's this:

"Rand Paul was nice enough to throw a party for his supporters on Saturday at the Capitol building in Frankfort. And not just any supporters. My favorite kind: obese white men playing soldier dress up."

CONTINUED HERE

Looks like he follows his daddy's footsteps pretty well. For more on his nefarious attachments...

Here

Here

Here

Here

And try a few of these on for size...

Here

And how about Rand's Op Ed article against the Fair Housing Act?

There's more...lot's more. But, for now, suffice it to say that all of the stops will be pulled out in the Kentucky election come November and Rand Paul along with his army of Paulites will be defeated.

OIL AS THICK AS CHOCOLATE SYRUP

2010-05-20T13:46:00.001-05:00

For the past month, a horrendous disaster has been taking place in the Gulf of Mexico. The effects on our environment and ecological system will be with us for decades.

It seems that no one knows what to do and those to blame must be held accountable.

FOR FULL STORY AND VIDEO

May 20, 2010 – Yesterday, new pictures of the environmental impact from the flood of oil still pouring into the Gulf of Mexico were published, as some researchers continued to dispute BP's estimate of the amount of oil flowing from their ruptured well.

See video and slideshow HERE.

In the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and fire on April 20, 2010 that killed eleven workers and oil continues to spew into the Gulf of Mexico, only slightly abated by the insertion of a tube to siphon off oil from the broken well.

According to the Associated Press, "Steve Wereley, a mechanical engineer at Purdue University in Indiana, is sticking with his estimate that 3.9 million gallons a day is spewing from two leaks."I don't see any scenario where (BP's) numbers would be accurate," he said at a congressional hearing Wednesday. His estimate of the amount leaked to date, which he calls conservative and says has a margin of error of plus or minus 20 percent, is 126 million gallons -- or more than 11 times the total leaked from the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989. The official estimate is closer to 6 million gallons."

AP also reported, "Another researcher, Timothy Crone of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, said the latest video suggested a leak of at least 840,000 to 4.2 million gallons a day, though poor video quality made it difficult to come up with an accurate figure."

See the CNN video below as David Mattingly goes along with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal into the state's wetlands and describes the oil he sees, "Oil as thick as chocolate syrup."

Pictures in the slide show that give a graphic look at the worsening conditions in the Louisiana wetlands, come from that trip and Greenpeace sample collection work. Photos of the rescue of a baby Kemp's ridley sea turtle are provided by the Audubon Aquarium.

THEY FOUGHT THE LAW AND THE LAW WON...

2010-05-06T12:23:00.000-05:00

Right-Wing Extremists Take On Local Law Enforcement, Lose

Right-wing extremists who question the legitimacy of Barack Obama's presidency tried to take on local law enforcement recently -- and they seem to have come out on the losing end.

First, a Tennessee man was arrested after walking into his local county courthouse to try to effect a citizen's arrest of a grand jury foreman who had refused to investigate President Obama's legitimacy to serve -- an encounter partially caught on video. That enraged one Georgia-based member of the far-right OathKeepers group. Responding to a call from an extremist leader, he drove to Tennessee with an AK-47 in a bid to get his comrade released -- only to wind up getting arrested himself.

The bizarre sequence of events began on April 1, when Walter Fitzpatrick walked into the Monroe county courthouse in Madisonville, Tenn., and approached Grand Jury foreman Gary Pettway. "I'm charging you with official misconduct," Fitzpatrick calmly told Pettway. "I'm placing you under arrest. You must now come with me."

Why was Pettway targeted? Fitzpatrick, a retired Navy commander, is a leading member of the American Grand Jury (AGJ), a group of self-declared constitutional experts that seeks to convene a grand jury of citizens to indict President Obama for treason, on the grounds that he's not a natural-born U.S. citizen. Fitzpatrick had previously tried unsuccessfully to get Pettway, an African-American, to convene a grand jury to investigate charges of voter fraud in connection with President Obama's election, according to an online account written by Carl Swensson, another AGJ leader. In response, AGJ accused Pettway of violating state laws governing the length of time that a grand jury foreman can serve -- giving Fitzpatrick the basis for his attempted citizen's arrest.

Predictably, Pettway did not agree to be arrested by Fitzpatrick, and it was Fitzpatrick himself who was arrested and jailed for several days.

The episode triggered outrage among Fitzpatrick's allies. Swensson posted a video of the incident on his website, in which he told viewers that Fitzpatrick was now on a hunger strike, and that he had "put his life on the line for us in very much the same fashion that our founding fathers did."

STORY AND VIDEOS CONTINUED HERE

AN AMERICAN NIGHTMARE - FROM RUDE PUNDIT

2010-05-04T13:02:00.000-05:00

TO RUDE PUNDIT'S BLOG

The Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Will Wreck Your Pathetic Ideology:

Tell you what, motherfuckers, when dead people are left to rot in the sun because of the incompetence of the federal government, when corpses are floating in the streets, when the President passively ignores the pleas of the governors of Gulf Coast states, when entire neighborhoods have been physically destroyed, when the federal government strands tens of thousands of people without food or water, when the federal government starts to blame the local governments, when the President praises the work of a failed, incompetent bureaucrat while a major city rots, then you can say that this is Barack Obama's "Katrina."

But until this happens, good, sweet conservative bags of fuck who need so desperately to drag this president down, the Gulf of Mexico oil leak is a corporate-created disaster, and it actually serves to demonstrate, starkly, and with a semen-like sheen, as if the ocean floor is in the midst of a prolonged sweet crude ejaculation, the utter failure of deregulation and the bullshit notion that capitalistic enterprises can police themselves when it comes to safety and environmental standards, whether it was, in this case, BP or Transocean or whoever. In other words, once again, as with so many things, this is about your ideology belly-flopping, much like, you know, when Katrina showed how years of neglect of the levees would lead to a nightmare.

So now Bobby Jindal, formerly of the "states can solve problems" crowd, is coming to the federal government with his hands out like a New Delhi beggar with leprosy. Hell, Haley Barbour already knows the routine. Bob Riley's about to discover that money from the fed ain't so bad now. Bow and scrape, assholes, as an environmental catastrophe that's coming your way is gonna destroy jobs, tourism, and wetlands.

Right now, as the Rude Pundit writes this, the booms that were set up to protect the beaches in Alabama and Mississippi are failing. They're being blown onto shore by the winds, by the waves. Dead things are washing up, too. The fishing's been halted. Pretty soon, the white, white sands, the Aryan beaches of the Redneck Riviera are going to get dingier and dingier looking, even more than when swarms of UA kids head there to vomit in the sun on spring break.

Yes, some day soon, a man with his Gulf Shores timeshare, probably a proud and loyal teabagger, will look out over his balcony during the two weeks a year he takes his family on vacation and see the bits of black that are rolling up onto the shore. And he'll wonder, even if they do everything they can, why the feds couldn't clean it up sooner. Then he'll go inside and watch Hannity or listen to Limbaugh tell him that his taxes are too high and that business, not Washington, can solve all his problems.

Notes Regarding the Feasibility of a Minor Revolution, Part 2: Embrace the Leap:

Ask any man you know who recently decided to finally come out of the closet. There's such agony in denying what you know is true, that your marriage is a sham, that your desire for a male asscozy for your cock is making you ache with desire, but you can't, alas, you just can't betray the life you've lived for so very long. Sometimes, you have to know when to leap, when to go beyond the psychological roadblocks that hinder you time and again, and you just gotta be able to seize the moment and take that leap and discover the wonders that lie over the chasm. Maybe your wife leaves you. Maybe your best friend reveals he's gay. And then you can't look over the edge. You just have to see the welcoming arms of some hung Tom of Finland pantsless biker dude awaiting you on the other side.

President Barack Obama has been handed a golden opportunity in the convergence of catastrophes that have happened on his watch. Goldman Sachs, Massey Energy, and BP have all demonstrated that the deregulation chickens have come home to roost and to shit in our nests. And here's the kick in the taint: chances are that they were all acting within the law. Even the most flagrant of the trio, Massey, used the appeals process set up on safety violations to delay and delay taking the necessary measures and paying the goddamn fines so that lives might have been saved. It was all legal, man. Let's not even get into the clusterfuck of loopholes and rules and sub-rules and what-the-fuck-ever allowed Goldman Sachs to make money by dicking over its investors and laundering the cash through a third party.

And BP? Those fuckers (and the oil rig operator, Transocean) benefited like corrupt cops at a whorehouse in the way they abused the ludicrous, worthless self-regulation system. Does the phrase "police themselves" actually have any meaning? Because, see, if the Rude Pundit were to police himself, he'd say, "Well, gee, RP, as long as you only have just a little pot, coke, and ecstasy on hand and the goat you sacrificed for the blood orgy didn't suffer much, we can overlook it all. Don't kill any people, and we're good."

Now we're learning that, because of the criminal-favoring damages-cap on lawsuits, BP may only be on the hook for $75 million in economic losses for the entire Gulf region. That's like the budget for CEO Tony Hayward's ball-waxing. Oh, no, an entire fishing industry, tourism, and marshes will be destroyed, but at least Hayward will have to live with a hairy scrotum.

Last week, the Rude Pundit posited that Americans need to have someone to hate. You can say, "Scapegoat," but that seems way too mild for the frighteningly visceral extremes in which our populace indulges its feelings towards politicians, immigrants, and So You Think You Can Dance? contestants. So we on the left need to re-direct that potent energy of the masses towards the most obvious target: corporate entities that operate without care about people, the environment, or the nation. Seems easy? No, fuck you. It's not.

Don't put on your Mao jacket yet, for there's a catch. There's always a catch, no? It has to be done in a way that can't be labeled as "socialist" or whatever word people wanna misuse these days. The method is simple, and you have to suck it up, comrades: there has to be a case for good capitalism versus bad capitalism.

What is that, you ask? And how does this involve the President? That, of course, shall be discussed in Part 3.

You Can Run...But You Can't Hide

2010-04-29T17:59:00.000-05:00

I have been watching this story develop over the last couple of days and I have to say...it is what it is.

FULL STORY HERE

A Virginia Department of Transportation worker who told the Washington Post that he had no clue that his since-revoked vanity license plate contained a "coded racist message" has posted numerous internet messages denying the Holocaust and attacking President Obama as "muslime scum."

Last week, Carl Franzen reported for AOL News, "Personalized or vanity license plates typically fall somewhere between sentimental and silly, but this week, a photo of license plates containing a coded message of white supremacy made the rounds on the Web before the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles formally recalled them."

The Washington Post's Brigid Schulte spoke to Melanie Stokes, a member of the state's committee charged with vetting personalized license plates explained why 14CV88 was revoked.

A photo of the truck hit the Web a few days ago, went viral on car and other blogs and finally came to the attention of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an advocacy group for American Muslims. On Wednesday morning, the group complained to the DMV that the plate contained a white supremacist and neo-Nazi statement.

A few hours later, the DMV agreed that the plate contains a coded message: The number 88 stands for the eighth letter of the alphabet, H, doubled to signify "Heil Hitler," said CAIR's Ibrahim Hooper. "CV" stands for "Confederate veteran" -- the plate was a special model embossed with a Confederate flag, which Virginia makes available for a $10 fee to card-carrying members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. And 14 is code for imprisoned white supremacist David Lane's 14-word motto: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children."

The giveaway that something was amiss, Hooper said, was the truck itself. An enormous photo of the burning World Trade Center towers covers the entire tailgate, with the words: "Everything I ever needed to know about Islam I learned on 9/11."

In another Post article, Schulte writes, "Douglas Story, a Chantilly dump truck driver for the Virginia Department of Transportation, says he wanted to grab people's attention when he paid $224.90 to have a mural of the burning World Trade Center detailed onto the tailgate of his Ford F-150 along with a sticker that reads: "Everything I ever needed to know about Islam I learned on 9/11."

"There is absolutely no way I'd have anything to do with Hitler or Nazis," Story said Wednesday. He contacted The Washington Post after an article about his plate appeared last week; the state, citing privacy rules, had declined to release the identity of the plate's owner. "My sister-in-law and my niece are Jewish. I went to my niece's bat mitzvah when she turned 13 three years ago. Does that sound like something an anti-Semite would do?"

Story says the numbers 14 and 88 on his plate were not references to a white power slogan or "Heil Hitler," as the Council on American-Islamic Relations theorized, but an homage to his favorite NASCAR drivers: Tony Stewart, who drives car No. 14, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who drives No. 88.

Story applied for the vanity plate in March 2009, shortly after Earnhardt changed his car number from 8 to 88 and Stewart changed his from 20 to 14.

Aside from the fact that Earnhardt changed his plate for the 2008 race season (after deciding in 2007), and Stewart announced his change in July of 2008, the Washington Post author fails to notice that her own reporting contains a major conflict in the two stories. CONTINUED HERE

_____

The conflict doesn't stop there - the man has been exposed - so why doesn't he just own up?

"WE DON'T WANT YOU HERE"

2010-04-28T13:57:00.000-05:00

Remember Charles Juba? Now he thinks he wants access to our children but Odessa residents aren't ready to feed him their young.

FULL STORY HERE

ODESSA, Mo. (AP) -- Angry Odessa residents packed a meeting of municipal leaders to denounce plans by a former leader of a white supremacist group to open a club for young people in their city.

Charles Juba, a former self-proclaimed leader of the Aryan Nations, plans to open his under-21 club, Black Flag, on Friday, the Kansas City Star reported.

Juba said at a tense Board of Alderman meeting Monday night that he has put his racist and anti-Semitic past behind him, but he was shouted down by angry residents of Odessa, a city about 35 miles east of Kansas City.

"We don't want you here!" the crowd yelled in unison.

City leaders were initially thrilled about Juba's plans to open the club in a strip mall that had fallen on hard times, and they issued him a building permit. But that enthusiasm waned after they learned about his past.

"We know he's going to target young people, and now we're doing everything we can to stop him," Mayor Tom Murry said.

Resident James Johnson said at the meeting that he had felt at home raising two biracial sons with his German-born wife in Odessa. The audience responded with applause when he said "somebody should have known about this man before it got this far."

Rene Hill, a mother of three from Wellington, said she will fight Juba's efforts to use fun and music to recruit teens to join his Aryan cause.

"If I have to be that crazy mom, then so be it," Hill said.

Another public meeting was scheduled for Thursday.

The club's website says the club was named for the black flag carried by Civil War guerrilla William Quantrill, who led a pro-Confederate gang that attacked and burned pro-union Lawrence, Kan., during the Civil War. More than 150 men and boys were killed.

The website for the club, which invites high school students from Blue Springs, Independence, Fort Osage, Grain Valley and Oak Grove, said the black flag represented people who didn't surrender.

"These brave young men refused to surrender to unjust laws being forced upon them (by federal authorities and military) ... So, why surrender to another boring night ... raise The Black Flag and have some fun for a change!"

The watchdog group the Southern Poverty Law Center says Juba began his white supremacy activities in the Ku Klux Klan before eventually becoming director of the Aryan Nations, which says blacks are "beasts of the field" and Jews are the children of Satan.

In 2005, Juba announced that the group would move its headquarters from Pennsylvania to Kansas City, Kan. The controversy that followed prompted Juba to quit his post, and the Aryan Nation moved its headquarters to Sebring, Fla.

PROFILING PEARCE

2010-04-27T15:48:00.000-05:00

Arizona has been a hotbed of dissent and racist B.S. for many years now. Skinheads, anti-immigration groups, crooked law-enforcement, and right-wing nutjobs seem to love the desert and dry air. But, the new immigration law that was just passed enabling racial profiling and discrimination is taking center stage and having ramifications around the country. David Niewert now introduces us to the author of that law...and Russell Pearce is certainly no stranger to the more prominent racists enjoying the Arizona climate.

FULL STORY AND VIDEO HERE

DOOKIE DUKIE AT IT AGAIN

2010-04-26T16:17:00.001-05:00

Always the huckster and the opportunist, Dukie just had to try to capitalize on all of the current hoopla and shenanigans going on in this country. Never mind that he spends most of his time as far away from America as he can get - he's still going to seize any opportunity to insinuate himself into a headline.

Of course, I'm not surprised, nor even chagrined by his recent play for attention. You see, like all good white supremacists, they continuously make my point for me.

STORY AND VIDEO HERE

A NEW "TWIST" ON BARRETT

2010-04-24T12:45:00.001-05:00

FULL STORY HERE

By Howard Ballou

RANKIN COUNTY, MS (WLBT) - Our 3 On Your Side investigation in this case has revealed there may have been a motive other than money for the murder of Richard Barrett.

Official sources who asked not to be identified, tell WLBT, 22-year-old Vincent McGee, in his confession, alleged Barrett made sexual advances to him, apparently sending McGee into a rage, a rage that ended in murder.

We asked Sheriff Pennington about it. He had no comment other than to say the murder was not racially motivated. Rankin-Madison County District Attorney Michael Guest also would not discuss specifics of the case, but he did have this to say.

"I was surprised to hear about this and then as the case unfolded, there were other twists and turns that again were unforeseen in this case," Guest said.

McGee's family members told WLBT, Thursday night, that McGee, when he was a teenager, before he went to prison, knew Barrett and had worked for him.

MELCUR MADDNESS

2010-04-23T11:41:00.000-05:00

A tragic ending to a tragic life is not something that I enjoy reporting. When it involves innocents - I deplore it. Curt Maynard shot his wife, his step-daughter, and himself and left two others scarred for life.

FULL STORY FOUND HERE

Man kills ex-wife, then himself

Lake Jackson murder-suicide followed bitter divorce, woman's lawyer says

By PEGGY O'HARE

HOUSTON CHRONICLE

April 23, 2010, 12:17AM

Share Print Share Del.icio.usDiggTwitterYahoo! BuzzFacebookStumbleUponThe Lake Jackson woman shot to death by her ex-husband before he killed himself during a police chase had gone through a bitter, contentious divorce from him and suffered personal attacks from him on the Internet, her attorney said on Thursday.

Melissa Meza, 34, a Dow Chemical engineer, was shot multiple times in the front yard of her home Wednesday night by 42-year-old Curtis Boone Maynard, a registered nurse, who later shot himself. The couple had been divorced for more than a year.

Maynard also shot his 16-year-old stepdaughter, Celeste Morales, in the face inside the home before fleeing in his car. Morales remains in stable condition at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center.

Maynard and Meza's two children, a 12-year-old girl and 2-year-old girl, fled to a neighbor's house and were not hurt, said Lake Jackson police Lt. Paul Kibodeaux

“The 12-year-old picked the 2-year-old up and ran to the neighbor's house — very brave,” Kibodeaux said.

Lenette Terry, the Angleton attorney who represented Meza in her divorce from Maynard, called the slain woman's ex-husband “a nut.”

Divorce final last year

The divorce was very contentious, Terry said Thursday. Maynard “always did crazy things,” she said. “This guy also had some horrible things about her on the Internet and he sent them to her boss at Dow — she brought the stuff in to me and she reported it to the Lake Jackson Police Department.

“She knew she had to get out of this relationship with him. She knew she had to protect her kids. And she was right,” Terry said.

Maynard and Meza met in 1996. They married in August 2005 in Brazoria County, state records show. But the marriage soured in just three years, and Meza filed for divorce in December 2008.

The former couple also had a contested temporary hearing concerning the custody of their children. “She prevailed,” Terry recalled. “He would do things like leave the infant at home when he would go walk to Randall's (grocery store).”

In an angry blog railing against his divorce attorney, Maynard claimed that he and Meza had agreed during their marriage that he would not work on weekdays so he could stay home to care for their youngest daughter, and that he would work only on weekends, which he said put a significant dent in his income. He referred to himself as the “primary caregiver” of the youngest girl and said he had sought sole custody of their two daughters.

The couple's divorce became final in March 2009, but Maynard would not let go, even though Meza had a boyfriend.

On Wednesday, Maynard had been sending text messages to his ex-wife “throughout the day,” Kibodeaux said. Police don't yet know if she responded to him, but she complained about the text messages to a witness.

At 8:20 p.m., neighbors reported hearing gunshots at Meza's home in the 100 block of Post Oak, a quiet, tree-lined street of upper-middle-class houses. The teenager was shot inside the house, while Meza was shot in the front yard, Kibodeaux said.

“She was later shot more times in a different location, but close by, so I would think she was trying to take cover or concealment and was shot again,” Kibodeaux said. Meza had multiple wounds in the head and upper torso, he said.

First homicide in years

Maynard left a shotgun in the front yard, then got in his 1994 Lincoln sedan and drove away, Kibodeaux said. A neighbor followed Maynard's car while on the phone with 911, giving police information on which direction he was heading.

When Lake Jackson police caught up to Maynard's car heading northward on Texas 288 slightly above the 65 mph speed limit, Maynard shot himself in the head with another gun, a semi-automatic rifle, while he was driving, police said.

Maynard's car then veered on to the highway shoulder, where it struck a sport utility vehicle occupied by a mother and her two children that had pulled over to yield to the emergency vehicles. The gunman's car then veered into the grass and back across the highway's two northbound lanes before stopping on the inside shoulder.

The woman and two children inside the SUV hit by Maynard suffered no obvious injuries, but were taken to an Angleton hospital as a precaution, Kibodeaux said.

Police said they have not found anything in writing to indicate that Maynard had planned on taking violent action against anyone, but said they still must review his and his former wife's cell phone records.

“We have seen a few e-mails (from Maynard), but mainly they were character attacks and no indication there would be action taken,” Kibodeaux said.

Meza and Maynard's daughters are now staying with a close family friend, police said.

Child Protective Services caseworkers are meeting with the children's maternal and paternal grandparents about making more permanent living arrangements, Kibodeaux said.

Meza's death marked the first homicide in Lake Jackson in about a decade, the police lieutenant said.

BARRETT FOUND MURDERED...

2010-04-22T17:50:00.001-05:00

He wasn't particularly endeared to many of the white supremacists who consider themselves part of "the movement." However, he has always seemed to have a scraggling of followers among young, white, male racists and he knew how to grab a headline every now and then. He made a lot of enemies along the way - and apparently, was still making them.

According to One People's Project, he was the inspiration who started the group. Well, that's something positive.

UPDATE:

Man arrested in death of Miss. white supremacist
STORY HERE

Pearl Police, Rankin County Sheriff, state and federal investigators are looking for the person who murdered white supremacist Richard Barrett. His body was found in the back bathroom of his Rankin County home Thursday morning. Police believe Barrett may have been trying to escape from his attacker. His body has been taken to the state crime lab for an autopsy.

Barrett’s neighbors called fire officials shortly before eight o’clock this morning to report a fire at 227 East Petros Road. Firefighters discovered Barrett’s body inside the home once they entered.

Barrett called himself the head of the Nationalists Movement. He was recently in the news supporting efforts at Ole Miss to bring back Colonel Reb as the school’s mascot. He made national headlines five years ago when he attempted to bring Edgar Ray Killen to a booth at the Mississippi State Fair. Killen was later arrested and convicted for his roll in the death of three civil rights workers in Neshoba County in the 1960s.

By MARIA BURNHAM and HOLBROOK MOHR (AP) – 4 hours ago

PEARL, Miss. — A white supremacist lawyer with a knack for publicity was found stabbed to death in a burning house on Thursday and Mississippi authorities later said a neighbor had been charged with murder.

Rankin County Sheriff Ronnie Pennington said Richard Barrett's body was found just after 8 a.m. after residents reported smoke coming from his house in a rural area outside a Jackson, Miss., suburb.

Pennington told The Associated Press that Vincent McGee, 22, has been charged with murder in the case. Additional charges could be forthcoming, Pennington said, including arson.

The sheriff said McGee had not yet hired a lawyer and the suspect's mother had no comment when she went to the jail where her son was being held.

McGee, a black man, lived nearby and had done yard work for Barrett in the past, Pennington said. The sheriff didn't elaborate on a possible motive.

Barrett, a New York City native and Vietnam War veteran, moved to Mississippi in 1966. Soon after, he began traveling the country to promote anti-black and anti-immigrant views and founded a supremacist group called the Nationalist Movement.

One expert on hate groups said Barrett was well known for his news conferences and protests in places having racial strife, but that he had mustered little real clout in the white power movement.

"Richard Barrett was a guy who ran around the country essentially pulling off publicity stunts," said Mark Potok, who monitors hate groups for the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center. "He really never amounted to any kind of leader in the white supremacist movement." CONTINUED HERE..

ANTI-RACISTS VS NAZI'S IN L.A.

2010-04-17T19:20:00.000-05:00

FULL STORY HERE:

A neo-Nazi white supremacist group rallied against illegal immigration in downtown Los Angeles Saturday as hundreds of counter-protesters gathered to shout them down in a tense stand off that included thrown rocks and police in riot gear.

Police officers stood between the white supremacists and counter-demonstrators on the south lawn of Los Angeles' City Hall, where about 50 members of the National Socialist Movement waved American flags and swastika banners for about an hour.

The neo-Nazis shouted "sieg heil," but their words were mostly drowned out by chants of "racists go home" and "stop the Nazis" from the larger crowd of about 500 counter-protesters who held signs that read "Nazis: Get Out of Los Angeles" and "Racists Are Ignorant." CONTINUED HERE

IT AIN'T OVER TIL...IT'S OVER

2010-04-14T19:34:00.000-05:00

As someone who has covered Bill White and all of his wild and zany exploits - (and yes, that's exactly what his actions were since they were only engaged in to satisfy his craving for notoriety) - I feel compelled to say a few words regarding today's sentencing and Bill White's ongoing saga.

According to WSLS, Channel 10 News, and other sources, Bill White has remained a contentious individual even while in custody. One can only speculate at how difficult it must have been to serve as the defense attorney for the "Millionaire Nazi" (if you believe) whose personality disorder necessitates his own self-aggrandizement and constant nurturing of his fragmented ego.

Even though David Damico, attornery for the defense, successfuly represented White Chicago, and achieved a certain level of success in the Roanoke trial in that he was able to convince a jury to bring in "not guilty" verdicts on several of the charges, he apparently fell short in Bill's eyes. Or perhaps it was just a contol thing. You see, Bill just couldn't leave it alone.

For the past few months, White has been filing motions on his own behalf. An act of defiance? Frustration? Nah...it's just Bill White showing everyone how "smart" he is. Of course, the net effect was simply antagonizing the Court. He's really good at that.

So...Bill has been acting out. We expected as much. Given the fact that he could very well be walking the streets of Roanoke again in about eight months, we expect more acting out is on the horizon. Oh...he'll be on probation and forbidden to use the internet - uh...huh. We'll see how that works out for him. One thing Bill White is NOT good at is self-control and circumventing authority is something he really prides himself on.

Oh yeah - and because he is a convicted felon - he can't carry a gun. At least, he can't get caught with a gun.

The one ray of hope in all of this is that White has burned a lot of bridges and not held in the highest regard among other white nationalists - although, as a whole, they have a very short memory and the really lame and needy among them will hold him up as some sort of martyr for the cause - after all, he IS considered one of their "prisoners of war."

If I sound cynical, it's because when it comes to Bill, I AM cynical. The best one can hope for in all of this is that upon his release he will realize that his wife and child have suffered enough at his hangs and that he has a lot of reparations to make. We can hope...but, this is Bill we're talking about.

Here's the latest story & video...

BILL WHITE TO BE SENTENCED SHORTLY

2010-04-14T13:37:00.002-05:00

BREAKING: CHECK THIS OUT...

BILL WHITE

A Roanoke-based neo-Nazi convicted of threatening people around the country learned Wednesday just how much time he'll serve.

Bill White will serve two and a half years in prison. He'll also have to complete three years of supervised release after his prison term.

DETAILS TO FOLLOW....

According to prosecutors, Bill White also made two children a target of his hate-filled rhetoric. If true, he deserves an enhanced sentence.

Neo-Nazi leader White to be sentenced today

Prosecutors say William A. White should be subject to enhanced punishment because he threatened children.

The leader of a Roanoke-based white supremacy group should receive an enhanced punishment -- between 57 and 71 months in prison -- in part because the people he threatened include two children, federal prosecutors say.

William A. White is scheduled to be sentenced today at 1:30 p.m. in U.S. District Court in Roanoke.

A jury in December convicted White, the self-proclaimed leader of the American National Socialist Workers Party, of making threats by letters, e-mails, telephone calls and posts on a Web site that was the mouthpiece of his neo-Nazi group.

Defense attorney David Damico said he plans to ask that White be sentenced to the time he has already served while awaiting the resolution of his case, about 18 months.

White has argued, with some success, that his words should be protected by the First Amendment. Of eight charges brought by the federal government alleging threats and intimidation, five have been dismissed.

The neo-Nazi's victims -- all of them strangers who unwittingly said or did something to offend his racist views -- include a bank employee in Missouri, a university administrator in Delaware and several tenants of an apartment complex in Virginia Beach.

In court papers filed this week, prosecutors listed two additional victims: the 8-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son of Tasha Reddick, who angered White by filing a housing discrimination lawsuit against her landlord.

Although the lawsuit did not involve White, he inserted himself into the dispute in May 2007 after reading about it in the news.

White sent a letter to Reddick's children, identified in court papers as living with their mother, addressed to "Whiney Section 8 N----r."

After a rant about blacks on welfare, White's letter concluded: "You may get one over on your landlord this time, and you may not. But know that the white community has noticed you, and we know that you are and never will be anything more than a dirty parasite -- and that our patience with you and the government that coddles you runs thin."

Even though the two children did not read the letter, they were frightened by its effect on their mother, who moved them to a relative's home for a week and forbid them from walking to and from school, according to prosecutors.

White "deliberately targeted [the children] precisely because of their vulnerable status as minors and the increased apprehension that he would cause Tasha Reddick by targeting her children," prosecutors John Richmond and Cindy Chung wrote in a sentencing memorandum.

Sentencing guidelines used in federal court allow for additional prison time if a defendant picks victims who are "unusually vulnerable" due to their age or mental or physical condition.

In calculating the guidelines for White, a probation officer came up with a sentencing range that is less than the one cited by prosecutors. Judge James Turk will rule on which application is correct at today's sentencing hearing.

White, a 32-year-old landlord and neo-Nazi advocate, has been in jail for all but five days since his arrest in October 2008. Because the guidelines are advisory, Turk could in theory give White anything from time served to the maximum of 35 years in prison.

YOU SAY YOU WANT A REVOLUTION - From NanceGregg's Journal

2010-04-13T13:58:00.001-05:00

NanceGreggs's Journal: Nance Rants

You Say You Want a Revolution

Posted by NanceGreggs in General Discussion: Presidency

Mon Apr 12th 2010, 09:27 PM

So it’s the Teabaggers v the Sane. Alrighty, then, let’s do this.

But first, we have to get the ground rules straight.

Right off the bat, I think it imperative that we begin with a level playing field – and that field is gonna take a hell of a lot of leveling.

First off, you (the “Teabaggers”) have to stop griping about being called Teabaggers. You picked the name; we didn’t. The uniforms have already been delivered – and you’ll be wearing them. There’s no turning back now. (Next revolution, you might want to investigate the origins of your name, and perhaps choose more wisely).

Speaking of uniforms, we’ve chosen tasteful, everyday attire. It would seem you have chosen sweatshirts that desecrate the American flag by plastering it over your flabby stomachs and substantial butts. If you have reconsidered this choice, please advise.

Please be more specific in your complaints. Placards that read “Keep the guvmint’s hands off my Medicaid” have us confused. Being as Medicaid is now, always has been, and always will be a guvmint-run program, we’re not quite sure what you’re bitchin’ about. We stand ready to be enlightened.

In a Revolution, just as in all things, communication is key. While we, the Sane, have not taken up the cause of making English "are offical language", we do actually speak it fluently, and can communicate coherently. If you need a time-out to familiarize yourself with spelling and grammar, we are more than happy to accomodate you.

Choosing a leader is also important. We’ve chosen President Barack Obama. We will need to know who your “leader” is forthwith. (Note: If you are leaning towards Sarah Palin or Rush Limbaugh, you should be aware that skill-testing questions, along with drug-testing, will be required.) Again, if you need more time to come up with a leader who can pass either, we are willing to afford you whatever time is necessary.

No backsies – once you’re in, you’re in. This means that we can use public roads, highways, libraries (“liberrries” to you, and we figure there won’t be much of an argument from your side when it comes to their use) – and you can’t. You don’t believe the government should be “intruding” into your personal lives by building/maintaining same. So be it.

There will be no government hand-outs to you or yours – by way of medical treatment if you are injured, Social Security payments, food stamps, welfare, etc. We, on the other hand, will be free to benefit from any and all government “intrusion” into our lives.

Strictly off-limits: wiretapping citizens without a warrant, relegating dissenters to “free speech zones”, arresting and incarcerating anyone as “enemy combatants” without due process of law, subjecting anyone to torture – you know, all that fun stuff you people are so enamored of.

You cannot label anyone as a socialist or communist without being able to coherently and accurately define those terms. We cannot label anyone as an ill-informed douchebag without defining those terms – and we can, just so’s ya know.

Our “official spokespeople” will be named at a later date. We are still choosing from among the many Ph.D.s, Nobel Peace Prize recipients, Pulitzer award winners, and internationally renowned among our ranks. We are assuming you’ll be going with Hannity or Beck – or some other ill-informed douchebag who graduated Come-Loud from the Ding Dong School of Political Wherewithal. Please advise at your earliest convenience.

As in all Great Battles, the overwhelming question is: Whose side God is on?

Well, we’ve done some fact-checking (something you’re unfamiliar with, but you can Google it for a full explanation of the exercise) – and lo and behold, it seems that we who are concerned about the “least among us”, who consider ourselves “our brother’s keeper”, and have this thing about “doing unto others as we would have done unto ourselves” have a definite advantage with this long-haired, commie-pinko guy from way back – yeah, the same guy YOU drag out and re-hang on a cross whenever convenient!

I’m not saying we all believe in his divinity, or ability to save wretches like you from your just rewards – but damn, you can’t miss the fact that he’s more like one of us than one of you. And I hear he’s got some sway with his Dad.

Contrary to popular belief, the Revolution WILL be televised. So please leave your hooded robes at home – white sheets wrapped around pasty white faces tend to come across on-screen as a bland misrepresentation of what America looks like in reality – and, oh, yes, forgot to mention: reality is in play here. Sorry about that. But there will be a home version of the game for all runners-up, a suitable consolation prize for those who mistakenly thought bigotry, homophobia, AND cluelessness were the winning answers.

Now that the rules of engagement have been established, we await your response.

Operators are standing by. And to avoid any further confusion, please use Spellcheck before replying.

NO HONOR HERE

2010-04-12T14:01:00.000-05:00

Carl M. Cannon has written this brilliant piece and I am most thankful to him. I am almost nauseated by the rhetoric that has been running rampant over all of this defense of the Confederacy and the Civil War. From the article: "Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish – the part of Mississippi is chosen. She will ...never submit to the principles and policies of this Black Republican administration. She had rather see the last of her race, men, women and children, immolated in one common funeral pyre than see them subjected to the degradation of civil, political and social equality with the Negro race." (William L. Harris.)

Why Liberals Are Right to Refuse to Honor the Confederacy
By Carl M. Cannon

You wouldn't think, 145 Aprils after Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, that we'd still be arguing about the causes of the conflict that led them to that place, and cost 620,000 Americans their lives. But we are, and arguing as well over a related question: Who should be honored – and who should be blamed?

Perhaps it is precisely because the price of keeping the union together was so dear that the passions endure, erupting every so often over one pretext or another. This month, the proximate cause of debate was the decision by Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia to keep a campaign promise he made to the Sons of Confederate Veterans in 2005, when he was running for attorney general.

McDonnell's six-paragraph proclamation declared April to be "Confederate History Month." The governor appears to have seen the offending document as innocuous, and much of it was, but it was underpinned by a sentiment that does not reflect a universal view among Virginians; namely, that it is important to pay homage to "the sacrifices of the Confederate leaders, soldiers and citizens during the period of the Civil War." The proclamation also had had an important omission, these critics asserted, namely any reference to slavery.

In the outcry that followed, including personal protests from some high-profile African American Democrats from Virginia who had bolstered McDonnell's 2009 Republican candidacy, McDonnell quickly made amends. A new paragraph was inserted into the document:

WHEREAS, it is important for all Virginians to understand that the institution of slavery led to this war and was an evil and inhumane practice that deprived people of their God-given inalienable rights and all Virginians are thankful for its permanent eradication from our borders, and the study of this time period should reflect upon and learn from this painful part of our history ...

This is a pretty thorough mea culpa, and as direct a refutation of Southern revisionism as anyone could ask for, so continued criticism of McDonnell from liberal Democrats can understandably be viewed as partisan posturing. But political jockeying notwithstanding, liberals are indeed right to confront this issue forcefully, whenever it arises.

McDonnell's edict was issued on April 7, the date in 1865 on which a weary Robert E. Lee, his crumbling and starving Army of Northern Virginia near collapse, answered a letter from General Grant by saying he shared the Union commander's desire to avoid the further "useless effusion of blood" and inquiring what the terms of surrender might be.

Those terms did not include humiliation, Lee soon learned. On April 9, the Confederate commander was informed that his men could keep their lives, their horses, their dignity and their sidearms – including a handsome sword that Lee, in a new buttoned-up Confederate gray uniform, wore by his side when the two men met at the home of Wilmer McLean. Union Gen. Horace Porter, a Medal of Honor winner (and later Grant's personal secretary in the White House), thought the swordless Grant rather envied Lee's "long sword of exceedingly fine workmanship, the hilt studded with jewels."

But it is a historic fact that Grant never asked for it; moreover, in his own memoirs, published in 1885, Grant noted that the famous story – still repeated in some quarters to this day – of Lee proffering his sword to Grant only to have his Union counterpart respectfully hand it back is "the purest romance." In fact, Grant added, no mention of sidearms passed between the generals: Grant simply wrote it out in the terms of surrender, which Lee accepted.

Those terms could not, and did not mean facing up to what they had done – and why – and dealing with it honestly. It is often said that history is written by the victors, but this is not strictly true. The most chilling account of Agincourt that I've ever read didn't come from Henry V's side, or even Shakespeare. It came from a Flemish knight named Jehan de Wavrin, who rode with the French and whose father and brother were killed in the battle.

So it is with Sons of the South and their famous "Lost Cause." Brandishing selective quotes from Abraham Lincoln, citing slogans about "states' rights," and emboldened by hagiographic histories of Lee and his lieutenants, the Sons (and daughters) of the South have convinced themselves, and many others, of something that never was.

"To most soldiers in the Confederate Army, the war was not about slavery," writes a gentleman from Beltsville, Md., named Lawrence Ink in a recent letter to the editor of The Washington Post. "It was about patriotism for one's state. Most Confederate soldiers did not own slaves and were not fighting to protect slavery. ... Nor did President Abraham Lincoln initially view the war as about slavery. His objective was to preserve the union. Those who claim the war was only about slavery need to read some history."

Well, I've read a good deal of American history, and written some as well, and my belief is that it's important to confront this view forcefully because the claim that this conflict was not about slavery is wrong, deeply wrong, no matter how sincerely those who adhere to it may feel – or how bravely the rebels acquitted themselves in battle. Grant himself felt that he could separate his feelings of the Southern soldiers, including Lee, from the perverted institution that induced them to take up arms against their own nation.

"I felt like anything rather than rejoicing at the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly," he wrote, "and had suffered so much for a cause, though that cause was, I believe, one of the worst for which a people ever fought, and one for which there was the least excuse."

And what exactly was that cause?

The answer is not to be found in any of the Douglas Southall Freeman's three-volume histories of Lee and his men or in Martha Mitchell's nostalgic recreation of the Old South. It can be found other places, however, if one looks a little deeper. University of Kentucky historian William W. Freehling called the decades' long argument over slavery in the U.S. Congress in the 1830s and 1840s the "Pearl Harbor" of the Civil War. In a brilliant book called "Arguing About Slavery," scholar William Lee Miller notes that what made this chapter in American history so compelling is precisely that there were no bombs as at Pearl Harbor. There were words many hundreds of thousands of them that, in the end, couldn't forestall the shells fired on Fort Sumter.

It was not a coincidence that the Civil War broke out there, in South Carolina. That state had always been been home to a special breed of Southern politician, men like Rep. James Henry Hammond, who said this on the House floor in an 1836 speech sarcastically castigating those who would confer freedom, or even common humanity, on blacks:

"Are we prepared to see them mingling in our Legislatures? Is any portion of this country prepared to see them enter these halls and take their seats by our sides, in perfect equality with the white representatives of an Anglo Saxon race ... to see them placed at the heads of your Departments; or to see, perhaps, some 'Othello' or 'Toussaint' or 'Boyer' gifted with genius and inspired by ambition grasp the presidential wreath, and wield the destinies of this great Republic? From such a picture I turn with irrepressible disgust."

Well, it took 172 years, but an African-American with a name a lot more exotic than Othello or Toussaint did indeed become president of these United States. And it was particularly tin-eared, historically speaking, for a member of that self-same South Carolina delegation to hector Barack Obama at last year's State of the Union address. In truth, James Henry Hammond's racist diatribe was milder than those by other Southern "statesmen" who stirred hate and fear among their countrymen in the days leading up to the Civil War.

Jefferson Davis, in a speech to the Confederate Congress in April 1861, extolled slavery as a benevolent invention that allowed a "superior race" to transform "brutal savages into docile, intelligent, and civilized agricultural laborers." Alexander H. Stephens, Jefferson Davis' vice president, proclaimed that Jefferson and the Founders' high-minded declarations of universal liberty were "in violation of the laws of nature." This was profoundly wrong, Stephens said.

"Our new government is founded on exactly the opposite idea," thundered the vice president of the Confederacy. "Its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests upon the great truth that the Negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and moral condition."

This was the kind of thing said by a group of now-forgotten men called "secession commissioners." They were dispatched in 1860 from South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama to other state capitals in the South urging state legislatures to prepare for secession. These men outlined a bloody apocalyptic scenario of black rebellion and the attendant slaughter of whites – with frequent allusions to mass rape and throat-slitting. They invariably mentioned Haiti as the relevant example, and stated flatly that this is what Lincoln wished on the South.

"The [Haitian] Negro ... arose with all the fury of the beast, and scenes were then enacted over a comparatively few planters, that the white fiends [of the North] would delight to see re-enacted now with us," Andrew Pickens Calhoun – son of John C. Calhoun – said in Columbia, S.C.

"Our deliverance from this great danger, in my opinion, is to be found in the reserved right of the states to withdraw from injury and oppression." So said Gov. John J. Pettus of Mississippi in his own capital on Nov. 26, 1860. The "injury" he alluded to was the election of Abraham Lincoln as president. The "oppression" was Lincoln's avowed opposition to the expansion of slavery to any new states – a stance that was the organizing principle of the newly formed Republican Party.

In Pettus' speech that day, Lincoln's as-yet-unformed administration was referred to as "Black Republican rule." That phrase "Lincoln and the Black Republicans" was mentioned a thousand times by Southern politicians, and quoted faithfully in the Southern press. It is a reminder that the key issue in the 1860 campaign was slavery, that Southerners were openly discussing withdrawing from the Union before Election Day, and that secession was accomplished before Lincoln arrived in Washington. Indeed, Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as president of the Confederacy before Lincoln took office himself. And all of this was brought about by the South's fears that slavery's days were numbered.

Secession, Pettus insisted, was the only way of escaping "Black Republican politics and free Negro morals," something he assured his fellow Mississippians that would turn Mississippi into "a cesspool of vice, crime and infamy."

Over in Charleston, the General Assembly authorized a convention in Columbia when word reached the capital of Lincoln's victory. Even before it took place, both U.S. senators resigned their seats in Congress and the Legislature appropriated money to equip an army of 10,000 men. John Archer Elmore, a native South Carolinian then practicing law in Montgomery, was dispatched as Alabama's secession commissioner. Lincoln's election, he told the delegates, was "an avowed declaration of war upon the institutions, the rights, and the interests of the South."

The sole institution he alluded to, of course, was slavery. Occasionally secession commissioners would mention "states' rights." But the only imperiled "right" they ever got around to mentioning was the custom of holding other human beings in bondage. There was nothing subtle about this, nothing genteel or evocative of "Gone with the Wind" in the contemporaneous appeals. Lincoln was routinely drawn in Southern newspapers with ape-like features, bent on the destruction of the South and even the white race itself.

"Our fathers made this a government for the white man, rejecting the Negro as an ignorant, inferior barbarian race incapable of self-government, and not therefore, entitled to be associated with the white man upon terms of civil, political or social equality," Mississippi secession commissioner William L. Harris told Georgia's Legislature. Lincoln, he said, was committed on a course "to overturn and strike down this great feature of our Union."

These accounts, and many others, are contained in a thin paperback volume of only 103 pages called "Apostles of Disunion." It was written by Charles B. Dew, a son of the South whose ancestors on both sides fought for the Confederacy. At age 14, Dew's father Jack – named for Stonewall Jackson – presented him with a .22-caliber rifle and the "Lee's Lieutenants" trilogy. Charles Dew grew up and became a professor of history at Williams College. His groundbreaking 2001 book was published by the University of Virginia Press, and in its opening chapter Professor Dew takes note of the 1998 flap over "Confederate History Month" then roiling Richmond under Gov. James Gilmore.

Using the words uttered by the South's secession commissioners and its elected leaders themselves, Dew debunks the myths he learned as a boy. Among those he quotes are William L. Harris, who had turned down an offer from President James Buchanan to serve on the Supreme Court. A native Georgian who was well known as an orator and debater, Harris ended his 1860 speech to Atlanta's secession convention with this florid oratorical flourish:

"Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish – the part of Mississippi is chosen. She will never submit to the principles and policies of this Black Republican administration. She had rather see the last of her race, men, women and children, immolated in one common funeral pyre than see them subjected to the degradation of civil, political and social equality with the Negro race."

That was the true face of the "Lost Cause." It's a hard one to credit. Yes, most men in the Confederate army did not own slaves. Many believed they were fighting for their honor, and out of love of their native states. Some, like Robert E. Lee, did so reluctantly. But that doesn't change either the nature of the rebel government under whose banner they marched, or the depraved institution that the Confederate government had been formed to perpetuate.

CHRISTIAN TERRORISM - via Leonard Pitts

2010-04-09T13:30:00.000-05:00

Leonard Pitts Jr. / Syndicated columnist

The Hutaree militia, perpetrators of 'Christian terrorism'

The term "Christian terrorism" will seem jarring to those who've grown comfortable regarding terrorism as something exclusive to Islam, writes Leonard Pitts Jr. The Hutaree Christian militia, however, seemed more than willing to view murder as a religious act.

Syndicated columnist

A few words about Christian terrorism.

And I suppose the first words should be about "those" words: "Christian terrorism." The term will seem jarring to those who've grown comfortable regarding terrorism as something exclusive to Islam.

That this is a self-deluding fallacy should have long since been apparent to anyone who's been paying attention. From Eric Rudolph's bombing of the Atlanta Olympics, a gay nightclub and two abortion clinics to the so-called Phineas Priests who bombed banks, a newspaper and a Planned Parenthood Office in Spokane, from Matt Hale soliciting the murder of a federal judge in Chicago to Scott Roeder's assassination of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller, from brothers Matthew and Tyler Williams murdering a gay couple near Redding, Calif., to Timothy McVeigh destroying a federal building and 168 lives in Oklahoma City, we have seen no shortage of "Christians" who believe Jesus requires — or at least allows — them to commit murder.

If federal officials are correct, we now have one more name to add to the dishonor roll. That name would be Hutaree, a self-styled Christian militia in Michigan, nine members of which have been arrested and accused of plotting to kill police officers in hopes of sparking an anti-government uprising.

Many of us would doubtless resist referring to plots like this as Christian terrorism, feeling it unfair to tar the great body of Christendom with the actions of its fringe radicals. And here, we will pause for Muslim readers to clear their throats loudly...CONTINUED HERE

NONE DARE CALL IT SEDITION

2010-04-07T14:51:00.000-05:00

Sarah Robinson is one of my favorite bloggers. She has a way of pulling it all together and making you go - "YEAH!" Well, she has done it again in her latest offering.

Sedition: Crime of creating a revolt, disturbance, or violence against lawful civil authority with the intent to cause its overthrow or destruction

-- Brittanica Concise Dictionary

Well, finally. It's high time somebody had the guts to say the S-word -- sedition -- right out loud.

When the indictments against the Hutaree were unsealed last week, the S-word was right there, front and center, in Count One. The Justice Department accused them of "seditious conspiracy," charging that the defendants "did knowingly conspire, confederate, and agree with each other and other persons known and unknown...to levy war against the United States, and to prevent, hinder, and delay by force the execution of any United States law."

This is very serious stuff. But the Hutaree are getting nailed for sedition only because they crossed the line with inches to spare. They're by no means the only ones. Advocating, encouraging, and sanctioning sedition is the new norm on the conservative side.

We saw it again last Thursday, when the Guardians of the Free Republics -- a Sovereign Citizen group that believes that the oath of office taken by state governors is invalid under their twisted Bizarroland interpretation of the Constitution -- sent letters to most or all sitting state governors telling them to either a) take what they consider to be a legitimate oath of office; b) stand down; or c) or be removed "non-violently" within three days. The FBI, rightly, regards this as a potentially seditious threat against the governors.

These two events are a wake-up call for progressives. They're telling us that it's time to openly confront the fact that conservatives have spent the past 40 years systematically delegitimizing the very idea of constitutional democracy in America. When they're in power, they mismanage it and defund it. When they're out of power, they refuse to participate in running the country at all -- indeed, they throw all their energy into thwarting the democratic process any way they can. When they need to win an election, they use violent, polarizing, eliminationist language against their opponents to motivate their base. This is sedition in slow motion, a gradual corrosive undermining of the government's authority and capacity to run the country. And it's been at the core of their politics going all the way back to Goldwater.

This long assault has gone into overdrive since Obama's inauguration, as the rhetoric has ratcheted up from overheated to perfervid. We've reached the point where you can't go a week without hearing some prominent right wing leader calling for outright sedition -- an immediate and defiant populist uprising against some legitimate form of government authority.

Moderates and liberals are responding to this rising threat with feckless calls for "a return to civility," as if all that's needed to put things right again is a stern talking-to from Miss Manners. Though that couldn't hurt, the sad fact is that we're well past the point where it's just a matter of conservatives behaving like tantrum-throwing spoiled brats (which they are). When a mob is surrounding your house with torches and telling you they intend to burn it down, "civility" really isn't the issue any more....CONTINUED HERE...

TERRORISM 101 REVISITED

2010-04-03T13:44:00.000-05:00

Seven years ago I wrote a series of articles dealing with the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building, Timothy McVeigh, and others who figured into the equation. As we approach the 15th anniversary of that event, I feel compelled to revisit some of those writings. I am reposting this article on McVeigh and I am wondering if anyone can connect some of the dots to what is taking place in our country today.

My grandmother was fond of the old adage "When children are little they step on your toes, when they are grown they step on your heart." Imagine raising a child from birth, kissing all the scrapes and cuts, nursing all the coughs and ear-aches and imparting all of the values and morals that you believe to be true, then having to watch as that person is executed for the deaths of 168 people. Imagine that everytime that child's name is spoken it is followed by words like "monster" or "murderer." Imagine that while others are showing off baby pictures to their grand kids, the baby pictures of your child are being sought after by CNN and Hard-Copy. Imagine that every time you think of that freckled little nose, those inquisitive eyes and those tiny hands that thought is accompanied by the knowledge that the child, once so dear and special to you, grew up to commit the most heinous act of domestic terrorism on American soil. Imagine...the anguish of the parents of Timothy McVeigh.

Timothy James McVeigh was born on April 23, 1968 in Pendleton, New York, near Buffalo. He grew up a small, thin boy who was not very well coordinated. He had lots of heart by all accounts, always coming out to play with others in games that required agility and speed. Often he was teased and taunted because of his lack of athletic prowess, and by all accounts he took the teasing well...and always showed right back up to try again. It always appeared to others that Timothy existed on the fringe of everything. His classmates and teachers characterize him as "shy and never having a date." As a matter of fact, lack of female interest (with one or two exceptions) is chronicled throughout his short life. McVeigh has been called an "underachiever" in school - but very bright. When Tim was 10 years old his mother and father separated and he and his sisters grew up with his father. But, it was Tim's grandfather who would have the most profound influence on him - he introduced him to the love of his life, guns.

Timothy McVeigh achieved the rank of Sergeant in the United States Army. During his time in the service he was awarded the Combat Infantry Badge and the Bronze Star. He fit into the regimen and discipline of the Army quite well, and in some respects was the model soldier. In a story published in the Washington Post, Staff writer Dale Russakoff, had the following to say:

"For the most part, any aberrations in Tim McVeigh's life were hidden under an exterior so bland as to be nondescript. Many acquaintances had to struggle to think of something -- anything -- to relate about him. His interest in firearms was known only to friends who also liked them; a good friend from the track team never even knew McVeigh owned a BB gun. In retrospect, merely appearing regular seems to have been a lifelong pursuit. Even today, as the case against him grows ever tighter, a person who has seen and talked to McVeigh in prison near Oklahoma City saw in him a normalcy that rendered him "the scariest man in the world." "There's nothing alarming about him -- nothing," this person said. "He's respectful of his elders, he's polite. When he expresses political views, for most of what he says, Rush Limbaugh is scarier. That's what's incredibly frightening. If he is what he appears to be, there must be other people out there like him. You look at him and you think: This isn't the end of something; this is the beginning of something."

The "blandness" that surrounded Timothy McVeigh was certainly what many people remember. But, in hindsight, after the act, people began to remember other things. Pendleton, New York was predominantly white. When things at his father's plant started going amiss and jobs across the country were being threatened the talk around the dinner tables and in the diners turned to Affirmative Action and, of course, race. McVeigh, after graduating high school took a job driving an armored truck. He was bored with the job and told one employee that the two things that he loved were wearing a uniform and carrying a gun. The same co-worker who asked not to be named in the Washington Post article, told of a time when McVeigh came to work wearing bandoliers laden with deer slugs "looking like Pancho Villa." Virtually all who knew Tim well recalled his obsession with guns and his penchant for stockpiling weapons and supplies in the event that there was a problem with the government.

It was in the Army, however, that Tim's really obsessive behaviors drew attention. His Army roommate, Dave Dilly, recalls:

"Always eager to please, he carefully starched the pleats into his uniform, spit-polished his shoes, won days off for immaculate appearance. He was always early, always up for guard duty no one else wanted. Any test, he'd ace it. He got the top score on everything. He knew he was exactly what the Army wanted. It was going to be an easy life for him."

It was in the Army that McVeigh met Terry Nichols and Michael Fortier both of who played a major role in the future escapades of Timothy McVeigh. It was also in the Army that Timothy McVeigh became acquainted with, and ultimately obsessed with, William Pierce's Turner Diaries." We would all too soon find out just what a lethal mixture McVeigh's obsessions and friends were. Seemingly, the only problem that plagued McVeigh in his Army years was race. And then that really didn't give him the trouble that it should have. One soldier who served with Mcveigh claimed that he was criticized for "assigning undesirable work to black specialists" and others claimed that he made derogatory statements towards blacks. But, considering the Army and knowing how it values dedicated soldiers, it is little surprise that McVeigh's racism was generally brushed aside. Throughout his time in the Army, Mcveigh continued to stockpile arms and supplies with a compulsion that garnered the attention of several of his Army buddies. Nonetheless, Timothy loved the Army. He loved it so much that he tried out for the Green Berets but couldn't meet the physical challenge. Soon after he chose civilian life.

McVeigh had long harbored anti-government sentiments thus it is not surprising that he would gravitate towards right-wing militia groups and extremists. Discouraged and disgruntled over his inability to make the grade for the Green Berets and believing that the U.S. government was oppressive and on the wrong track, McVeigh traveled around the country setting up shop and selling military type paraphernalia at various gun shows. The underground novel, The Turner Diaries, was generally hawked by him as well. Many accounts of McVeigh's travels neglect to explore the importance of this time in Tim's life. Generally, they tend to focus on McVeigh's visits to Fortier and Nichols with little mention, if any, of the others who he met while on the gun-show circuit and the role they played in McVeigh's act of terror. It wasn't until recently that many of the pieces of the puzzle surrounding McVeigh's motivation and extremist leanings came to light. And it wasn't until recently that the federal law-enforcement agencies' prior knowledge of his associations was substantiated. Thus, any true understanding of the events surrounding the final act has been greatly hindered.

The anti-government philosophy was already deeply embedded in McVeigh's psyche. And as he traversed through 40 states, he had that philosophy reinforced time and again. At one point, McVeigh joined the Ku Klux Klan and even engaged in distributing some hate literature for them. But, there were other factors which contributed even more greatly to the mindset of McVeigh and his belief that there had to be an army of civilian patriots who would be willing to rise up and stand against the government. William Cooper was an "apocalyptic, militia-inspired" talk show radio host whose short-wave radio broadcasts out of his home atop a mesa in Arizona caught McVeigh's attention according to Mark Shaffer of the Arizona Republic. McVeigh became a dedicated listener to Cooper's radio messages. According to the Republic report, McVeigh had sought out William Cooper and paid him a visit a couple of months before the bombing. Nolan Udall, a friend of Cooper's, claims that Tim wanted Coopers help but wouldn't tell him what for. According to Udall, "Finally, Bill just got frustrated with him and told him to leave him alone." Cooper was killed in a shootout with law-enforcement officials in November, 2001. Michele Marie Moore, author of "Oklahoma: Day One," and member of Cooper's group, however, gives new insight into the messages that Cooper sent and his involvement in a militia arm called the Second Continental Army of the Republic.

According to Moore, who was close to Cooper, the Second Continental Army of the Republic was one of two organizations which Cooper was involved with:

"There were two completely different organizations about which he wrote, taught, and spoke. One was the Second Continental Army of the Republic, which was/is a militia arm... very secretive, very underground, very well connected, very well insulated, very well trained, very professional.

About this organization you will never uncover anything. They know who they are, and they're not playing games. This organization has maintained its anonymity for almost ten years, and that is as it should be. To be truly effective in this role, you must be almost invisible. The SCAR has achieved this and I am sure they will maintain it. No one who is a part of that particular militia will EVER publicly admit a militia rank. It's just nobody's business, and such public disclosures would do nothing but negate the effectiveness of the group."

Sounding a lot like "The Order," an underground group depicted in the "Turner Diaries, this group is supposedly one of two. Moore describes the second group, in "The Konformist" thusly:

"The other organization associated with Bill is the Intelligence Service (originally known as CAJI, Citizens Agency for Joint Intelligence), which was the intel-gathering arm of the SCAR. This was purely info-centered... not a militia organization. There was no war-game training, no survival exercises in the woods. The training was specifically geared to gathering information, acquiring it, understanding it, finding its perspective in relation to other information known, determining the accuracy or bias of the information, determining the dependability of sources, putting it all together and documenting trends and activities. The training for those who worked at it was intensive and comprehensive.

Anyone could apply for membership in the Intelligence Service, but not all who applied were accepted. When applying, you had to present credentials of either experience or education, and a thorough background check was performed on all applicants before they were accepted into service. You were assigned a beginning rank based on your background, accomplishments and capabilities, and, depending on the quality of your performance, you might achieve promotion. I joined this organization in late 1994. Before resigning my commission from the Intelligence Service in April of 1997, I earned the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and coordinated the work of members in four states.

Issues concerning the existence or purpose of the Intelligence Service were never secret -- although some of the information gathered was. Bill talked openly about the Intelligence Service, and asked publicly for participants who could be disciplined thinkers, willing to learn, willing to work, willing to serve. It offered a way for anyone who was accepted to participate, regardless of their age or physical condition. It was a job we all took very seriously, and those who worked received superb leadership training as well."

Whether McVeigh was ever involved with either of these is not known and pretty unlikely. Certainly, however, given his obsession with the "Turner Diaries," Tim would be fascinated with the secrecy and inner-workings of such groups. Cooper spoke of the need for underground resistance units and the need for individuals to maintain a low profile. According to Moore:

"He wanted small, organized, invisible pockets of support to form in every community, waiting and preparing for the time when their service would be vital to the existence of our nation."

All of this played like a concerto to McVeigh - a civilian army, armed and prepared and ready to rise up against the governmental forces of evil.

It is important to note that during the time that McVeigh was tuning into Cooper's radio broadcast, there was a groundswell in the Patriot Movement. Militia's were quite active during this period and while not all members or all militia movements were characterized by racist ideology, many of the white hate groups found commonality with the militias and their anti-government stance. It was not unusual to find militia members in attendance at extremist gatherings or neo-Nazi's attending militia meetings. The paranoia that was omnipresent in militia-minded individuals was frequently shared by the racist right - and still is today.

Timothy McVeigh was ready for the broadcasts of William Cooper. Timothy McVeigh was being schooled by some of the best. As he traveled and set up shop with various gun-shows across the United States, Timothy McVeigh placed himself in a position to be inundated with like-minded people. And as he sold his knives and fatigues and the "Turner Diaries" (sometimes he sold the book for less than he paid for it just to get the message out there), he met a bevy of people with whom he could network.

"Gun shows have become town-hall meetings for racists and antigovernment radicals," said Gerald Post, director of the political psychology program at George Washington University." Prosecutors of McVeigh have claimed that McVeigh used the gun shows to "fence stolen weapons, make contacts to buy bomb materials and hone his terrorist skills." That most gun-shows attract their share of anti-government and extremist individuals is without argument. In a speech at the University of California-Riverside, Noel Ignatiev, of the Violence Policy Center, said that "gun shows have become Tupperware parties for criminals." Citing a seventy-two page study conducted by the Center, it was stated that "gun shows have become town squares where militia members and the extremist fringe recruit new members and they have become a primary source for stolen military parts."

Timothy McVeigh found his niche - and he made new friends - lots of them. Immersed in conspiracy theory about the government, McVeigh bemoaned the current state of affairs to the newspaper writing: "Is a civil war imminent? Do we have to shed blood to reform the current system? I hope it doesn't come to that, but it might." He also corresponded with his sister, Jennifer. In his letters he explained that the government planned to disarm gun owners and lock them up in concentration-like camps - much as depicted in the "Turner Diaries." But, on April 19, 1993, the straw that finally broke the back of Timothy McVeigh was lain squarely and irrevocably.

On February 28th, the government began a siege on Mount Carmel, the Branch Davidian complex in Waco, Texas. Concerned that the law-enforcement entities might be starting to abridge the gun-ownership rights of individuals, McVeigh made his way to Waco to see for himself and to lend support. On the way Tim stocked up on items he could sell or hand-out. When he attempted to approach the compound, ATF agents blocked his way and turned him around. McVeigh found a place to park his vehicle and set up shop nearby. Michelle Rauch, a young student reporter was covering the siege and managed to get a few words out of McVeigh:

"The government is afraid of the guns people have because they have to have control of the people at all times. Once you take away the guns, you can do anything to the people. The government is continually growing bigger and more powerful, and the people need to prepare to defend themselves against government control."

Among the pamphlets and literature being proffered by McVeigh were such titles as, "Politicians Love Gun Control," "Fear the Government That Fears Your Gun," "A Man With A Gun is a Citizen, A Man Without a Gun is a Subject." Of course, government agents were keeping a close eye on those around the Waco compound, and it was here that McVeigh came under scrutiny. He hung around for a few days then headed west to visit his Army buddy, Michael Fortier and his wife Lori in Kingmon, Arizona.

Fortier and McVeigh shared a great deal of sentiments about the government. They were, indeed, kindred spirits in their ideology. But, Michael was into drugs and McVeigh was not. While they shared ideas and thoughts, Fortier's mind would become clouded by narcotics and Timothy McVeigh became bored and irritated with the drug-induced state that Fortier lived in. Over the next couple of years, however, McVeigh would visit Fortier many times. It was, however, another Army buddy who fell completely into line with Tim's disdain for the government - Terry Nichols.

Tim left the Fortier trailer and headed for Tulsa, Oklahoma and the Wanenmacher's World's Largest Gun and Knife Show. It was in Tulsa that McVeigh was to meet several very important people. It was in Tulsa that the determiners of the fate of the Alfred P. Murrah Building and all of its occupants became acquainted.

Among those people who befriended McVeigh was a man by the name of Roger Moore, a gun dealer from Royal, Arkansas. Moore shared his home with Karen Anderson. Both Moore and Anderson worked together in a mail order ammunition business. Moore who used the name "Bob Miller" at gun shows extended an invitation to McVeigh to visit him at his home. McVeigh was very comfortable in Moore's home environment as he was surrounded by guns, ammunition and explosive devices. He took quick note at the lack of security surrounding all of Moore's valuable weaponry. And, Moore would soon be the target of a robbery.

Terry Nichols was living on the illegal edge. Disdainful of government and the laws of the land, he had adopted the militia-mindset of a group known as the "Freemen." For a time, Terry and his brother James resided on a farm in Decker, Michigan. In 1992, Nichols had amassed thousands of dollars in credit card debts. When his financial situation became a matter for the court, Nichols claimed that the judge had no jurisdiction over him. In an ABC News Special Report by Buck Wolf, Nichols is said to have sent letters to former President Bill Clinton, Senator Bob Dole and former Attorney General Janet Reno disavowing his citizenship along with his responsibility to pay taxes:

"I lawfully, squarely challenge the fraudulent usurping octopus of jurisdiction/authority that does not apply to me," wrote Nichols, claiming that the federal government is operating in violation of the Constitution. "It is therefore now mandatory for . . . the so-called IRS, for example, to prove its jurisdiction."

Steeped in the rhetoric of the militia and the Patriot Movement, Nichols along with his brother James, refused to recognize the government as legal and as having any authority over their day-to-day actions. Terry refused to register his pick-up truck or buy a valid license plate because he did not believe that the Constitution empowered the U.S. government to print money.

When McVeigh arrived at the Decker farm, the Waco stand-off was at full steam. When the end of siege resulted in the deaths of 75 Branch Davidians, McVeigh was livid - and he was certain that the government had to pay. Before long, MVeigh and the Nichols brothers were practicing setting off explosives on the farm. The three men attended meetings of the Michigan Militia but grew frustrated with all of the talk and no action, consequently, they formed their own cell of a paramilitary group called "The Patriots." McVeigh would spend a lot of time with Terry Nichols and Michael Fortier. The government had finally shown the world how it treated its citizens, and Timothy McVeigh was a man on a mission.

Bland, nondescript Timothy McVeigh believed that it was time to send the message and sound the alarm that would rally the armed citizens of America to take action. Among the people who McVeigh had met in Tulsa were Dennis Mahon and Andreas Strassmeir. Both of these men were neo-Nazi's with deep ties to the racist right and the underground which encourages and supports small cell and lone-wolf violence. While the Nichols brothers had the know-how in building bombs from common materials - the racist right had the connections needed to make it happen.

Dennis Mahon is a flamboyant and aging racist who handles the Oklahoma cell of White Aryan Resistance for Tom Metzger. The guru of Lone Wolf activism, Metzger has long been associated with the racist right and the police. Mahon, who became romantically involved with Carol Howe, an ATF informant, has repeatedly pled the Fifth at Grand Jury proceedings surrounding the events of the bombing. In one report Mahon claims that in a conversation with McVeigh who was using the alias of "Tim Tuttle" about Waco he stated:

I met Tim Tuttle, but I didn't know he was alias Tim McVeigh. I met him at gun shows. He sold military stuff, knives, gun parts, camouflage uniforms. I remember he had real short hair and real intense eyes and the real long narrow nose...And we talked about Waco. And I said, 'What comes around goes around. If they keep doing this terrorism on our people, terrorism's going to happen to them....'He said, 'Probably. Probably so."

Vehemently anti-government and viciously anti-racist, Mahon referred to Timothy McVeigh as a martyr for the cause and stated:

"Timothy McVeigh is my hero. Wish we had a thousand more like him. He took action."

He also referred to the bombng as "a fine thing" and stated further "I hate the government with a perfect hatred. If I had a nuclear bomb, I'd put it in a truck and drive right up to the Capitol Building in Washington and blow it all up, me included." Believing that any and all methods are legitimate when it comes to saving your nation, Mahon was the perfect friend for Timothy McVeigh.

Dennis Mahon was a world traveler and Timothy McVeigh's defense team attempted to introduce evidence which would demonstrate a Middle-Eastern tie to the bombing via Dennis Mahon - the evidence was never allowed, but in a brief filed by defense attorney's the suspicion of these ties was stated thusly:

"The defense believes that there is credible evidence that a conspiracy to bomb federal property, very possibly the Murrah Building, is centered in Elohim City and the persons described which are associated with Elohim City, but that the technical expertise and possibly financial support came from a foreign country, most likely Iraq, but possibly Iran or another state in the Middle East. Dennis Mahon has admitted publicly to received money from Iraq, approximately once a month. D.E. 2191 at 11. According to Mahon, the money started arriving in 1991 after he began holding rallies protesting the Persian Gulf War. Id.

Although the defense has no direct evidence linking Suspect I with Iraq, there is evidence indicating an indirect connection between Suspect I and Iraq through the militant Posse Comitatus group in Kansas."

Often referring to himself as "the master of disguise," Mahon was identified as the person driving the Ryder truck on the morning of April 19th, 1995, with Tim McVeigh riding as a passenger. To date, Mahon has not been questioned or arrested.

Andreas Strassmeir, a/k/a "Andy the German was a friend of Dennis Mahon's and a very important person to Timothy McVeigh. A German-born nationalist living in the United States on an expired visa, Andy became the Chief of Security for Elohim City, a white-supremacist compound and breeding ground for terrorists fronted by the bastardized religion of Christian Identity located in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains in Eastern Oklahoma. Andreas, the consummate Nazi, is believed by many to have been a government informant - perhaps the FBI informant that the ATF didn't know about. He played his part to the hilt. It is well documented, however, that the FBI knew what was transpiring in Elohim City and precisely what Strassmeir was doing there.

Strassmeir has been placed in the company of Timothy McVeigh and Dennis Mahon on numerous occasions. In fact, it is now known that the phone call that McVeigh placed to Elohim City just 12 days before the bombing was actually a phone call to Andreas Strassmeir. Andy's association with a former CIA agent has come under scrutiny and many believe that Strassmeir was John Doe #2. In Novemeber, 1994, Carol Howe informed the ATF that Strassmeir had declared "It's time to go to war�it's time to start bombing federal buildings."

With these acquaintances and the introduction of McVeigh to the Elohim City compound, Tim was able to formulate a plan, locate funding and garner support from other like-minded people. This also, undoubtedly buoyed his belief in the army of armed civilians ready to engage in insurrection as the people of Elohim City are all armed and all anti-government.

Elohim City also serves as a "safe haven" for those on the run. As the planning was taking place for McVeigh's final act, the Aryan Republican Army was using the compound to regroup and plan their next heist. The Aryan Republican Army was comprised of Mark Thomas, the Pennsylvania leader of the Aryan Nations and Christian Identity minister, Peter Langan known as "Commander Pedro," an Aryan Nations disciple, Richard Lee Guthrie, a Christian Identity adherent, Scott Stedeford, Christian Identity, Aryan Nations adherent, Kevin McCarthy, Christian Identity, Aryan Nations adherent and Michael Brescia, one time roommate of Andreas Strassmeir at Elohim City.

McVeigh had always been enterprising at raising money. And, this would be no exception. The purpose of the Aryan Republican Army, according to member Kevin McCarthy, was to raise money to "commit terrorist acts against the United States." Timothy McVeigh certainly wanted to commit acts of terror against the government and in order to do so, he had to raise the funds.

The one family member who Timothy McVeigh was closet to was his sister, Jennifer. Younger than Tim, he felt somewhat paternal towards her. In November of 1994, Jennifer tells us under oath that Timothy flashed a wad of money and asked her to launder it for him. He claimed that it came from a bank robbery. At the same time, Tim told Jennifer about plans to commit political assassinations.

Tim McVeigh made friends with the members of the Aryan Republican Army and newly released information now confirms that he was involved with some of the robberies that the ARA committed as a method to fund his terrorist activities. The familiar saying among the racist right that "All roads lead to Elohim City," can now be fully appreciated and understood.

Timothy McVeigh was seen in the company of many of the residents and guests of Elohim City prior to the bombing. One report places Michael Fortier at Elohim City on at least one occasion. On April 8, 1995, just 11 days before the bombing, Timothy McVeigh, Andreas Strassmeir and Michael Bresscia are reported to have been seen at a strip-club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. According to one of the strippers, McVeigh told her , "I am a very smart man," to which she responded, "You are?" And McVeigh replied, "Yes I am. And on April 19, 1995, you'll remember me for the rest of your life." The stripper replied, "Oh really?" And Tim simply said, "Yes you will." Several witnesses placed the three men together in Lady Godiva's that night.

The prosecution asserted that the bomb that was built to blow up the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City was put together by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols at Geary Lake State Park just north of Nichols' home in Herington, Kansas. What the prosecution failed to mention was that others were seen in Herington with Mcveigh - others who have been identified as Michael Brescia and Andreas Strassmeir.

A loner, filled with rage and believing in the shadowy underground of militia's and armed insurrection searching for others who believed Timothy McVeigh moved into the realm of Elohim City and found the means and the connections to carry out his obsession. From the mesa top in Arizona and the message of Bill Cooper to the Oklahoma compound of Elohim City and at all points in between, McVeigh's distorted perceptions were reinforced time and time again. From the pages of the "Turner Diaries," emerged a three-dimensional Earl Turner. The book that tells the story of murder, mayhem and governmental overthrow was brought to life.

There are those who believe that Timothy McVeigh was used by his new-found friends and that he took the fall for those who were truly guilty. Timothy McVeigh admitted to the bombing and took the responsibility. And he paid - with his life. To the end, McVeigh never implicated the others, but that too was in keeping with the Diaries. You might say that he "consecrated his life" to the cause. And in death, martyrdom would be the over-riding factor for McVeigh. As he issued the poem "Invictus" as his last words, Timothy McVeigh became the captain of his fate. Timothy McVeigh died much as Earl Turner died, believing that he had given the ultimate sacrifice and seeing in those who befriended and assisted him what Turner saw in his brethren of the "Order."

" As the torchlight flickered over the coarse, gray robes of the motionless throng, I thought to myself: These men are the best my race has produced in this generation-and they are as good as have been produced in any generation. In them are combined fiery passion and icy discipline, deep intelligence and instant readiness for action, a strong sense of self-worth and a total commitment to our common cause. On them hang the hopes of everything that will ever be. They are the vanguard of the coming New Era, the pioneers who will lead our race out of its present depths and toward the unexplored heights above. And I am one with them!" (The Turner Diaries)

MAKE THIS A BETTER WORLD

2010-03-29T17:15:00.000-05:00

FOUND HERE

THE ANTICHRIST, MILITIAS, AND TEA-PARTIES

2010-03-29T14:27:00.001-05:00

"The indictment says they were planning to kill a member of law enforcement, possibly after a traffic stop, to "prompt a response by law enforcement."

"The goal: To "intimidate and demoralize law enforcement, diminishing their ranks and rendering them ineffective," according to the indictment.

"The group then intended to use the incident to spark a "war" against law enforcement, using bombs, ambushes and prepared fighting positions."

That is an excerpt from the latest story on the arrests over the weekend. Right-wing extremists are teetering on the brink of hysteria fueled by the recent approval of health-care reform, right-wing talk show hosts and media, and several congressional leaders and politicians.

After a week of threats and vandalism against Democratic officials and their families, law-enforcement and the public are on edge and waiting for the proverbial next show to drop.

The rest of the story and videos can be found here...

TAKE THAT!

2010-03-27T16:06:00.002-05:00

CONGRESSMAN WEINER - LATEST VICTIM

2010-03-25T15:19:00.000-05:00

Racial epithets, homophobic slurs, threats, intimidation, vandalism, severed gas line, shots fired, and now white powder - what a world we are making for ourselves and our children.

THE STORY & VIDEO HERE

Law enforcement officials say a package with white powder was sent to Congressman Weiner's Queens office today.

A preliminary review shows the letter in part complained about the historic health care legislation passed by Congress this week, according to the source.

Weiner's office is on the fifth floor of a building on Kew Gardens Road in Queens. Law enforcement officials said a doctor's office and a law office on the floor were among those evacuated as a precaution. Nine people were inside Weiner's office at the time.

In a statement, Weiner acknowledged that his office received a suspicious envelope and said his prime concern is the safety of his staff and others in the area.

"Earlier today an envelope containing white powder and a threatening letter was delivered to my community office in Kew Gardens. The NYPD was immediately alerted and have responded appropriately by sending a Haz-Mat team," the statement read. "Any questions related to their response should be directed to the NYPD. My first priority is the safety of my staff and neighbors, and the authorities are currently taking steps to investigate and resolve the situation."

The NYPD, the FBI and other emergency management officials are at the scene as a precaution, spokesmen for the agencies say. Weiner's Kew Gardens office will be closed pending the completion of the investigation. As is routine, preliminary field testing is underway to determine whether the substance is in any way hazardous. Then it will be sent to a lab for further detailed testing as a precaution. Officials say most often, these letters are hoaxes.

Check back here for frequent updates on this breaking story.

The package sent to Weiner's office may be the latest in a series of threats directed against Democratic Congress members who voted to overhaul the U.S. health care system.

At least four Democratic offices in New York, Arizona and Kansas were struck and at least 10 members of Congress have reported some sort of threats, including obscenity-laced phone messages, congressional leaders have said. No arrests have been reported.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday condemned vandalism and threats against members of Congress who voted to overhaul the U.S. health care system. Republicans joined in, telling people to calm down and saying they too were being targeted in an increasingly venomous political atmosphere.

"I don't want this to be a distraction" to the work of Congress, Pelosi said. But she also asserted that such violence and threats of reprisal have "no place in a civil debate in our country" and must be rejected.

Her sentiments were echoed minutes later by House Republican leader John Boehner, who said that while many are angry over the health care measure, "threats and violence should not be part of a political debate."

At least four Democratic offices in New York, Arizona and Kansas were struck and at least 10 members of Congress have reported some sort of threats, including obscenity-laced phone messages, congressional leaders have said. No arrests have been reported.

The House's No. 3 Republican, Eric Cantor of Virginia, said at a brief news conference Thursday that someone fired a bullet through a window of his campaign office in Richmond this week and he has received threatening e-mails.

Responding to Democrats who have accused Republicans of being too slow to condemn the attacks against lawmakers, he stressed that security threats are not a partisan issue. "To use such threats as political weapons is reprehensible," he said.

The shots were fired into the offices of two Republican political strategists who are longtime advisers to Cantor. The building in downtown Richmond has no markings that link it to Cantor or to political activity.

The actions against Democrats have included racial slurs thrown at black lawmakers, e-mail and phone death threats and bricks thrown through regional office windows.

Rep. Louise Slaughter, a New York Democrat and chairwoman of an influential House committee, said someone had left her a voice mail that used the word "snipers."

On the Republican side, the office of Rep. Jean Schmidt of Ohio released a tape of a profanity-laced phone message in which the caller said Republicans were racists and, referring to an accident two years ago when Schmidt was hit by a car while jogging, said, "you should have broke your back, b... ."

Senate Sergeant at Arms Terry Gainer told The Associated Press Thursday that there was "no evidence that annoying, harassing or threatening telephone calls or emails are coordinated. Regrettably though, bloggers and twitters seem to feed off each other, leaving little room for creativity."

At the news conference, Pelosi said it is "important for us to be able to express ourselves freely, not to diminish that in any way, but also to hit a standard that says some of the actions ... must be rejected."

But the California Democrat also said she did not "subscribe to the theory that these acts sprang from the comments of my colleagues."

The vandalism and threats surprised a researcher at a think tank that monitors extremist groups.

"I think it is astounding that we are seeing this wave of vigilantism," said Mark Potok of the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center.

2010-03-25T10:22:00.000-05:00

I have been reading Mario Piperni's blog for a little while now, and have gotten a big kick out of his wit and his graphics.

In view of the many events and activities of late surrounding the racist and violent messages being sent by the extreme right through the airwaves and on our streets the blogosphere has been absolutely rife with great and thoughtful opinions and essays. Mr. Piperni can say a lot with just one graphic and a biting wit. This is his latest:

Jimmy Zuma has a thing or two to say to teabaggers.

Of course, I’ve written that you’re the Stupid Wing of the Republican Party, the people who have backward social ideas, fear change because you have trouble adapting to it, and are easily whipped into a frenzy at election time. Along with Rich Republicans and Fan Independents (who vote for whomever they think will win just to feel like a winner) you’re a necessary part of any Republican win.

Generally, you are reliable voters who are easy to ignore as the Affluent Wing of the party – The Bankers — picks your pocket. All they have to do is to tell you that poor people/government/liberals are he reason for your failure. It’s such a convenient excuse – someone else is the reason you didn’t get rich, even though you worked hard — you lap it up like Jimmy Dean sausage gravy.

And now, you’ve had a groggy awakening – a brief glimmer of half-insight — and decided to make some mischief. It’s merely an intellectual baby step, however, not an intellectual awakening. The latter, hopefully, will come after a few more generations – after evolution has done it’s good work. Consider this:

* You say you’re independent and you’re “grassroots.” Yet Dick Armey is responsible for organizing you.

*A lifelong Republican, He was in the middle of both the Republican Revolution and the Contract for America, two other Republican Party lip-service campaigns aimed at you.

*In the same way that John McCain historically was in charge of manipulating the independents, Dick Armey’s turf is to manipulate the social conservatives.

*This is just the next round in the saga of playing you for a fool. “They [the RNC] just don’t get it” is all over your blogs. Maybe they do. After all, Dick Armey has been your puppet master for how many decades now?

So far, your big “revolution” consists of running a few alternatives in primaries – but only Republican primaries and with mixed results – while pretending that you might overthrow the government. (As if a bunch of old farts in flannel shirts actually could.) It’s a typical “silent majority” delusion – the same hubris that led Ron Paul to a one percent showing in the last election.

True independence surely wouldn’t find you only in Republican politics, would it? True disaffection would also find you in Democratic circles, or maybe starting your own party. If you really want to start something, start with growing some stones, setting an agenda, and starting a party. And stop whining about change. The alternative is “same” which you claim to despise.

Or stay true to your historical form and let Dick Armey pull your strings on behalf of the Republican National Committee. Then line up solidly behind the next Republican – just like you always do.

Racism and the Myth of a "Victim Mentality"

2010-03-19T14:35:00.001-05:00

Racism and the Myth of a "Victim Mentality"

By Tim Wise

Recently, I received an e-mail from a college professor who shows a video of one of my speeches in her classroom. She explained that she was in need of a citation for a claim I had made in the video, to the effect that although blacks and Latinos are far more likely than whites to be searched by police after a traffic stop, it is whites who are more likely--four times more likely in fact--to be found with drugs or other contraband on us, on the much less frequent occasions when we're the ones searched.

I happily obliged, sending her the web link for a 2005 Department of Justice report, in which the data can be found. Apparently, she was being challenged by one of her white male students, who was certain the claim must be wrong. Of course. Because everybody knows black and brown folks are the ones with all the drugs. Armed with his high school diploma, he felt confident challenging the person who is academically certified to teach him something, as if her years of experience and research counted for nothing, and as if mine (twenty-plus at this point) were irrelevant to the search for truth.

As a side note, and before continuing with the real focus of my remarks, it has always fascinated me how readily people without the slightest bit of knowledge on these subjects will challenge those of us who have spent our lives studying them. And this they do, in a way they would never think to challenge, say, the plumber who came to fix their toilet. In such a case as that, most anyone would recognize and defer to the plumber's specialized knowledge about their craft. But not with a subject that has ideological or political implications. The fact that everyone is entitled to their opinion leads millions to believe that their opinions are actually just as valuable as anyone else's, no matter the yawning chasm between their own expertise on a topic and that of someone else. Thus, we end up with Glenn Beck helping to shape public opinion: a guy who readily admits his lack of education, but whose views we are supposed to take seriously anyway. Or Sarah Palin, whose sub-mediocre academic record is viewed as a badge of honor by conservatives who consider those with substantial academic accomplishments to be elitist snobs.

But anyway, I digress.

What was actually more disturbing about the instructor's e-mail was the part after she asked for the data citation, where she noted that in addition to challenging the facts I'd presented in the video, the white guy had also insisted that even if the claim were true--in other words, even if police really are racially profiling people of color unfairly--we shouldn't talk about it, because to do so will discourage black people from trying hard to achieve. It will, presumably, turn them into permanent victims, whose expectations of mistreatment will make them essentially give up.

The Racist and Ignorant Underpinnings of the Victim Mentality Argument

It's a common argument, made by those who would rather ignore or finesse the problem of racism in America. If you can't argue the facts, never fear, just suggest that certain facts are too dangerous to be spoken. The possibility that persons of color might adopt a victim mentality once they learn the extent of racism, means we simply have to move on, and tell those who are, as a matter of fact, often the victims of injustice not to dwell on their experiences too much, lest their commitment to self-help be vitiated.

That such an argument as this is fundamentally racist should be obvious. First, it presumes that persons of color are too stupid to already know what it is they're experiencing. Those who bemoan the so-called victim mindset appear to believe that no one would think about racism were it not for the constant presence of liberals and leftists raising the issue. Secondly, the argument supposes that black and brown folks are so weak-willed that if they really understood the obstacles in their way, they would crumble like pie crust. As such, the fact that prominent black conservatives like Shelby Steele or Walter Williams are among the most outspoken proponents of this argument--that discussing racism risks the inculcation of a permanent victim mentality--suggests how little they think of their own racial group.

The truth is, folks of color (especially African Americans) are well aware of the negative stereotypes held about their racial group by an early age. Indeed, recent evidence indicates an awareness of these stereotypes by as soon as the third grade, and rarely later than the fifth: around the age of, say, eleven. This awareness--which is not due to liberals bringing it up, but rather, the result of black and brown folks living with the mistreatment that stems from the stereotypes and being exposed to them in media and elsewhere--has been found to dramatically impact academic performance. Even (and especially) among highly capable and motivated students of color, the fear of living down to a stereotype has been shown to generate such anxiety that it can suppress performance, relative to ability, thereby perpetuating the very performance gaps that feed the stereotypes about black intelligence in the first place. In other words, whether or not white racism is discussed, the knowledge of its existence is sufficient to negatively impact black and brown success. Talking about racism isn't the problem: racism itself is.

Are Some Victims are More Valid Than Others?

Naturally, none of the conservatives who worry about blacks adopting a debilitating mindset of victimhood ever fret about the same thing happening to others who have been victimized by injustice. They don't tell Jewish folks to get over the Holocaust, or not to talk about those unhappy matters so much, lest they cripple themselves under the weight of a victim syndrome. They don't warn crime victims against the adoption of a victim mindset. No indeed, the right even praises "victim's rights" groups, as if to suggest that, for these poor souls, victimhood is the highest station of human worth, and even provides special insights when it comes to proper crime control policy. And the right, even as they decry black and brown claims of victimization--all for the best interests of those folks of color, naturally--are quite skilled at proclaiming themselves the victims of all kinds of things: taxes, big government, immigrants, reverse discrimination, secular humanism, gay marriage, "radical Islam," you name it. The right loves victimhood, so long as they're the ones who get to choose which victims count, and so long as they don't have to actually deal with the history of injustice meted out to those who, by and large, are not them.

So why is it acceptable for these other groups' members to focus on their victimization, while it's somehow untoward or even self-destructive for blacks to do so? Keep in mind, there has been a steady push for curricula that addresses the destruction of European Jewry under Hitler, and no one has suggested that teaching the Diary of Anne Frank might be debilitating to Jewish children. Classes on, and special materials on the Jewish Holocaust are ubiquitous in American schools. Meanwhile, discussion of the Holocaust of America's indigenous populations remains largely off-limits, even to the point that the term Holocaust can't be used to describe it, lest we be seen as disrespecting the supposed uniqueness of Jewish suffering. As a Jew myself, I was raised on a steady diet of "never again" rhetoric, and not once was it suggested that such thinking was somehow going to diminish my willingness to work hard. Quite the contrary, it was intended to make damned sure I never allowed my people to be subordinated again. And that, it appears, is the real concern of conservatives. They aren't worried about blacks and other people of color adopting a crippling victim mentality. They are worried about such folks fighting back against the victimization that continues to happen on a daily basis.

Preparation is Not Capitulation to Victimhood

Logic suggests that there is a big difference between being prepared for potential injury of some sort (as those who challenge racism insist one must be) and wallowing in victimhood. When we buy insurance, for instance, we are preparing for the possibility of something bad happening to us--becoming sick, getting in a car accident, or having our house wiped out by a flood or tornado, or broken into by a burglar who then steals our valuables. Yet only the most cynical would say that by thinking about these possibilities (even to the point of paying money to insulate ourselves against them), we were somehow mired in a mentality of perpetual victimization. No indeed, such preparation, and the foresight that precedes it would be taken by most as signs of supreme rationality, level-headedness and maturity. And this is true despite the fact that, statistically speaking, the odds that a person of color will experience racism at some point are far greater than the odds of, say, a catastrophic weather related destruction of one's house, or the likelihood that one will be the victim of a home invasion. Research indicates that people of color will be discriminated against in about one out of every three job searches, as well as a third of the time when looking for housing. Though not clamoring for racism insurance, people of color logically think about the potential of racist injury, and given the possibility of such injury, doing so is no less rational than to contemplate other forms of ill-fortune. It is far more rational, for instance, than buying air traveler's insurance, in the event that one's plane were to crash, and yet many people purchase this kind of thing every year. Are they paranoid? Locked in a victim mentality? Neurotic? No, just cautious. Being prepared does not paralyze you, in these or any other cases.

To put this in terms that are especially easy to understand, let me offer a personal story, which illustrates the difference between being prepared for something and being paralyzed by fear of it. When I was quite a bit younger, I was an accomplished baseball player, especially when it came to hitting. As was my habit, during pre-game preparations, I would pay special attention to the opposing team's pitcher as he warmed up. I would watch to see how fast he threw, his motion, his delivery, and what kind of movement, if any, he was able to put on the ball. I did this even though I knew that sometimes these guys (who were almost always bigger than me and a bit older) were zipping balls into their catchers at over 85 miles an hour, which, to a 5'3" 14 year old, can be intimidating, to say the least. Several others on my team wouldn't watch the pitchers that intently. But I did, religiously. And not only did it not psyche me out or make me less confident of my ability to get on base. If anything, it prepared me for what I'd be facing, and made me more confident.

It's a logic that most any responsible parent would immediately understand. What kind of father would I be, for instance, if I never told my girls about the fact that there are some boys and men who think girls and women are less capable, and that there will be some among these who may treat them unfairly? The answer is, I'd be a damned pitiful one. To tell your kids that they can be anything they want to be if they try hard enough is nice, but unless you warn them about the obstacles in their path, which, unconquered, can derail them on the road to success, you are ill-suiting them for the real world. You are doing them no favors, but rather, are setting them up for a terrible fall, once they come upon the hurdles for which you had failed to prepare them, and as such, equip them to overcome. On the other hand, by discussing those obstacles honestly--and discussing individual and collective strategies of resistance to them--persons who are the targets of unjust treatment can steel themselves against the headwinds in their way, persevere, and accomplish in spite of those headwinds.

Victim Mentality Arguments Ignore History and Common Sense

Frankly, it's stunning that anyone would deny this basic truth, especially given the historic evidence at our disposal to prove its veracity. After all, if you ask most any black person over the age of forty what their parents told them about race when they were younger, you will hear one or another version of the following in reply: that they would have to work twice as hard as white folks. And this they were told, not as some free-floating, de-contextualized notion, but precisely because the system was so profoundly unjust and discrimination so deeply ingrained, that despite their best efforts and talent, they would too often be overlooked for the best jobs and opportunities solely because of the color of their skin.

But does anyone--including, especially the black conservatives who decry the so-called victim mentality--condemn the older African Americans (including, one can safely presume, their own parents) who previously prepared generations of blacks for hard work and success by telling them in no uncertain terms that things were unequal and unfair? Does any conservative suggest these blacks in prior eras were crippling their children with the message that they would need to work harder than whites because of racism? Better still, is there any evidence whatsoever that being told such a thing did in fact cripple black folks, or make them try less hard than they otherwise might have? Of course not. If anything, the exact opposite is true. Knowing the odds, black and brown folk tried even harder, because to do otherwise would all but guarantee defeat. In short, the claim that discussing racism and discrimination creates passive victims out of people of color flies in the face of every bit of empirical evidence on the subject, which suggests that the opposite is true: knowing the truth inspires perseverance and passionate resistance to victimization, not resignation to one's status as a target.

In fact, one could even argue that downplaying the reality of racism and discrimination so as to avoid the inculcation of a victim mindset, and so as to spur greater individual initiative, could backfire. After all, if a person is led to believe that there are no obstacles in their way, and that their hard work, intelligence and ability are all that will matter, they might slack up. They might coast on the assumption that surely all will recognize their potential, and that they won't have to go that extra mile to make a good impression. They may overestimate the extent to which whites will recognize their effort and hard work, or the extent to which that recognition will be sufficient to overcome the implicit (and even explicit) biases that years of research indicates are still very much ingrained in the minds of most white folks. So not only may a "see no evil, speak of no evil" mindset not help folks of color in a society where racism still functions, it could actually do substantial harm.

In the end, there is only one question we need ask: does the truth matter or not? If racism is a problem--and research makes clear that it is--then there is no responsible path forward but to discuss it, to call it out, and to address it directly. To ignore it, or minimize its importance will not make it go away, will not smooth the path for any person of color confronting it, and will only leave folks ill-prepared to deal with it, on those occasions when it rises up to smack them in the face. Surely, anyone who would leave millions of others so unprepared for the world as it is can't be taken seriously when they claim to be compassionate. The right doesn't care about people of color adopting a victim mentality. They simply wish to avoid a discussion of injustice, because such a discussion might lead us to do something about it. And they rather like things the way they are.

Tim Wise is the author of five books on race and racism, including his latest, Colorblind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equity, to be released in the Spring of 2010 from City Lights Books.

THE FEDS MADE ME DO IT...

2010-03-19T14:20:00.000-05:00

By JIM FITZGERALD

Associated Press Writer

WHITE PLAINS, New York - Four men accused of trying to bomb synagogues and shoot down planes in New York last spring did little more than go along with a fake plot proposed, directed and funded by the federal government, defense lawyers claim in asking the court to dismiss the case.

A federal informant chose the targets, offered payment, provided maps and bought the only real weapon involved, a handgun, the attorneys said in a dismissal motion filed this week in federal court.

They alleged the defendants were not inclined toward any crime until the informant began recruiting them...CONTINUED HERE

REWRITING HISTORY?

2010-03-12T14:18:00.000-06:00

Texas Conservatives Vote to Make Textbooks “Right”

Posted on March 12, 2010. Tags: Conservative, economy, Politics, public education, republicans, revisionist history, tea party, Texas, text books

Posted by BC Bass

AUSTIN, TX (GlossyNews) — Despite the ongoing efforts of educators to create national standards for public schools, the Texas school board has seceded from the debate by proposing sweeping changes to its social studies curriculum that would highlight the underrated achievements of conservatives, emphasize the role of Christianity in American history and include Republican political philosophies in textbooks.

The board is expected to take a preliminary vote this week on a cornucopia of changes proposed by the seven conservative Republicans on the board. A final vote is expected in May.

Conservatives argue that the existing curriculum unfairly touts the accomplishments of liberal politicians but gives less importance to efforts by conservatives like President Ronald Reagan to limit the size of government. They cite liberal failures such as Social Security, the New Deal and the Great Society as catalysts for the revisions.

“The way I see it,” said Joe Daunch, an unemployed electrician from College Station who co-chairs the board’s conservative faction, “none of these programs contributed to the prosperity of the country. Sure, the opposition and its activists — you know, historians — argue that these initiatives ended the Great Depression, but we disagree. The Great Depression wasn’t a problem at all. It was an economic weeding out of the infirm and the under-performing. Had liberals let the market take care of itself, America would have emerged with one class of nothing but wealthy citizens. A missed opportunity, really.”

When asked if his take on this economic thinning of the herd could be described as a form of social Darwinism, Daunch said he felt it was more akin to “fiscal Calvinism,” where the truly chosen prevail while all others perish in the hellfire of their own kindling.

Additional examples of sprawling, massive government entities include the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the expanded warrantless wiretapping program and the Office of Faith-based Community Initiatives, a lot of pork that could benefit from some trimming.

“There is simply no balance in the text books today. It’s all ‘melting pot’ this and ‘equal rights’ that and ‘freeing the slaves.’ And when they talk about the country’s first entrepreneurs, they use pejoratives like ‘Robber Barons.’ Nobody talks about how the antebellum South managed to obtain state’s rights nationwide. Look, we’re not suggesting that the history books be rewritten to talk about Republicans only; just those Republicans who came into office after Eisenhower — a president who, one could argue, was virtually a communist, with all his talk about excluding the military industrial complex from the nation’s economy. Sorry, Ike, but without military spending, we wouldn’t have thriving aviation and manufacturing sectors. The Army Corps of Engineers builds our levees. Can you imagine what would happen to cities below sea level if we didn’t have protective walls?”

The conservatives on the board also complained that Republican trailblazers received short shrift during the last 50 years by socialist publishers. Ronald Reagan’s economic policies, for example. By the late 1980s, middle-class incomes were barely higher than they had been a decade before — and the poverty rate had actually risen. But at the top of the spectrum, the rich had gotten richer, which the group says demonstrates the successful growth of the nation’s wealth under Reagan.

Richard Nixon’s unprecedented efforts to collect intelligence during the Watergate Era resulted in superior spying and surveillance techniques that saved the United States from untold terrorist threats. And although Daunch admitted that George H.W. Bush cowered from confronting Iraq, he went on to point out that George W. Bush salvaged the situation by deposing Saddam Hussein. Iraq has a thriving democratic politic system and, once secular, now enjoys religious freedom. Conversely, the group says, Clinton failed to change Iraq during his cursory engagement there. His failure to destroy al Qaeda after attacks on the World Trade Center in 1993 and the U.S.S. Cole in 2000 paved the way for the carnage of September 11, 2001.

There have also been efforts to parse and amend, where necessary, discussions on the civil rights movement.

Daunch said, “If we do nothing in this country but talk about how everyone can have a level playing field to succeed, we set unrealistic expectations of equal outcomes among minorities. When they inevitably fail, doesn’t it seem that we’ve done more harm than good? The government shouldn’t be responsible for making the sure their glass always seems half full, when in reality it’s just a few drops of malt liquor in an otherwise empty Dixie cup.”

Another proposed change removes any reference to race, sex or religion in talking about how different groups have contributed to the national identity. “When you realize that white people did all the work building this country,” Daunch continued, “it just makes the other races feel bad. We’ve given them a pretty good ride. Affirmative action, sharecropping, railroad industry jobs, cheap education, and what have they given back? Not much, considering the welfare system. This amendment was specifically added to appease the liberals. But they’ll complain about anything.”

One board member said publishers should “describe the effects of increasing government regulation and taxation on economic development and business planning.” She pointed out the devastating losses and staggering unemployment rates among teachers, police officers, fire fighters, financial institutions, air lines and automobile manufacturers. “All regulated industries,” she added.

“Country and western music” will also make the list of cultural movements to be studied. Alan Jackson’s chart topping hit “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” includes the line, “I’m just a singer of simple songs / I’m not a real political man / I watch CNN but I’m not sure I can tell you / The difference in Iraq and Iran.” Daunch asserts that singers like Jackson astutely illustrate the abysmal state of our current educational system. “Kids don’t understand the geographical and political issues of the Middle East. We want to correct that.”

A surprising number of concerned citizens attended the meeting to support the amendments, including some who were enraged at “socialist tendencies in Washington.” One man asserted that the Tea Party movement should be included in the textbooks, but not “the thing with the Indians that happened in Boston.”

“Conservatives need to take back control of the messaging,” said Zeke Merfkoppen, one of the Texas Seven, as they are being called. “We’ve let the liberal socialists control the media for too long. Hollywood? Book publishers? These are artists. These are bleeding heart liberals who aren’t interested in business. Making money is the foundation of our free market system. Hollywood liberals just want more regulation. They’ve got ratings for everything. They want the MPAA, the FCC and all these other organizations around to regulate them. And the publishers? They have no moral compass. I defy you to find one book in print that praises Christianity and the salvation accorded to followers of Christ. No? Didn’t think so.”

“You can vilify anyone,” concluded Daunch. “Hitler’s engineers brought us some of the biggest technological advances in history. He restored a sense of national pride and patriotism, ended inflation and curbed a population explosion that was out of control. Mussolini made the trains run on time. They don’t run on time here, do they? Once we’ve finished revising the inaccuracies with our curriculum, perhaps our European friends will follow suit. I read a German history book once that made no mention of the ‘Holocaust.’ It’s a hard thing to prove, really, so why stir up undue controversy and conspiracy theories, like we do with all that Kennedy-Oswald stuff?”