The Last Word: Hatewatch鈥檚 1st Annual Smackdown Awards
It鈥檚 been a heck of a year in the . As usual, white supremacists and sundry others on the radical right have shot, bludgeoned and maimed their way into police blotters and newspapers across the land. They鈥檝e cursed, defamed and insulted the usual laundry list of their enemies. But for Hatewatch aficionados, that鈥檚 all par for the course. After all, just about anyone can do something really ugly or violent if they set their mind to it. That鈥檚 why the Hatewatch 1st Annual Year-End Smackdown Awards Committee had such a very tough time. Sifting through huge piles of ne鈥檈r-do-well candidates, intrepid committee members sought to go beyond the merely quotidian and reach for the truly extraordinary. Here, with apologies to Keith Olbermann, is our Hatewatch countdown for the very worst of 2007:
10. Grossest Pervert Award
The hands-down winner here is Kevin Alfred Strom, the founder of the neo-Nazi National Vanguard group based in Virginia who saw of enticing a 10-year-old girl for sex , only to have the judge announce to the world that there was 鈥渙verwhelming evidence that [Strom] was sexually drawn to this child.鈥 That, along with Strom鈥檚 wife鈥檚 about finding her man naked and aroused in front of a computer screen peopled by young girls, isn鈥檛 a very hopeful prelude to Strom鈥檚 second trial, coming up in February, on possession of child porn charges. Top gross-out moment so far: The revelation that Strom had written a sonnet about marrying the 10-year-old, to be sung to the tune of 鈥淗ere We Come A-Wassailing.鈥
The competition in this category, it should be pointed out, was fierce. Warren Jeffs, the polygamous leader of a racist Mormon offshoot sect, was on two counts of rape as an accomplice for forcing a 14-year-old girl to marry her 19-year-old cousin. Tony Alamo, leader of an anti-Catholic and anti-gay cult, was of taking child brides. And David Lane, 69, a white supremacist movement icon in prison for his role in a 1984 assassination, had about the blonde, 14-year-old Gaede girls who make up the neo-Nazi Prussian Blue singing duo: 鈥淲hen the girls were little, they were like daughters or something. Now that they are grown women, and being a natural male, it鈥檚鈥 well, you know what I鈥檓 trying to say.鈥 Yes, sadly, we do.
9. Most Gullible Broadcaster Award
Who can forget Bill O鈥橰eilly, host of Fox News鈥 鈥淭he O鈥橰eilly Factor,鈥 and his June 21 segment, 鈥淰iolent Lesbian Gangs a Growing Problem鈥? In this piece of addled fiction, O鈥橰eilly and 鈥淔ox News crime analyst鈥 Rod Wheeler contended that 鈥渁 national underground network鈥 of lesbian gangs, armed with pink pistols, was 鈥渢errorizing America,鈥 in part by raping middle school girls with sex toys purchased on the Internet. As it turned out, the report was entirely false, as the Intelligence Report . The next day, Wheeler issued a statement saying that he had only 鈥渋nadvertently stated鈥 that the lesbians carried pink pistols, that he hadn鈥檛 meant to say there were 150 lesbian gangs in the Washington, D.C., area, that he hadn鈥檛 meant to say there was a 鈥渘ational epidemic鈥 of lesbian gangs, and that he hadn鈥檛 meant to defame the Pink Pistols, a lesbian gun-rights group. Glad we got that straight!
8. Most Obnoxious Extremist Award
Although there was considerable support for the candidacy of Fred Phelps, the website proprietor who likes to picket the funerals of soldiers, Virginia neo-Nazi Bill White won in a squeaker. The former left-wing anarchist and one-time correspondent for the Russian Communist Party鈥檚 Pravda newspaper spent the year issuing racist insults, not-so-veiled threats and attacks on reporters. He of a long list of his enemies 鈥 from a Miami Herald columnist to journalists from his hometown newspaper to the editor of this blog 鈥 but also defamed large numbers of fellow racists. The rabid dog in White may have come out most clearly in his call to white supremacists to crash the wedding of the niece of a newspaper official to 鈥渁nnoy this Jew-loving piece of shit.鈥
7. Weirdest Political Alliance Award
The honors here go to , director of the New York-based , dedicated to secessionism. Known for decades as a left-wing intellectual, Sale last year buddied up to the white supremacist (LOS) 鈥 a group that opposes racial intermarriage, defends segregation, and calls for a return to 鈥淓uropean cultural hegemony鈥 in the South 鈥 to the point of actually co-sponsoring the Oct. 3-4 in Tennessee with the LOS. Now, the left-right love affair promoted by Sale has turned positively torrid, with a 鈥淣orth-South Secession Summit鈥 planned for January. Attending will be top officials of the Middlebury Institute, LOS, the Southern National Congress, and the Second Vermont Republic, to seek 鈥渢he peaceful dissolution鈥 of the United States.
6. Stupidest Conspiracy Theory Award
You know it can鈥檛 be good when the , the rabidly anti-Communist group that called President Eisenhower a commie, teams up with , the man who orchestrated the Swift-boating of John Kerry. Corsi and the JBS are the prime promoters of a that claims Mexico, Canada and the United States are secretly planning a merger that would result in something called the 鈥淣orth American Union鈥 (NAU). They insist that a 2005 tri-national agreement called the Security and Prosperity Partnership 鈥 a series of working groups to study cooperation in transportation, energy, aviation and the environment 鈥 is the leading edge of the conspiracy that may, in Corsi鈥檚 words, end in 鈥渁n executive branch coup d鈥檈tat.鈥 This would be merely an exercise in the ridiculous were it not for the fact that public figures from CNN anchor Lou Dobbs to U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) to nativist leader Jim Gilchrist keep plugging it. Thanks to them and their ilk, the houses of representatives of 18 states have now passed resolutions opposing the much-feared NAU 鈥 an entity that does not exist and has never been planned.
5. Most Annoying Snot-Nosed College Kid Award
Kyle Bristow was irritating enough way back in 2006, when the soon-to-be leader of Young Americans for Freedom at Michigan State University posted his 13-point agenda, including elimination from student government of virtually every non-white, non-heterosexual and non-Christian group. He ratcheted it up with a 鈥淪traight Power鈥 demonstration featuring 鈥淓nd F-------鈥 and 鈥淕o Back in the Closet鈥 signs. From there, Bristow and his degenerated into 鈥淐atch an Illegal Immigrant Day鈥 contests, a 鈥淜oran Desecration鈥 competition, and even, last September, an attack on a new Latino studies doctoral program under this headline: Bristow went on to invite such speakers to MSU as Nick Griffin, head of the racist and a long-time Holocaust denier. All of this was bad enough on its own. Truly appalling, however, were the accolades Bristow received from mainstream politicians including Michigan GOP boss Saul Anuzis, who, shortly after the Southern Poverty Law Center named MSU-YAF a hate group, had this to say: 鈥淭his [Bristow] is exactly the kind of young kid we want out there.鈥 Good call, Saul!
4. Unlikeliest White Supremacist Award
Our old nemesis, H.K. Edgerton, of Montgomery, Ala., back in November, and it reminded all of us just how nutty he really is. Edgerton, faithful readers of the Intelligence Report , is a lonely black man in the overwhelmingly white 鈥 and white supremacist 鈥 neo-Confederate movement. As he made clear in an interview with Hatewatch, H.K. hasn鈥檛 dropped any of his strange ideas about slavery, the Civil War, the Ku Klux Klan and related topics. A sampling: Before the slaves were freed, 鈥淏lack folks and white folks were family. 鈥hite people and slaves saw each other on the streets and they tipped their hats to each other.鈥 Slaves 鈥渨ere given a new pair of pants and a new pair of shoes every day鈥 and 鈥渉ad the same medical facilities that the white man had.鈥 The Klan was 鈥渏ust protecting the people 鈥 all the people, black and white.鈥 If you really believe that, H.K., we suggest you skip straight down this list to award No. 1 and join up.
3. Weakest Relationship With Reality Award
The Southern Poverty Law Center last year engaged in a sort of epic battle with Lou Dobbs, the CNN host who has probably done more to defame immigrants than any other public figure in contemporary America. The struggle was epitomized by a debate over Dobbs鈥 claim that the United States had experienced a surge of 7,000 new cases of leprosy in a recent three-year period, due at least in part to immigrants. In a seemingly endless series of debates, interviews and on his own show, Dobbs stuck to his guns, despite crystal-clear government statistics that pegged the number of new cases for the years in question at 398. The was dramatized best in a comment Dobbs made to Lesley Stahl of CBS鈥 鈥60 Minutes,鈥 which first pointed out Dobbs鈥 error in a profile of the broadcaster that aired last May. Said Dobbs: 鈥淚f we reported it, it鈥檚 a fact.鈥 Stahl asked how Dobbs could guarantee that. 鈥淏ecause I鈥檓 the managing editor, and that鈥檚 how we do business.鈥 Ah, NOW we understand.
2. Creepiest Psychotherapist Award
Richard Cohen won this one by acclamation, but it didn鈥檛 become official until we convinced our own CEO 鈥 鈥 that we weren鈥檛 talking about him. The Cohen in question describes himself as 鈥渆x-gay鈥 and conducts controversial that involves men striving to rid themselves of their homosexuality cradling and rocking other men in their arms. This technique was demonstrated by the licensed psychotherapist on Paula Zahn鈥檚 CNN show, an appearance that also included Cohen鈥檚 excited demonstration of 鈥渂ioenergetics,鈥 which involves beating on chairs with tennis rackets while shouting, 鈥淢om, why did you do this to me?鈥 The CNN appearance was almost universally described as a disaster, and Cohen鈥檚 name promptly disappeared from several 鈥渆x-gay鈥 websites.
1. Most Surprising 鈥楬ate鈥 Group Award
For the better part of 142 years, the Ku Klux Klan has been the most infamous racist group in America, leading a campaign of terror that involved murders, lynchings, rapes, castrations, bombings, church arsons, and any number of other horrors. But now comes the Alabama Christian Klan, 鈥淭he Voice of the New Civil Rights Era,鈥 with a that currently features an approving photo of Birmingham鈥檚 black mayor and a banner announcing an upcoming Klan rally in rather unusual (for the Klan) terms: 鈥淏irmingham At a Crossroads: Can We Come Together?鈥 This is followed by the announcement of a 鈥渄iligent campaign鈥 to get other Klan groups to abandon their racism and shun any 鈥渁cts of disrespect to any community.鈥 The man behind the group, Trussville, Ala., resident , already has for the decision by another Klan group to cancel a rally last November, saying in an E-mail to Hatewatch that he considered this 鈥渁 victory for the Christian residence [sic] of Alabama.鈥 Way to go, Ken!
And with that, we wrap up the year here at Hatewatch. We鈥檒l be taking the next two weeks off, but you can expect to see us again the week of Jan. 7, followed by a whole year of lively posts skewering the American radical right. Stick around long enough, and it鈥檒l be time for the Hatewatch 2nd Annual Year-End Smackdown Awards 鈥 an event we鈥檒l soon start storing up goodies for. In the meantime, happy holidays!
