Plan B Forum

So much for the winter holidays being a time of political quiescence.



On Sunday a Louisiana blogger reported that in 2002 Steve Scalise, then a state legislator, gave a speech to a white supremacist group holding a "workshop on civil rights" in Louisiana.

The following day Mr Scalise - now the third-ranking Republican in the US House of Representatives - acknowledged that he appeared before the European-American Unity and Rights Organization, although he says he didn't know the group had been accused of espousing a neo-Nazi agenda.

Complicating matters is the fact that one of the meeting's organisers was David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard who served as a Louisiana legislator and ran unsuccessfully for the state's governorship and a Senate seat.

Mr Duke, at the height of his power, wielded considerable political influence in Louisiana, and his presence within the Republican Party was condemned by prominent party officials, including then-President George HW Bush.

Mr Scalise says he didn't know Mr Duke was involved in the conference, but Mr Duke told the Washington Post that the congressman was "friendly" with Mr Duke's campaign manager, Kenny Knight, who had extended the invitation. (In 2008, the Daily Beast reports, Mr Knight donated $1,000 [£642] to Mr Scalise's congressional campaign.)

Mr Duke told Bloomberg News that "it would seem likely he did know", although "I can understand why his memory would fail him a little bit".

Other reporters have dug up old news stories connecting Mr Scalise to Mr Duke, including a 1999 piece from the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call, in which the Mr Scalise addressed the possibility that both he and Mr Duke would run for the same congressional seat.

"The novelty of David Duke has worn off," Mr Scalise said. "The voters in this district are smart enough to realise that they need to get behind someone who not only believes in the issues they care about, but also can get elected. Duke has proven that he can't get elected, and that's the first and most important thing."

Quotes like this reveal the delicate line Southern Republicans have had to walk between advocating their core conservative beliefs while distinguishing themselves from those who share their politics but also harbour toxic views on race.

It's a challenge the party has grappled with for decades - and one that has brought down politicians more prominent that Mr Scalise.

The Daily Caller's W James Antle III - a conservative writing to a conservative audience - identifies the danger his party faces. He compares white supremacists like Mr Duke who attempt to enter mainstream Republican politics to termites, "eating away at the foundation of a house".

rubato wrote:This has been in the news for several days and I have not yet felt any interest in commenting upon it. I cannot imagine a future in which that might change.

But then if you were more perceptive about other people your life would have been more successful and you'd be less of an asshole today then, wouldn't you?

yrs,
rubato

rubato wrote:Justice and fairness would be nice. Might even have a larger effect and a longer lasting one.

but you have to deal with reality to sort that one. Good luck.


yrs,
rubato

rubato wrote:
If any cared about facts it would be obvious that I respond in kind, but far less often, and to a lesser degree. But that is for those who care about facts.

yrs,
rubato

Most often it is a spontaneous shit-bomb from you, Joe Guy, and or Gob. As it is here.


yrs,
rubato

I prefer to believe that what rubato has is what many of us lack; a very centered belief in his place in this world and universe that he's not fluffed enough by the pig pile that he won't still participate in a place where he feels he is part of the community and enjoys much of the company.

I defend a general principle which in this case happens to also involve asking you guys to quit your adolescent pig-piling on every single post rubato posts here.

you challenge his ego because you refuse to be ruffled by even his ugliest attacks.

Gob wrote:If rubato was less of an egoist he would notice that "more grist to rubato's mill" does not address him directly, but just provides evidence of more malfeasance by a republican.

But then if you were more perceptive about other people your life would have been more successful and you'd be less of an asshole today then, wouldn't you?

rubato wrote:

Gob wrote:If rubato was less of an egoist he would notice that "more grist to rubato's mill" does not address him directly, but just provides evidence of more malfeasance by a republican.

Not even a logical defense. Calling someone by name is not a direct address?

Fucking stupid. My original response was spot-on. fucking stupid.

and why didn t you join in the gun debate, other than to jab at me?