Jackson Free Press

Gordon Baum, the chief executive officer of the Council of Conservative Citizens, can tell a good story. He likes history—early American and European—and his delivery comes with an intimate confidence honed from years as an attorney.

On the phone his voice is avuncular, and he seems charming, almost.

"How left wing are you? Don't lie to uncle Gordy now," he asked of the Jackson Free Press before he agreed to an interview.

But when Baum gets serious and explains what the Council of Conservative Citizens stands for, the humor dries up, and you get the whole man: an intelligent, well-spoken and thoroughly racist ideologue. And he's an ideologue who is bringing his agenda to the majority-black city of Jackson this weekend as the group holds its national convention at the Regency Inn on Highway 80 West.

From his office in St. Louis, Mo., Baum is the operating brain behind one of the more notorious "pro-white" right-wing groups in America—an organization that was built from the mailing list of the Citizens Councils of America (often referred to by critics as the White Citizens Council), which was headquartered in Jackson until 1990.

Like all pro-white groups, the Council of Conservative Citizens deals in the politics of fear and intolerance. The CofCC has 15 principles that read as if they were written by terrified people with little else to celebrate aside from their skin color and their past. Nowhere in the Council's 15 principles is the rhetoric of last year's election. There's no talk of hope here. No promises of change. Not one "you betcha."

The rhetoric is a mixture of current conservative wedge issues integrated with old-style race-baiting.

Close the borders, they say. Quit foreign aid. End affirmative action. Get rid of the illegals and slow down legal immigration. Oppose gun control. Oppose hate-crime legislation. Oppose homosexuality "and other perversions." Oppose any "mixture of the races." Oppose all welfare for all immigrants. Oppose federal aid to education. No activist judges.

And demand plenty of states' rights to help make the goals reality.

Recycled Racism
This is an old platform full of old ideas, and it's promulgated by an old group full of (mostly) old white men. Popularly, this brand of conservatism today is known as "paleo-conservatism," although the group prefers calling itself "far right wing." Neither moniker, however, does the group justice because neither label addresses the group's racial preoccupation.

Currently, several front-page headlines on its Web site (http://www.cofcc.org) prove its race obsession: "Obama Pledges $73 Million to Black-Ruled Zimbabwe"; "Google.com 'street view' captures racially motivated attack (by "Muslim immigrants") on 14 year old (white) boy"; "Blacks pose as marijuana dealers to rob and murder white man"; "Public Defender declares that white crime victims can not properly identify black perps."

One front-page post "Obama eyes plan calling for mass bulldozing of dilapidated black neighborhoods"—starts out innocuously enough. However, the post ends: "Of course the part no one is telling you is that the idea is to move all the violent thugs, who caused these neighborhoods to deteriorate so badly, into nicer neighborhoods. What is going to stop all these thugs from causing their new neighbors to flee?"

At the site, visitors can also buy "Euro Pride" and "White Pride" T-shirts and other "provacutive" (sic) items with emblems for the "Distressed Hammer of Thor," "The Prussian War Ensgin" (sic) and a Leif Erikson postage-stamp T-shirt. Erikson (970-1020 CE) is credited with bringing the first Europeans—Norwegian immigrants—to North American soil.

Once, a decade ago, The New York Times labeled the Council's platform a "thinly veiled white supremacist agenda." It's the agenda of fame or infamy, depending on who's asking, but either way Baum said his group is well known within the right. "Next to the NRA we are the best known right-wing organization in the country," Baum said.

This year the Council turns 21, and with the economy in the tank, Baum said his group has hit a growth spurt. Suddenly, their agenda is selling, and Baum is a busy man.

"The vast majority of people in America agree with us," Baum said in a phone interview. Faced with Obama's victory, Baum claims his base is a "silent majority" unmoved to vote in the last election because "they didn't have a dog in the fight."

If Baum is right, and the Council is gaining ground, it should light a fire under Democrats and Republicans alike. Neither party can afford to lose ground to the Council; each gain the fringe makes is a loss of compound magnitude. It is not only an ideological loss but, worse, it's a loss to the past. Especially around here. In Southern politics, a glance backward is a glance straight into the face of the Council of Conservative Citizens, or its precursor, the Citizens Council.

Baum, of course, believes they have a good home in Mississippi, even in (or near) the city where then-Belhavener Bill Simmons directed the national office of the Citizens Council downtown and edited The Citizens Informer, which called for, among other things, the shutdown of Mississippi's public schools rather than allowing black kids to attend school alongside white ones.

"Mississippi is one of our strongest states, always has been," Baum said. Mississippi does have more chapters than any other state, but today the Council is not as strong as it was even 10 years ago. Until recently, the CofCC listed events for Mississippi chapters on its Web site, but a link to state activities is no longer listed.

More than a decade ago, the CofCC claimed about 35 Mississippi state legislators as members. It was common for the state's candidates—including Democrats and, occasionally, even a black hopeful—in the state to speak before the group's gatherings, including the annual Black Hawk rally in Carroll County, which had long been sponsored by the organization and was started to support busing white kids to a whites-only academy. For years, the state's media barely noticed the vote-pandering in front of a group that didn't bother to hide its race views and treated Black Hawk as just another place for old-time politicking.

It wasn't until Sen. Trent Lott and Gov. Kirk Fordice were outed by The New York Times, The Washington Post and other media for catering to and speaking before the openly racist group that public opprobrium dampened overt political support for the Council. Fordice even defended the views of the group, even as the national Republican Party called for members to repudiate it.

In 1993, then Arkansas Lt. Gov. Mike Huckbee agreed to speak to the group's convention in Memphis, but ended up sending a videotaped message instead. The next year, he backed out altogether, stating: "I will not participate in any program that has racist overtones. I've spent a lifetime fighting racism and anti-Semitism."

Baum said a few Mississippi legislators are active members today, but he wouldn't say who, and neither their photos nor their endorsements are included on the Council Web site. He was similarly reticent with membership numbers in general although he said his organization has somewhere in the neighborhood of 30,000 members. Like Baum's claim of a "silent majority" though, this number is highly suspect. While the CofCC's membership numbers are secret, the group's Web site lists 38 chapters across the United States, some of which Baum admitted have as few as seven members, while the biggest chapters (including Baum's St. Louis chapter) have about 500 members. If the Council does have 30,000 members, each chapter would have to have to average 789 members.

In any case, Baum estimated attendance at the national annual Council meeting this week in Jackson would top out at about 250, similar to last year's. Meanwhile the National Rifle Association, Baum's group of comparison, claims 4 million members. Speakers include national pro-whites like Paul Fromm and Sam Dickson, along with Mississippi CofCC leader Bill Lord and Leflore County Supervisor Phil White, according to the group's Web site. It also promises "a surprise big name speaker." Overflow guests are urged to stay at the Fairview Inn in Belhaven; the Parkside Inn off Interstate 55 North or the Holiday Inn Express on Greymont Avenue.

Roots in Jackson
Spend some time poring over the Council's online photo album, and it is apparent that many members (if not most) are senior citizens. Baum himself is in his 60s, meaning he was a young man during the upheavals of the 1960s.

The Council may be the last pro-white group these folks belong to, but it was not likely their first or their only. The organization was seeded by the mailing list of the Citizens' Council of America, which famed Delta newspaperman Hodding Carter Jr. dubbed the "uptown Klan" because of the white-collar Chamber-of-Commerce types who supported protecting the so-called southern way of life through public pressure, smear campaigns, and boycotts of white merchants and residents who tried to stand up for the rights of African Americans.

It is often said that Jackson-based director Bill Simmons—who owned the Fairview Inn for years until its recent sale, followed soon by his death—at one time knew where every white person in the city stood on the race question. In recent years, as an aging innkeeper to people of all races, Simmons told the Jackson Free Press that belief was apocryphal.

Still, Simmons directed the organization in its downtown headquarters until it was demolished in 1990 by a biracial work crew, replaced by the state Department of Transportation buildings. Simmons was also a long-time proponent of "scientific racism," and used it to pressure whites into following the agenda of the Citizens Council. The practice of using pseudo-science sought to prove that other races, particularly African Americans, are inferior to whites, are more violent, and are less capable of academic and other successes. The "science" of racism was also behind the later debunked study and book, "The Bell Curve."

In an era when racism was popularly considered to mean bed sheets and burning crosses, the Citizens Council was a rebranding of such bad publicity, and men who look and sound like Baum—smart, well-dressed, articulate, convincing professionals—were at the forefront of the movement. The marketing was meant to expand the group's base, and for a while the strategy worked.

In the early 1950s, school integration was a mainstream political issue—and was a primary force behind the belief in "state's rights," just as slavery had been a century before. After the federal courts mandated integrated schools, the CCA started building private schools, popularly called segregation academies or more simply "seg academies," or "Council schools." These schools would form the basis of the Mississippi Private School Association.

While he built his law practice in the 1960s, Baum also built up the CCA in his capacity as field director for the Midwestern chapters, until he broke with CCA in 1988 to found the Council of Conservative Citizens. Baum said he left the CCA because its goals were stiflingly narrow—private-school busing issues weren't enough to sustain him or a movement. He wanted to found a political group with a broad set of principles, and although the values would be reminiscent of the CCA's states' rights and pro-white rhetoric, the new group would not be a single-issue organization.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court had finally enforced the Brown v. Board decision in 1970, forcing recalcitrant Mississippi public schools to integrate with "all deliberate speed—and prompting thousands of white families to flee the Jackson Public Schools—times had changed, even in Mississippi. By the late 1980s, people didn't talk about integration in every other sentence. For better or worse, it was a dead issue.

University of Southern Mississippi history professor Neil McMillen published "The Citizens' Council," still today the only biography of the group, in 1971. When the book came out, the CCA was a thriving "respectable" pro-white group with a headquarters office in downtown Jackson.

By the time of the book's reissue in 1994, the CCA was gone. "[T]he Council was an anachronism with no place to go but out of business," McMillen wrote in the introduction.

Standing In for God
Except it didn't go out of business so much as it went under new management. When Baum and others launched the CofCC in 1988, they used, in part, membership lists from the dying CCA to build their new organization's roster. Only the rhetoric changed; if integration was a lost cause, the group would develop a more general platform around a combination of putting America first, racial integrity and being Christian.

In a new suit of clothes, the same old faces with the same old attitudes lurched toward the 21st century as the Council of Conservative Citizens.

In the South, the Council was either accepted or tolerated and maybe even expected for years, but national politics of the late 1990s had little relation with the Dixie-fried politics of the 1950s. Times had changed in Washington, D.C. When the American public got wind that senior southern leadership still held ties with the CofCC—thanks to the revelations about Lott's coziness with the group—they were outraged. In a way, though, those were the good days for the Council. They held the gaze of the nation.

Led by The Washington Post, more than a dozen articles appeared in national media linking Lott, then Senate majority leader, with Baum's group. The coverage inspired a flurry of Council activity, all part of a grand strategy to get attention, and membership, by any means necessary.

"We'd threaten to sue (the papers) for libel, and they'd give us an op/ed piece," Baum said. But when the politicians began to distance themselves from the increasingly public rhetoric—Citizens Informer water H. Millard, for instance, said minorities are turning American into a "slimy brown mass of glop—the news stories ended, and the CofCC moved out of the limelight and into the shadows.

It didn't cease to exist, though. "We weren't being secretive about (our work); it's just that the liberal media will ignore you," Baum said in the interview.

Today the politicians who once proudly counted themselves as members of the Council, or at the least pandered to them for votes, are dead or looking for political fortune in a less radical way. A few even repudiated the CofCC. Lott, when accused a decade ago of racism for his support of the Council, balked and claimed he was ignorant of the Council's politics.

In 2003, then-gubernatorial candidate Haley Barbour caused a stir when he attended the Black Hawk rally and barbecue hosted by the group, but he, too, refused to stand up for them. He called the Council's racist politics "indefensible," even as he refused to ask the group to remove his photo—alongside CofCC field director Bill Lord—from the CofCC Web site.

Time and again, Baum says, big-name politicians have sworn loyalty to the cause, and every time they publicly balked once the media got wind of the connection.

Baum decries their hypocrisy. "Believe me, they all knew what we were—we made sure of that. They're just protecting their rear ends," he said.

The CofCC CEO is bitter. He compared what happened to the Council after the Lott revelations to Peter's betrayal of Jesus with the CofCC standing in for the son of God. But unlike Peter, no politicians were moved to tears by their betrayal. They moved on, or they stayed in politics, but none bothered to defend the Council. All the while the Council drifted further from the mainstream.

Then the economy imploded, and unemployment skyrocketed (more than 9 percent in Mississippi in April). A black Yankee Democrat was elected president (from the Land of Lincoln, no less). And then, Baum said, membership in the Council began to climb.

"They're destroying the middle class of America," Baum said of the Obama administration. He down played that the president's race is helping membership grow, though. "It's not because he's black, but it's because he's pushing a left-wing agenda fast and furious."

As a result of bad times, Baum is enjoying fecund times for his group. "Regular gas has jumped 30 cents in the last few months, and this is killing the little people," he said. "If the economy stays in the doldrums, and if we keep pushing this liberal agenda, you're going to see a massive backlash in this next election."

During the interview, Baum seldom makes overtly racist comments (especially compared to what's on his group's Web site), though he did once tell New York Times columnist Bob Herbert, a black man, that "The Bell Curve" "is not too far off the mark" with respect to black intelligence.

Hodding Carter III, who has seen heard all the rhetoric from decades of the Citizens Council and its sequel, knows better than to buy the slightly softened race rhetoric.

"You can put lipstick on a pig and call it Angeline, but it's still a hog," he said. "These people are unrelenting."

New, Young Blood
Baum reports that his group's new blood is young blood. "They're not just old people;the vast majority of our new recruits are under 40," Baum said. This is a coup for the group if it's true. He said a few chapters were launched by men in their 20s—men barely older than the Council itself.

Unlike the GOP, which has made some ostensible effort to broaden its base, the Council has done little to redefine its image; it doesn't have to. Desperate times are a boon for groups like the CofCC.

"Anytime in which people are, in a large degree, appealing to people who have been marginalized, then the pool from which you draw these people expands," Carter said from his home in North Carolina.

Carter, a lifelong civil-rights advocate, journalist and statesman who battled the old Citizens Council alongside his editor-father, said now is not the time to ignore the Council and its outreach. More than any other group, Carter said Republicans have the biggest responsibility to do the right thing.

"There is an unresolved and occasionally unpleasant aspect within the Republican Party," he said. "It always irritates most people and all Republicans when I say what I think, but there are people who are considered within the mainstream, and they look and sound and fly like these same ducks. They embrace these same sort of things."

The Council got some good press from the right wing in January when Ann Coulter published "Guilty: Liberal 'Victims' and Their Assault on America." The darling of the radical right spent three pages defending the CofCC against charges of racism. The book is selling well on Amazon.com and, so far, 160 readers have given it five out of five stars.

To younger readers unfamiliar with Baum and his Council, or the Council that spawned it, Coulter's description may well convince a few readers that Baum's organization is right in line with the Republican agenda.

"There is no evidence on its Web page that the modern incarnation of the CCC supports segregation," she writes.

Perhaps she spoke with Baum himself.

"We're not white supremacist, we're not white separatists," Baum told me as soon as he heard I was a journalist. In some ways, Baum's and Coulter's apologia is a sign of the times. Not too long ago conservative pro-white groups might not have ducked the "racist" charge, but today the label is anathema even to the Council.

Still, the CofCC's denial is a clearly false defense. When asked about the large banner ad on the Council's main Web page selling "white pride" T-shirts, Baum replied: "These people are paying for the banner ads. So far as (the ad) doesn't go overboard and threaten violence."

But the group's second principle (of 15) says in part, "The American people and government should remain European in their composition and character. ... We also oppose all efforts to mix the races of mankind. ... ; The same principle also does not mince words about the reason that the CofCC is against immigration—of certain people: "We therefore oppose the massive immigration of non-European and non-Western peoples into the United States that threatens to transform our nation into a non-European majority in our lifetime."

If pressed, Baum offers a passionate and lengthy defense about the preservation of "white culture," which he claims is dying out worldwide. As he went on, his tone grew more piquant until he asked, "What's wrong with trying to preserve our culture?" Finally, frustrated, Baum admitted, "If that makes us racist, so be it."

Despite Baum's claims of broadmindedness, the Council's Web site is full of intolerance, and racist vitriol is never more than a few clicks away. And in case the second principle didn't make the race issue clear enough, the sixth principle says, "we oppose ... homosexuality and other perversions, mixture of the races, pornography in all forms, and subversion of the authority of parents."

The "news" stories on the Council's site are culled and edited to represent the worst in non-whites and, while the site does not advocate outright violence, it does incite fear, intolerance and misunderstanding. On the bottom right-hand side of every page of the Council's site there is, in boldface: Shocking Statistics.

But there is only ever a single statistic: "Between 1976-2005, blacks made up 13 percent of the US population, but committed 59 percent of felony murders. Overall, blacks are 9 times more likely to commit murder than whites. Source: US DOJ."

Today more than ever, Baum and his members are far from "uptown" anything. Heidi Beirich, the Southern Poverty Law Center's director of research, said that while the GOP shows signs of expanding their tent to include more diversity, groups like the CofCC are becoming more fringe.

But if the fringe expands under an Obama administration, maybe the Council won't need the support of the country-club set. When asked if Coulter's three-page defense of the Council worried her, Beirich responded: "I think Ann Coulter is frankly just stupid. I don't know a member of the Republican Party that would write anything like she did."

Still, there has been no outcry from the GOP camp over Coulter's book and, besides, Republican Party spokespeople don't have to come out and voice support for the Council's message to be heard; their silence is enough to bolster the group's efforts on behalf of "conservatives."

Earlier this year, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele apologized on national television after he called radio demagogue Rush Limbaugh "incendiary" and "ugly." Steele's apology came a day after Limbaugh and right-wing radio host Laura Ingram excoriated the GOP chairman. Incendiary right-wing pundits may not represent the party in an official sense, but they are, to a real degree, its spokespeople. This sort of capitulation to the demagogues has people like Carter worried.

"They refuse to repudiate it, and that's something to be concerned about," Carter warned.

Repudiation or not, Baum shows no signs of giving up the fight, and on the phone he sounds upbeat, happy almost, at the uphill battle his troops face.

The Council of Conservative Citizens is taking on a popular president who is black and Democratic, and a slew of social programs that will help those whom the Council most dislikes: immigrants and minorities.

The group faces a world in which borders—despite their fences—are opening faster than they're closing.

With a Confederate battle flag in one hand and marching orders some 60 years old in the other, culture warrior Baum is gunning for the fight. The Jackson conference this Friday and Saturday won't be the ultimate battle, and it won't be the first shots fired, but it will be a Council regrouping. It will likely see more strategizing than action, and it might go unnoticed by most of Baum's despised "liberal media." But it's the beginning of something all the same.

"The next four years will be a wild ride," Baum said.

Additional reporting by Donna Ladd and Kate Medley.

TIMELINE: The Council's Greatest Hits
The greatest hits of the Citizens Council and the Council of Conservative Citizens, past and (sort of) present. They've been quiet lately.

Fall 1953: Robert B. "Tut" Patterson, the manager of the Leflore County plantation and a former star football player at Mississippi State, hears in a local school meeting in Indianola of cases before the Supreme Court that could force integration in public schools. He reports he felt "confused, mad and ashamed." He urges whites to "stand together forever firm against communism and mongrelization." Patterson is referred to as "the Dean" by the Council of Conservative Citizens. (4) (2)

May 17, 1954: Supreme Court rules segregation illegal in Brown v. Board of Education. (4)

Sept. 7, 1954: Mississippi State Legislature convenes a special session to preserve segregation in public schools. (4)

April 3, 1956: Both houses of the Mississippi State Legislature officially commend the publication of the first Citizens' Councils of America handbook. (4)

1964: Citizens' Councils create a national network in an attempt to consolidate power, though the group is already on the decline, even in the heart of Dixie. (4)

September 1964: Ӆa few token Negroes gain admission to Mississippi's all white schools." (4)
1988: Gordon Lee Baum, former field coordinator for the Midwestern Citizens' Councils and several other former members of the CCA, forms the Council of Conservative Citizens (the CofCC) in Atlanta.

1990: At the behest of the state, the Citizens Councils of America building in Jackson at 605 Plaza Building is demolished. An integrated work crew does the job. (3)

1991: Sen. Trent Lott addresses the CofCC. (1)

1992: Lott addresses the CofCC. (1)

1993: A California chiropractor who allegedly represents CofCC sends a letter to CBS complaining that "Blacks are only 12 percent of the population but have 20 percent to 30 percent of the faces on TV." In his letter he describes the CofCC as a "large number of people who are more and more turning off the TV when these black propaganda-agenda shows come on." (1)

September 1994: CofCC holds a Confederate flag rally in South Carolina. "If we can have a Martin Luther King Day, a black history month, why can't we have the Confederate battle flag fly above the Statehouse?" asks William Carter, the president of the South Carolina CofCC chapter and former campaign manager for klansman David Duke. (1)

1995: Lott addresses the CofCC. (1)

Fall 1995: Conservative columnist Sam Francis is fired from The Washington Times after he criticizes the Baptist Church's apology of slavery and later speaks at an American Renaissance function wherein he says, "The civilization that … whites created in Europe and America could not have developed apart from the genetic endowments of the creating people, nor is there any reason to believe … the civilization can be successfully transmitted to a different people." (5) (7)

1997: CofCC names segregationist Lester Maddox, former governor of Georgia, "Patriot of the Century." (1)

1997: Lott photographed with CofCC officials. (1)

June 1998: Rep. Bob Barr addresses CofCC meeting and is photographed. Public opprobrium ensues, and Barr denies any affiliation with the CofCC. (1)

Dec. 12, 1998: Barr scandal won't rest. Barr pleads, "I strongly disagree with many of this group's ridiculous views, and have said so publicly." The AP reveals Senator Trent Lott's connection with the CofCC, but Lott's spokesman, John Czwartacki, says Lott "has no recollection of involvement." (1)

Dec. 12, 1998: Alan Dershowitz says on Larry King, "Bob Barr is the stupidest man in Congress, the most mendacious, or both." (1)

Dec. 22, 1998: New York Daily News questions Lott's involvement with the CofCC. Lott's spokesman explains that he "has absolutely no involvement with them either now or in the future." (1)

Jan. 14, 1999: New York Times reports Arnie Watson, Lott's uncle, is a member of the CofCC's executive board. Watson tells the Times, "Trent is an honorary member." (1)

Jan. 15, 1999: CofCC chapter coordinator William Lord says Lott was never a member, honorary or otherwise, of the CofCC. Lord tells the Associated Press: "Trent Lott is my friend, as he is a friend of everybody. But he has no association with our group." (1)

Jan. 19, 1999: Jim Nicholson, chairman of the RNC, urges Republicans to resign from the CofCC. "There is no room for racist views in the Republican Party," Nicholson tells the Associated Press. "I never heard of the CCC until a few days ago, but it appears that this group does hold racist views." (1)

Jan. 22, 1999: Roy Romer, chairman of the DNC, urges all Democrats to resign from the CofCC. The Omaha World-Herald quotes Romer as saying, the CofCC "is an organization that should not get the support of any person who believes in democracy in this country." (1)

2005: Francis pens the CofCC's Statement of Principles, the second of which says, "We also oppose all efforts to mix the races of mankind … and to force the integration of the races." He dies of a heart aneurysm a few days later. (6)

1. http://www.adl.org/mwd/ccc.asp
   2. http://cofcc.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/ci-2007_3-sample.pdf
   3. The Citizens' Councils of America: Organized Resistance to the Second Reconstruction 1954-1964, 1994 ed.
   4. The Citizens' Councils of America: Organized Resistance to the Second Reconstruction 1954-1964, 1971 ed.
   5. http://www.amren.com/mtnews/archives/2005/02/sam_francis.php
   6. http://cofcc.org/?page_id=71
   7. http://www.sobran.com/articles/francisTribute.shtml#comments

Previous Comments

ID

148967

Comment

While we may not want to know, however, it's good to know that such organizations still exist. I'd rather for the enemy to be out in the open than to be hidden.

Author

golden eagle

Date

2009-06-24T20:25:37-06:00

ID

148973

Comment

Regency Inn at 1714 Highway 80 West seems like a thoroughly unlikely spot for any national convention. Is this for real?

Author

ed inman

Date

2009-06-24T23:31:28-06:00

ID

148976

Comment

Also, nice plug for my former history professor, Neil McMillen, the self-described "last white male liberal in Mississippi". And where did he teach? Just wanted to point that out! Back to your regularly-scheduled posting.

Author

golden eagle

Date

2009-06-25T08:11:52-06:00

ID

148977

Comment

I'd be more worried if they were having this "National Convention" at a more reputable place. As it is, the irony of having it there is humorous.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2009-06-25T08:18:29-06:00

ID

148980

Comment

Perhaps I'm oblivious to this, but what's good or bad about the convention being held at the Regency? Minority-owned?

Author

golden eagle

Date

2009-06-25T08:30:18-06:00

ID

148981

Comment

I don't think the Regency Inn on 80 has so much as a restaurant, much less convention space. More than likely it's the Regency Hotel on Greymont.

Author

ed inman

Date

2009-06-25T08:30:30-06:00

ID

148982

Comment

Great. Freakazoid convention. At least we know where to stay away from. The article above does specify Regency Inn on Hwy. 80. Regency Inn may have a meeting room, which testifies to the strength of the CofCC. None. If there is a meeting room, it's miniscule at best.

Author

Lady Havoc

Date

2009-06-25T09:25:11-06:00

ID

148984

Comment

Baum may claim a link to the NRA and the GOP to boost his group's credibility, but, other than a few common values, like supporting the second amendment and immigration restrictions, the average conservative voter would despise a clearly racist group like the CofCC, and poloticians would avoid it like the plague...political suicide to associate with these folks. I wonder if those poloticians cited in the story, like Mike Huckabee, had any idea what this group stood for (Lott obviously did, sigh) before agreeing to speak at their meetings. For that matter, I wonder if the sales director at the hotel who agreed to host them had any idea? I bet not. Anyone planning to protest?

Author

The Eskimo

Date

2009-06-25T09:48:53-06:00

ID

148986

Comment

It's likely that the conference location given to our reporter by the organization is entirely fictitious from jump. They have not posted a location on their Web site (they never do), other than Jackson, MS, but have pointed attendees to overflow hotels such as the Fairview Inn and the Holiday Inn Express on Greymont. It's all very hush-hush and any outsider is unlikely to get the truth. Gee, they act like they have something to be ashamed of ;-)

Author

Ronni_Mott

Date

2009-06-25T10:02:11-06:00

ID

148989

Comment

Okay, so we have no clue where to stay away from. :)

Author

Lady Havoc

Date

2009-06-25T11:39:26-06:00

ID

148990

Comment

This may be my fault. The reporter got a confirmation on the Regency Inn, and I looked up the address to add in at the last minute. The only address that popped us was Highway 80. So may be Greymount. I apologize if so.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2009-06-25T11:46:56-06:00

ID

148998

Comment

The Eskimo, At this point, it is hard for me to believe that Republicans and conservatives are not fully aware of what organizations and guys like this are all about. I think it is a "wink and nod" type relationship that a lot of Southerners have not really tried to severe. Far too many politicians value the support of groups like this to send subtle messages. These groups have an appeal to some just as Rush Limbaugh and other talk radio of his ilk have an appeal. There is no shortage of racist quotes made by Rush, but there are people that would claim he is a saint. The same applies to groups like this. I am only 37 and I know about the CCC and the groups that preceded it. When people like Ann Coulter try to sanitize the CCC's image and excuse its bad behavior, it really tells you what kind of person he/she is. It is a way of sending a "shout out" to racist without overtly proclaiming to be.

Author

Goldenae

Date

2009-06-25T14:50:06-06:00

ID

149002

Comment

Goldenae, I agree with your "wink, wink, nod, nod" premise that some mainstream conservatives tolerate groups like this, but not that it is a direct "shout out to racists." As I said before, these groups share certain opinions on gun control, anit-abortion, etc, and certainly perhaps some political commentators attempt to defend them for shock value and ratings; but it happens on the other side of the fence as well, with liberal extremist groups that have had a history of abortion clinic bombings, eco-terrorism, etc. These groups often get the same type of "pass." My point is that, overall, the average Joe Blow American (who is not worried about generating campaign dollars) can see right through this veil and generally does not support individually- and will not support financially- anyone who supports groups with these type of extremist views, whether on the left or right. Of course, it varies depending on certain criteria. I mean, is anyone surprised the CofCC picked the capital of Jackson to hold their convention. This is a State, afterall, in which almost every county has a so-called "private academy" which basically operates around the unspoken premise that minorities (mainly blacks) cannot attend. Does anyone else see the hipocrisy when a black sportscaster on the local news station reports on an Academy Football team even though his children can not attend, and, even if he tried to push the issue and enroll them, would be taking a very dangerous risk of putting his children into harms way from extremists just like the CofCC? THAT is a news story I wish someone would have the guts to tackle!

Author

The Eskimo

Date

2009-06-25T15:24:16-06:00

ID

149014

Comment

I love your comment here too, Goldenae! Anne Coulter is no doubt repugnant trash searching for new levels to stoop. When you hate yourself, as she surely does, and you have no love in your life, you become a supreme hater of all that you can't have. Indeed, ladies and gentlemen, Anne Coulter wants a brother! I bet Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods would blow her mind. What else could it be?

Author

Walt

Date

2009-06-25T17:41:27-06:00

ID

149069

Comment

The truth in this world hurts, doesn't it ! And you that get hurt then lash out at people who speak the truth because even though you know inside the difference from right and wrong, you'll never admit it. And it's easy to tell in these comments who's right and who's wrong...just look at the manner in which they strike back at their alledged adversary ! This once great country has now come to a sad end.

Author

SubSalior

Date

2009-06-26T14:17:00-06:00

ID

149071

Comment

WOW! So if there's an organization out there that seeks to promote pride in one's heritage and ethnicity, they're racist??? If an organization dares to stand up and say, "we are proud to be of Eastern European descent, just as you are proud to be of African descent" they're a racist??? If an organization encourages its members to embrace the value system of their ancestors and discourage them from marrying outside of their race, they're a racist??? This organization is NOT promoting the extermination of all other races, they're simply saying "we're tired of seeing what's happened to our people in this Country, and we're going to speak up about it." PLEASE someone, without reciting any rap lyrics from TI, explain to me why it's not just acceptable to be outwardly and unashamed to be "pro-black" and support the "black cause" but it's subconciously demanded, otherwise you're a White-wash or sell-out, you aint keepin' it real, but it's unacceptable for White's to feel the same way and express it freely??? Do you know why these types of organizations exist by the way? It's not in any way for the people out there that hate any non-whites, those groups are called NEO-NAZI'S and they are blatently expressive with their views. This type of organization exists and is supported by individuals like the Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, and Larry Elders (both black) to speak out against the double standard that exists within the black community on virtually every level, draw attention to the overwhelming problem of Black on White crime especially Black men raping White women (almost 38,000 in 2007, meanwhile 0.0% of Black women raped in the US this same year were by White men, that's right ZERO PERCENT!!! Look it up for yourself on www.doj.gov) and to educate all who will listen in areas such as education, crime rates, STD's, teen pregnancy, drug use and distribution, etc... all of which Black's lead by a mile in this Country. Start noticing the commercials and movies in which a criminal is depicted breaking into a home, assaulting someone, or worse, they're almost ALWAYS white! Also notice on the news how rare it is that the perpetrator is shown or race is even discussed if they're black, but almost every time that perp is white, their face is plastered everywhere. Why is this? The overwhelming amount of crime committed in this Country is NOT by Whites, it's by Blacks and Hispanics PERIOD! Don't believe me, look it up. Make sure you pay close attention though, the good ol' DOJ now lumps virtually any non-Black into the category of "White." That's interesting huh? You think that might distort the numbers a bit? Don't believe me....look it up!!

Author

Enlightened One

Date

2009-06-26T15:08:15-06:00

ID

149077

Comment

What the readers of the Jackson Free Press need to realize is that the groups like the CofCC says in public what we all say in private. The readers of this journal will say that they love to promote diversity at all cost, say that they are not racist, support every quota, afffirmative action program, and say we need to help minoirities. However, when it's all said and done; you people go back to your non intergrated neighborhoods, with your white neighbors, and send your children to schools with an overwhelming white student body. Then on Sunday, you go to a church with an all white congragation. You will say that you want to live in a "safe" neighborhood. You want to send your kids to a "good" school. I say bollocks! Diversity is good for everyone else except you. Besides being the biggest hypocrites on the planet, liberals are the biggest racists on the planet. The left thinks that minorities can't succed in life without affirmative action. The left thinks that minorities can't take care of themselves so they give us great programs such as welfare, food stamps, AFDC, medicaid, public housing projects, section 8 housing, head start, affirmative action, etc, etc, etc!

Author

Scoop1380

Date

2009-06-26T17:04:26-06:00

ID

149096

Comment

Dear Scoop: Gosh, I feel rebuked. Gee, I'm speechless. There's more to the world than in your dream, Horatio.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2009-06-28T11:36:10-06:00

ID

149103

Comment

Scoop1380 writes: "What the readers of the Jackson Free Press need to realize is that the groups like the CofCC says in public what we all say in private." Speak for yourself.

Author

Tom Head

Date

2009-06-28T20:39:30-06:00

ID

149104

Comment

I guess it's important for people like that to think that everyone must, just, must think like they do. Uh, no.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2009-06-28T22:51:03-06:00

ID

149142

Comment

The enlightened one is right. He or she "shold" is smart, and fortunately, we're blessed to have him point out the obvious to us. Whites are innocent and more moral than blacks, browns and yellows. The claims of genocide and rape against the American Indians are lies. So too are the notions of slavery, rape, murder, Jim Crowism, racism, race prejudice,theft and white supremacy practiced against all non-whites daily, hourly and each minute and second by many well meaning EUROPEANS or whites all over the world. Scoop is right too. I couldn't make it without welfare, affirmative action and the ever-enduring and endless largesse of white people. Snow is white, Jesus is white, the clouds are white. All white is good, pure and superior. I understand why Larry Elders, Jessie Peterson and Clarence Thomas are held in such high esteem. If only the rest of us dumb Negroes were smart enough to emulate them America wouldn't be having all these problems. What a privilege it must be to be white. I mean to share a likeness in color and greatness to the Creator and to have white girls made just for you. How could anyone not be arrogant with all these blessings?!

Author

Walt

Date

2009-06-29T20:47:12-06:00

ID

149143

Comment

Relax, Walt. I think he's kidding.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2009-06-29T21:51:29-06:00

ID

149144

Comment

So was I. Frankly, however, I don't have a problem with anyone having racial pride, but I don't understand the argument by some whites that they have been denied much of anything based on race. America is replete with symbols of white racial pride, superiority and supremacy. The monuments of Washington DC is no clearer example except for Obama being in the White House.

Author

Walt

Date

2009-06-29T22:04:35-06:00

ID

149146

Comment

Iron, I'm not sure who you think is kidding up above—the "Enlightened One"?? Walt doesn't need to relax over any of this B.S. Neither should the rest of us. These are the kinds of people the party you defend, Iron, reaches out to. Personally, I'm tired of certain people thinking they can speak for all white people. Many of us actually know how to look at, say, crime stats in context. We also know that white America has historically committed more crimes than everyone else put together -- against people of color. I am in awe of black Americans for being as strong and proud and loving and forgiving as they are, considering what people who look like me did to them, their family structure, their self-worth, their ability to care for their own. Thank you, black friends, for not hating us all; I hope I would be so forgiving. I'm very sorry for what "mine" did to "yours."

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2009-06-29T22:13:26-06:00

ID

149147

Comment

Yet again Donna think's I'm a closet racist. Yet again, she's no where close to the truth. One day you'll understand how I think, Ms Ladd. Just wait. :) Otherwise, I'm not defending anyone. I just couldn't believe "Enlightened" up there had the guts to come in here and talk like that. It's so... perpendicular to the conversation we were having. Has anyone figured out if these people are actually coming to town, or is this all some excellent bit of trolling on their part?

Author

Ironghost

Date

2009-06-30T07:45:28-06:00

ID

149150

Comment

Iron, you must be one of the most paranoid people I've ever dealt with. Where did I say you're a "closet racist"!?! I think you are very quick to defend a party that cozies up to racists, but that can be as much out of lack of knowledge as anything. Read closer, please, before you accuse me of things I didn't do or say. I do not appreciate it, especially for someone who has been on this site as long as you have. You should know better by now. And I have no idea what this means: One day you'll understand how I think, Ms Ladd. Just wait. :) I remember a 10th grade world-history teacher telling me that at Neshoba Central on similar topics, and not in an impressive way. What she didn't understand is that I understood how she "thought" then (not very deeply), and was not impressed. I'm still not decades later.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2009-06-30T08:46:02-06:00

ID

149151

Comment

Donna, I know that smiley. He is kidding. And I promise you he is nowhere near being a racist: closet or otherwise. He and I have our political disagreements, but I guarantee I wouldn't be with him if he were. He said he couldn't believe the guy had the guts to come in here and talk like that: I am sure he was talking about Scoop. He'll correct me if I'm wrong.

Author

Lady Havoc

Date

2009-06-30T09:09:27-06:00

ID

149154

Comment

Lady, you are his biggest recommendation! Seriously, I don't think Iron is a closet racist, as I said, and I didn't say anything to lead to that conclusion. As for Scoop's comments, I'm a little uncertain on why those statements are characterized as a joke.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2009-06-30T09:28:48-06:00

ID

149156

Comment

"The greatest sin is the be ashamed of your own skin."-Immortal Technique.

Author

JonOKeefe

Date

2009-06-30T09:53:22-06:00

ID

149165

Comment

[quote]I'm a little uncertain on why those statements are characterized as a joke. [/quote] They are. The last thing we need in the pursuit of a fair and free future is extremism. Scoop up there may believe everything he's writing, but I sure don't subscribe to that worldview.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2009-06-30T10:29:36-06:00

ID

149166

Comment

The SPLC has an interesting post about who showed up at this gathering. Please see the SPLC's hatewatch.org

Author

Macedonian

Date

2009-06-30T10:52:25-06:00

ID

149167

Comment

OK, so you don't mean that he is being facetious. You mean that you take his words as a "joke." He clearly didn't make them to be. That makes more sense coming from you -- although I don't think we can ever take statements like that lightly. That's how we've ended up with a Republican Party that had to apologize nationally for going along with race-coded voting like the "southern strategy."

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2009-06-30T11:02:09-06:00

ID

149168

Comment

Thanks for the heads-up. Interesting, indeed. Here's the link: Mississippi Pol Said to be Governor’s Ally Speaks to Racist Group Posted in Anti-Black by Heidi Beirich on June 29, 2009 This past weekend, the white supremacist Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC) held its annual conference at the Cabot Lodge on the campus of Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss. The “surprise guest,” Mississippi State Sen. Lydia Chassaniol (R-14th District), was introduced by emcee Bill Lord — the CCC’s field director who is known for his racist “Martin Luther Coon” jokes — as “the right hand to the Governor [Haley Barbour].” Lord also identified Chassaniol as a “member” of the CCC chapter in Carroll County, one of a handful of Central Mississippi counties she represents. In an E-mail, Chassaniol confirmed to Hatewatch that she is a member of the CCC, which she described as a “conservative organization.” She also wrote, “I do not consider myself racist,” adding that she believes “a person’s membership in any organization is a private matter.” She said that she had worked for years “with the children of the Mississippi Delta” and had spoken to the Greenwood Voters League even though, she said, it has “no members who are Caucasian.” Gov. Barbour’s website shows that he has worked with Chassaniol in her capacity as chair of the Senate Tourism Committee. .... Read more there.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2009-06-30T11:07:12-06:00

ID

149170

Comment

You really, really can't make up that the head of the state Senate Tourism Committee is a *member* of the Council of Conservative Citizens. Let me guess: She'll pretend that she doesn't know it's a racist organization a la Lott, Huckabee, Barbour and others when they were caught cavorting with these folks. At least Fordice didn't bother pretending. You have to give him that.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2009-06-30T11:23:33-06:00

ID

149171

Comment

If she's telling the truth when she says, "I do not consider myself racist," then she should have known that speaking at this kind of event would give her that tag for the rest of her political career. With this move, I pray that the residents of the 14th have enough sense to not re-elect her. She has pulled off the classic move, though: the "I've done this" and "I've done that" to support her statement that she doesn't consider herself racist. It's like using the statement, "But I have black friends" when defending yourself against a racist tag. I guarantee what she has done is a drop in the bucket to what else needs to be done. It's weird to me seeing this kind of thought in the first place: but even stranger to hear it from a woman. I don't know why.

Author

Lady Havoc

Date

2009-06-30T11:37:17-06:00

ID

149172

Comment

Yep, Lady. So I just saw that a CofCC guest is calling for people to call the Jackson Chamber of Commerce to complain about the JFP's press coverage of the group--and, apparently, we're all "transgendered bathhouse boys" if I read this correctly: If it was just a few degrees warmer down here, it would be a taste of hell for the transgendered bathhouse “boys” who are writing 8 page spreads about the meeting in the local fish wrap. See what the real haters are saying about us here. [Links to this page] Be sure to leave a comment about the article. If you can call the Jackson Chamber of Commerce or Mississippi tourism board, ask them just what kind of person they are trying to appeal to. Make sure they are aware of what their local press is saying about hard working people spending money in their fair city, and ask if you would be unwelcome here too. They may say they have nothing to do with it, but then ask them what sort of press they have for normal Christian Americans. Then call a few advertisers and ask them as well. One does wonder how much these folks know about Jackson, Miss., or the Jackson Chamber, for that matter. I do hope they call them. ;-) I mean, really, if Alan Lange couldn't get the city to boycott the JFP back in our early years, does one think that the CofCC is going to get the multiracial Jackson Chamber to lead the effort!?! This isn't 1964. Thank God. I hope they call Jeff Good. Really I do.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2009-06-30T11:46:27-06:00

ID

149173

Comment

Here's what the site of former Louisiana Grand Wizard David Duke says about the weekend conference I had the honor meeting a number of dedicated activists, several of whom are active here on Stormfront. Among them of course was our intrepid correspondent/photographer, who also manned the table selling Jared Taylor’s books; the upper east Mississippi CofCC organizer, who received an award for his work; as did Derek Black, this young man is astounding. Derek’s parent’s were also in attendance, including Mr. Don Black, the founder of Stormfront. All of the speakers had the most interesting messages, some of whom were fiery like the old time evangelists, while some were a bit milder. Friday night a documentary about the public’s perceptions of “racism in society” was shown, and the responses from the negroes and brainwashed Whites at times brought laughter from the crowd. On Saturday, we had a very fine luncheon… y’all sure missed some good eatin’. Afterwards the conference concluded with Dr. Taylor’s very fine speech. There was much more of course, but I have just so much room in which to write. And I would like to recognize lilywhite37 for driving all the way from Memphis pretty much at the last minute to be with us. On behalf of my fellow CofCC members in Mississippi, I would like to personally thank each and everyone for coming to be with us. Y’all come back to see us sometime. — Knightrider1961

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2009-06-30T12:03:14-06:00

ID

149174

Comment

(You really can't make up 'lilywhite36' and 'knightrider1961," can you? Where was The Clarion-Ledger on this, anyway?)

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2009-06-30T12:04:40-06:00

ID

149175

Comment

Normal people are welcome. I dare say, normal Christian Americans are welcome. These guys do not qualify for any of the above. Mississippi has had enough of these freaks to last several lifetimes. Jesus said, "Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself." He didn't put any kind of qualifier on that statement. And where was the CL? At home, washing their tights - no, wait, that was Batman. They need to think up another excuse.

Author

Lady Havoc

Date

2009-06-30T12:14:28-06:00

ID

149176

Comment

Ladd, It is astonishing to me how blind some people pretend to be when it comes to this sort of thing. Also, one-sided hypersensitivity usually goes along with their issues as well. I have seen time after time that people that speak up for groups or individuals like this are usually the first to claim someone is calling them a racist. They do not seem to be able to perceive the racism they are sheltering, but seem psychic in perceiving that people are calling them racist. A common trait of these type people are to shape racism to be only what they think is offensive. Case in point, I have never heard Obama say a racist thing, yet conservatives routinely label him as such. On the other hand, when Limbaugh, Coulter or others are overtly racist, they enjoy that sort of commentary. Some people love having groups like the CCC and commentators out there saying inflammatory things because they agree with them, but don't have the courage to say so themselves. How else can you explain people supporting Limbaugh, etc., but also claiming they do not support racist attitudes?

Author

Goldenae

Date

2009-06-30T12:21:14-06:00

ID

149177

Comment

I'm kind of surprised they don't like the above story; often, white supremacists like any and all coverage of them, the more outrageous the better. It's the message they put out in all of their materials. We're using their words. Maybe they don't like that we're including the history of the group, but history is history. I mean, if you're going to say the stuff they say about people of color, don't start getting huffy when people start calling you racist. Own it. You can't have it both ways. Either you're against "race-mixing" or you're not. That's a pretty basic indicator, no? Funny that it was at the Cabot Lodge. They told us the Regency—on purpose, I must assume. Remarkable that such a thing happened nearly across the street from Bill Simmons' old perch at the Fairview Inn and down the road from Ross Barnett's house. I have to assume they don't understand how much our city has changed?

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2009-06-30T12:26:12-06:00

ID

149178

Comment

And Lady, of course, one of the horrors of our state's history is that Christianity has long been used to justify slavery, segregation, lynching, white flight, and so on. It's so good to see so many good Christians fighting back against the people who tried to co-opt faith to support their idea that they are somehow superior to people with darker skin.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2009-06-30T12:28:17-06:00

ID

149180

Comment

Oh, and I love how they said the JFP didn't even get the conference hotel right. #1: they didn't give the right information: and #2: they weren't brave enough to put it on their website. They just gave alternative hotels in case the convention hotel filled up. I wonder what the occupancy rate was for the Cabot for that weekend, anyway?

Author

Lady Havoc

Date

2009-06-30T12:31:24-06:00

ID

149181

Comment

I am sure the Cabot had no idea who this group was or what they really stood for. The CCC probably lied to them too.

Author

The Eskimo

Date

2009-06-30T12:36:45-06:00

ID

149182

Comment

It's so good to see so many good Christians fighting back against the people who tried to co-opt faith to support their idea that they are somehow superior to people with darker skin. It is, isn't it? It's my personal belief that Jesus would be appalled at the goings on here. As Christians we need to stand up for what Jesus taught us, and this has no place at all in Christianity.

Author

Lady Havoc

Date

2009-06-30T12:39:16-06:00

ID

149183

Comment

Racist are cowards plain and simple. Even during the height of racism and segregation, they hid their faces as they did their evil deeds. People really do not seem to understand what racism is. It is not merely hating people of another race. It is simply thinking that one's race is better or another's race is inferior. I hear people all the time say that races should not "mix" or that they are not racist, but they would not want their daughter/son dating outside of their race. The acceptance of certain practices is also a way to express racism. There are racist people and organizations that we should long since left in the dust. That is why when you get to the particulars, no one likes to have an honest discussion. When you lay out what has been said or done, they people start closing off the conversation because they do not want to be put in a position of supporting what they know to be wrong.

Author

Goldenae

Date

2009-06-30T12:39:54-06:00

ID

149185

Comment

Good point about the hotel, Lady. I noticed that, too. Supposedly, our article was filled with errors, but the only one they point out is the bad/incomplete information they provided us. I don't like pro-segregation attitudes no matter who has them. I'm sure some of our new visitors can't like all the "race-mixing" we do on this site, huh? Or, in our city. Or, even on the Jackson Chamber of Commerce, which shall we say is not Bill Simmons' Chamber of Commerce any more.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2009-06-30T12:47:51-06:00

ID

149187

Comment

I'd sure guess the Cabot didn't know. But at what point did they figure out? How awful it must have been for people who work there? Or, what about other guests? Can you imagine the stuff other guests and staff members must have overheard in the hallways!?

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2009-06-30T12:56:33-06:00

ID

149188

Comment

Ladd, You are right, the changes are what infuriates them most. They are not contend with holding a certain belief, but want to get others to hold the same belief. For right thinking people, including conservatives, there should come a point that they ask themselves why their beliefs seem to coincide with groups like this. How could a David Duke get elected in recent history and people of that party not be totally outraged at being represented like that? Seems as if conservatives would take it upon themselves not to be represented in this way.

Author

Goldenae

Date

2009-06-30T13:11:23-06:00

ID

149189

Comment

Here's some deep thought: Being against "race-mixing" is part of their 15 "principles" -- how in the world does one enforce such a thing in today's world?

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2009-06-30T13:21:00-06:00

ID

149190

Comment

I'm still unclear of the number of people who attended this conference, or how much weight they carry. But I am sure that these type of fringe groups are on the rise. Just listened to a few moments of radio from the conference, and got physically ill. Sam Dickson, Speaker at CoCC on the turnout. "It's been the best ever. a big crowd and half the people are young," he said."It's nice to known that even in the age of Michael Jackson our race can still breed people like this. We are not going to be extinct."

Author

Lacey McLaughlin

Date

2009-06-30T13:22:38-06:00

ID

149191

Comment

They'll be turning out for the weekend tea parties, too.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2009-06-30T13:27:35-06:00

ID

149192

Comment

While the guys who are PO'ed at Taxes have my sympathies, I wish they'd speak out against the White Sheet crowd a lot louder. I know (and have read on the web) they don't like the company those pointy-headed buffons provide, but you never hear about it.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2009-06-30T13:47:31-06:00

ID

149194

Comment

Right, Iron. Agreed completely. And then there are the folks like Barbour who court their vote. So, it's not just a matter of them not speaking up, sadly.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2009-06-30T13:58:20-06:00

ID

149196

Comment

They may say they have nothing to do with it, but then ask them what sort of press they have for normal Christian Americans. Didn't anyone tell them about the Northside Sun? ;)

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2009-06-30T15:12:40-06:00