Christian Supremacists May Not Get Their Way-Threaten To Throw Fit

It becomes more and more apparent as time goes on that Rudy Giuliani may in fact turn out to be the Republican Party’s candidate for president in 2008. This does not set well with the fanatical Christian wing of the party, given the fact that Giuliani is pro-choice, pro-gay rights, and pro-gun control. When Christian right leaders recently met at a gathering of their secretive organization Council for National Policy (CNP), the consensus was to withhold support from Giuliani if he becomes the party’s nominee, and possibly field a third party challenger against him. More pragmatic members of the GOP point out that such a move would virtually guarantee a Clinton victory. But as James Dobson (a key CNP leader) points out, this a matter of morals for the Christian far right, not one of political expediency:

“Speaking as a private citizen and not on behalf of any organization or party, I cannot, and will not, vote for Rudy Giuliani in 2008. It is an irrevocable decision. If given a Hobson's – Dobson's? – choice between him and Sens. Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, I will either cast my ballot for an also-ran – or if worse comes to worst – not vote in a presidential election for the first time in my adult life. My conscience and my moral convictions will allow me to do nothing else.”

Randall Terry, a rabid anti-abortion leader, recently stated that he would in fact prefer a Democratic presidential triumph in 2008 rather than see Rudy Giuliani emerge victorious:

“As President Giuliani would be the de-facto head of the GOP; he would systematically destroy the political power of the pro-life movement within the GOP; he would pressure the party to take the pro-life plank out of the party platform; he would declare the "abortion issue" is divisive, and should not be part of federal races; he would make the GOP the mirror image of the DNC regarding child-killing, thus insuring that there is no pro-life party…An enemy outside your camp makes you vigilant; an enemy in your tent makes you dead. Hillary would unite us, and she could be defeated in 4 years; Giuliani would destroy the cohesion of the right wing.”

Pat Buchanan, a key leader on America’s extreme right, perhaps put it most eloquently when he described why he could never support Giuliani, and neither should the GOP:

“A Giuliani presidency would represent repudiation by the party of the moral, social and cultural content that, with anti-communism, once separated it from liberal Democrats and defined it as an institution. Rudy offers the right the ultimate Faustian bargain: retention of power at the price of one's soul.”

Earth First! Is Not Redneck Friendly

Here’s a short one to hold you over till next week. This is an interesting piece written by an Earth First! (EF) member complaining that while the organization has recently made efforts to make transsexuals feel welcome, regular working class “rednecks” have been forced out by the middle class anarchists who make up the bulk of the membership. As the author notes:

To be an EF!er now (in some circles) apparently you have to be white, middle class, wear black, be angry all the time, shoplift, bathe irregularly, be in your 20s, have no sense of humor and in general walk so lockstep with the new groupthink that you lack that any real diversity or individuality.

He also observes that elitism aside, there are some good reasons to include non-anarchists in Earth First!:

Who is more likely to know how to take apart a CAT dozer? A good ole boy who can field strip a 1970 Ford Engine in his sleep? Or an alienated suburban product of the white middle class?

Of course, the story of what has happened to EF could be used to illustrate the absurdity of the contemporary American anarchist movement in general. Middle class white kids playing dress-up while completely rejecting the working class persons they are supposedly trying to liberate.

The One Thing White Supremacists And Hippie Peaceniks Can Agree On: Ron Paul

White power people really, really like Ron Paul. Although the libertarian Texan congressman’s presidential campaign has barely made a dent in Republican polls, the folks at Stormfront and similar white supremacist message boards think he’s the candidate who best represents their interests. The American Nazi Party’s candidate for president has even been complaining that American neo-Nazis have abandoned him in favor of the feisty Texan. This may sound a bit odd, as libertarianism and fascism are about as diametrically opposed as two political ideologies can be. It probably has to do with Paul’s distain for the IRS, the CIA, and the war in Iraq, all of which are unpopular among white power groups as well. The borderline racist comments that Paul has made on his blog over the years probably helps too. This is not to say that he’s a white supremacist himself (in fact, he has written anti-racist articles before); he’s just never seen fit to publicly acknowledge or repudiate the strong support he receives from racist groups. Even more strangely, this icon of the far right has recently been drawing some support from persons on the far left who admire his desire for a quick withdrawal of American forces from Iraq, unlike the slow pullout favored by most Democrats. It seems that at least for people on the political fringes, Ron Paul can in fact be all things to all people.

Hail Bill Riccio!

Back in 1993, I caught a documentary on TV called “Skinheads USA: Soldiers of Hate”. The film focused on the exploits of one Bill Riccio, a rather offish skinhead leader from Alabama. In addition to being a rather unsavory character in general, Riccio had the unusual habit of surrounding himself with pubescent boys, all of who idolized him as their skinhead den father. At the time I thought he looked like a pedophile. Not surprisingly, I was right. Those reliable muckrakers at the Southern Poverty Law Center recently issued an article which includes testimony from the now grown men who were once among Riccio’s circle of skinheads (tellingly, they were all interviewed from prison). They recount several incidents in which Riccio attempted to or succeeded in sodomizing them. Riccio for his part brushes off the claims, stating that they are being made by bitter former associates who are trying to discredit him. Check out this clip from the aforementioned documentary and decide for yourself.

At Last…An Essay That Explains Why Communism Doesn’t Work, Why Capitalism Kind Of Does, And Why The Hippies Were Right

The ideas put forward in this essay by David Wong are by no means new. People have been suggesting for a long time that human beings just can’t relate to each other on a species-wide level, and we would all be better off living in small communities that have little contact with the outside world. What Wong does is to put this idea forth in an easy to read, humorous article that can be understood and appreciated by persons who do not spend the majority of their spare time studying arcane political texts. Wong notes that Communism was doomed to failure because it asked people to make sacrifices for other people they’d never met, while ignoring their individual needs. Capitalism works on some level because it allows people to keep at least a part of what they create and share it with the people they care most about, their family. Of course, to really live in a way that makes sense in Wong’s worldview, we should probably all move to small-scale communes were we can form trusting, meaningful relationships with a fairly small group of people. Seeing as how the only commune I ever spent time at had no flush toilets, I don’t know if that’s a good solution for me (or for most of the people in this society, who have grown quite used to their expensive technological toys that can only be produced by a huge societal unit like this one). So I guess we’ll just have to get used to the idea that we’ll never come to love all of our brothers and sisters out there, nor they us. The best we can reasonably hope for is that they won’t kill us.

Oh, and for another taste of Wong’s rather depressing take on the human psyche, check out this piece were he pretty effectively demolishes the concept of free will. Later, you automatons.