Guest Post by Morbo
Ann Coulter attacks 9/11 widows, calling them “harpies” and “witches.” National leaders of the Republican Party say nothing.
Vernon Robinson runs for Congress in North Carolina on a blatantly racist, anti-gay, anti-Hispanic platform. Leaders of the Republican Party remain mum and in fact welcome his campaign.
In Texas, the state Republican Party declares America a “Christian” nation and attacks the “myth” of church-state separation. Staffers at the Republican HQ in Washington yawn.
Across the country, Republican politicians employ crude anti-gay messages and seek to win votes from the most vicious homophobes imaginable. They play the race card constantly and are increasingly bashing Hispanics in the hopes that an ugly anti-immigrant wave will carry them to victory in November. Republican leaders welcome this strategy; in fact, they pioneered it.
You can be a racist, homophobe and narrow-minded religious fanatic and be welcomed in the Republican Party. So what does it take to get drummed out of the GOP these days? Apparently, being a Nazi will do it — not a metaphorical Nazi, but a real, live, swastika-wearing, goose-stepping Nazi.
In Montana, Republican leaders were excited when Shawn Stuart announced he would run for the Montana House of Representatives. Young and telegenic, Stuart looked to be a good candidate who emphasized his conservative anti-gay, pro-gun values. He’s also a veteran who served two tours in Iraq. Enthusiastic Republicans allowed Stuart to announce his candidacy at a “Lincoln-Reagan Dinner” for Republicans in Butte.
But then a funny thing happened. The Montana Human Rights Network told the media that Stuart was a member of the National Socialist Movement, a Minnesota-based group that openly admires Hitler. Its members frequently parade about in brown shirts and say their logo is the “Sacred Swastika.” On its website, the group calls itself “America’s Nazi Party” and “the fastest-growing neo Nazi organization in the United States.”
The organization advocates a “union of all Whites into a greater America. Non-citizens may live in America only as guests and must be subject to laws for aliens. Accordingly, no Jew or homosexual may be a member of the nation.”
At first, Stuart tried to deny his past, but the Montana Human Rights Network had him dead to rights, chronicling his activity on behalf of neo-Nazis in 2004. He soon fessed up to being “the Montana unit contact leader.” State Republican leaders fled in terror and announced they would support Stuart’s Democratic opponent.
Stuart then tried to get off the ballot, but state laws did not allow that. The National Socialist Movement subsequently issued a statement asserting that “National Socialist and Republican values are not incompatible.”
Montana’s primary election was June 6. John Sesso, the Democratic incumbent who holds the seat Stuart wants, beat his opponent Kevin Lowney 987-359. Amazingly, despite the revelations, Stuart still received 151 votes in the GOP primary.
It’s nice to know there is a line even the GOP won’t cross. The party will not support you if you are a goose-stepping neo-Nazi. Up to that, apparently, anything goes.