(The irony)

With the latest flap regarding Mark Williams racist remarks over at The Tea Party, I thought I would toss in some historic audio of a KKK rally, held in Saugus California on September 17, 1966. Recorded unflinchingly by Pacifica Radio, the rally has an eerie sense of deja-vu. The racism is overt, there is no doubt about it. But then as now, the government is the culprit. It's the Government who are perverting the Constitution. It's the Government who are stifling Freedom of Speech. it's the Government who are ruining our lives.

All buzz words. Pretty much the same buzz words you hear now. The difference however, is a subtle one - one that hopefully most won't notice. But in 1966, subtle wasn't in their vocabulary.

Rev. Warren: “This is a nation of the people, by the people and for the people and we are going to restore our Constitutional government in this country. We are working for the impeachment and removal of every non-Christian that is on the Supreme Court of The United States. We are going to remove every non-white man from the Congress and from the State Department and from any other area of the government. We are going to reintroduce laws against racial inter-marriage.”

The main speaker was a Revered Warren who claimed to be a member of the Southern Baptist Methodist Church. I haven't been able to find any other information on him, nor do I have any information on the speaker who begins the tape. But the inflammatory hate speech and race baiting are carbon copies of words spoken at any one of a thousand rallies. You can draw your own conclusions.

The hate however, is timeless.

A word of caution - I'm not so sure you'll want to play this at your work since I didn't censor a word or syllable of it.

This day in 1965 ran the gamut.

From reports regarding a terrorist bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, resulting in over 200 casualties and calls from Capitol Hill for retaliation. The White House was debating how to go about it. The Hawks in Congress called for an immediate bombing of Hanoi. The bottom line was; this was the first time the Viet Cong hit so close, and it created an embarrassing situation for the U.S. to deal with. How it would be handled would give some indication as to how long this conflict would go on for.

Elsewhere on Capitol Hill - The HUAC Hearings took a turn for extremist groups on this day. With approval given to commence an investigation of the KKK, Black Muslims and The Minutemen. A few protests were voiced, asking how come the KKK and not CORE or the NAACP were being investigated. The old "those Civil Rights groups are loaded with commies" mantra went echoing around the halls of Congress.

And today was the day The Freedom Of Information Act was introduced, bringing an immediate storm of controversy and condemnation from the White House, saying people didn't have the right to know certain things. The opposition thought transparency was a good thing for the Government. But it was also hinted LBJ might just veto the thing if it passed the House and Senate.

Charles De Gaulle issued a stinging denunciation of the French Scientific community. Not that they were screwing up, but that they were insisting on speaking English, especially when it came to International Conferences. Long an opponent of too much Americanization of Europe, the latest tirade from De Gaulle brought into focus the fact that, as much as he claimed to love America, he just hated the way we spoke, and ate food, and listened to music, and drove cars.

And finally, a story about LeRoy Dunlap, who was convicted of robbery and murder in absentia in 1920, since he escaped custody before trial. Dunlap was handed the Death Penalty and managed to evade the long arm of the law for some 45 years, assuming a new name and a new life in the process. Until 1964 when his true identity was discovered. Most everyone had forgotten the case and most of the documents associated with the trial had been long destroyed. But the wheels of justice insisted on grinding forward, so he entered a guilty plea with the proviso that his sentence be reduced to Manslaughter and he be given a prison term, rather than the death penalty. Dunlap, who was 64 and a Grandfather, was convicted and sentenced to from 2-20 years and was eligible for parole when he hit 66.

And that's how it rolled on this particular March 30th in 1965 as delivered over NBC Radio via their News In Review feature.

The world spun oddly, this February 28th in 1981.

While Prime Minister Thatcher and President Reagan exchanged toasts and cordialities at a dinner hosted by the British Embassy in Washington, the rest of the world was going off on its own direction.

The Soviet newspaper Pravda labeled lies over reports from the State Department claiming Russia was sending arms to El Salvador. Had they known. . .

Meanwhile earlier, President Reagan asked for funds to reactivate two WW2 era Battleships, based on information the Soviet Navy was stepping up warship production. This, hot on the heels of Reagan presiding over additional government budget cuts to the tune of $10-13 Billion. A budget and Tax cut battle were heating up.

In the rest of the world - An Islamic Peace Mission landed in Tehran to try and settle the 6 month old Iran-Iraq War. Three British Missionaries were released from captivity by the Iranians. John and Audrey Coleman and Mrs. Gene Wadell were glad to be home. Still, there were more to worry about. Speaking of hostages, the Basque Separatists ETA released hostages snatched from the consuls of Austria, El Salvador and Uruguay after 8 days of captivity.

Domestically - violence was threatening to loom between Vietnamese and American Shrimp fishermen in the Texas Gulf Coast. The Vietnamese were reported to be stocking up on arms for protection and the Americans were seen at various KKK meetings, espousing the virtues of immigrant bashing. The Shrimp had no opinion one way or the other, and no doubt preferred they just went away.

And so went this rather skewed February 28, 1981 as reported on the CBS World News Roundup.

It's interesting to realize David Duke has been around for a while, at least the past thirty years. Since his recent affiliations with the Tea Party movement, many in that movement, have been quick to deny there has ever been anything racist or anti-Semitic about him or anything he stands for. In fact some quick research gets you some very glossed over phrases like "white national" when used to describe his ideology.

On January 9, 1974 then National Information Director of the KKK David Duke agreed to an interview with talk show host Michael Jackson for Los Angeles radio station KABC. The twenty minute interview blows a few myths.

Michael Jackson: “Do you find anything admirable in Nazism?”

David Duke: “Oh I think that they had a couple points there that were right on.”

Jackson: “Really?”

Duke: “Certainly they were. There are very few things on this earth that are totally wrong . .

Jackson: “What is wrong?”

Duke: “ I think they were right about race.”

Jackson: “And they had the final solution?”

Duke: “I don’t agree with that kind of a statement.”

Jackson: “But they were right about race you said.”

Duke: “I think that they were.”

Jackson: “And they had the final solution, they had ovens.”

Duke: “Well I don’t agree with that. I don’t think . .I don’t think genocide is an answer. I think race mixing is a genocide of the races.”

And there's rumors he's investigating a try for President in 2012.

(Robert Shelton - Imperial Wizard of the KKK - life of the party)

With the current wave of hatespeak flooding the air and cable, I noticed a striking similarity in all of it; that strange desire to take half-truths, outright lies and fabrications and somehow weave them into plausible, factual events and speak about them with an air of honest-to-God authority.

So I stumbled across an interview done by Marsha Tompkins at WBAI in New York with Imperial Wizard of the KKK Robert Shelton on December 23, 1969, conducted at his home in Tuscaloosa Alabama.

Shelton makes no bones about the fact that he's anti just about everything and every one on the planet. Tompkins makes no bones about being intimidated and doesn't question any of his logic. Which, in retrospect was probably a good thing, because it allowed him to spew and continue spewing in a way that would have ground any other interview to a screaming halt. In this context, Shelton is seen for the person he really was; petty, vindictive, ignorant, arrogant and terrified.

Pick which wingnut personality he most closely resembles today. Without too much trouble you'll probably find a lot. The common denominators are hate and ignorance and an overwhelming fear.

(They would have you believe they are as American as Apple Streudel!)