The Last Word: Hatewatch鈥檚 3rd Annual Smackdown Awards
It鈥檚 that time of the year again, and Hatewatch鈥檚 intrepid staff is just now climbing out of the protective moonsuits needed to trawl through the year鈥檚 worst from the filth-spewing hate-mongers and fellow travelers who populate the radical right in America. Once more, we鈥檝e done our best to go beyond the merely off-putting or revolting 鈥 the workaday nastiness that regular readers of Hatewatch already know so well 鈥 in search of the truly grotesque lowlights of the last year. While it hasn鈥檛 been easy getting here, the Hatewatch 3rd Annual Smackdown Awards Committee (earlier editions are and ) is pleased to officially unveil its annual year-end countdown of the worst of 2009.
10. Schlockiest Neo-Nazi 鈥楢rt鈥 Award
It鈥檚 not like we didn鈥檛 know that former Klan chieftain , an egomaniac who rips off his followers and chases their womenfolk whenever he isn鈥檛 busy getting plastic surgery in hopes of taking in even more people. We knew all about his neo-Nazi pronouncements on 鈥淛ewish supremacist power,鈥 his description of AIDS as 鈥渢he only disease that turns fruits into vegetables,鈥 and his opinion that black people (not the word Duke used) 鈥渁re primitive animals.鈥 But we were grievously undereducated on one key point 鈥 it that 鈥淒r.鈥 Duke (the Ph.D. comes from a ) 鈥渉as a wonderful photographic and artistic ability.鈥 That is, at least, if you鈥檙e into picture postcard-type schlock photos of places like Moscow and Salzburg, Austria (both meccas for white people, apparently), snapped by the big man himself and then retouched 鈥渢o make a truly beautiful photo-artwork that will captivate and inspire you,鈥 in the words of Duke鈥檚 pitch. The cost to collectors for prints signed by the Dukester? Just $99 a pop, or six for $500.聽 Long live bad art for white people!
9. Whiniest Mass Murderer Award
Terry Nichols always was a complainer. Well, yes, build a bomb that left 168 people, including 19 small children, dead in the 1995 attack on the Oklahoma City federal building 鈥 but he really wasn鈥檛 all that into the bombing, he didn鈥檛 actually accompany McVeigh that day, and he only helped out because his old Army pal just wouldn鈥檛 quit hassling him. He and rob weapons from a gun dealer to finance it, but, hey, he was just trying to be agreeable and not cause a stir. Now comes Nichols, a man who failed in his Army career, his marriages and just about everything else, to tell a court that the food he鈥檚 fed in Supermax, where he鈥檚 serving a life sentence on 161 counts of premeditated murder, is constipating him. And he . From now on, he insisted after a cringe-inducing description of his problematic bowel movements, he requires a high-fiber daily diet of whole grains, fresh vegetables and fruit (oh, and $4.5 million for his suffering, too). But a federal judge 鈥 apparently a pawn not only of the evil government but also of the evil refined food industry 鈥 disagreed, noting that Nichols faces no immediate danger and, anyway, only objected to white bread after four years of eating it.
8. Most Intrepid Researcher Award
This category had a crowded field of contenders 鈥 especially among the host of that claim homosexuals routinely rape children, 鈥渞ecruit鈥 in schools, and push a hate crimes law that they say will result in pastors being sent to prison 鈥 but in the end all votes went to Ann Coulter. Sure, we all knew that Coulter had called Al Gore a 鈥渢otal f--,鈥 labeled Muslims 鈥渞-------鈥 and said that Americans should 鈥渒ill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.鈥 But Coulter in her latest bestselling hissy fit, Guilty: Liberal 鈥淰ictims鈥 and Their Assault on America, where she reported the results of her research into the (CCC). Most of us knew the CCC as a group that has written that blacks are 鈥渁 retrograde species of humanity,鈥 run photographic comparisons of pop singer Michael Jackson and a chimpanzee, and whined about 鈥淛ewish power brokers鈥 and 鈥減erverted sodomites.鈥 Gosh, they even say right in their 鈥淪tatement of Principles鈥 that they 鈥渙ppose all efforts to mix the races of mankind.鈥 But Intrepid Annie , revealing that despite its bad rep, the CCC has been defamed and is merely 鈥渁 conservative group.鈥
7. Most Laid-Back Nuthouse Award
Time was, was the 鈥渕onetary architect鈥 of the radical right, the guy that actually did something about the much-denounced Federal Reserve 鈥 extremists commonly the reserve is a private corporation that operates to bring profits to a cabal of international bankers 鈥 by forming a group called the (NORFED). NORFED produced and sold an alternative currency (鈥淟iberty dollars鈥) used by at least a handful of extremists, and von Nothaus (yes, that鈥檚 really his name) never tired to claiming that his silver-backed coin was far more stable that U.S. dollars. But in 2007, federal agents raided the group鈥檚 Indiana warehouse, seizing tons of silver and copper coins, and last spring he was indicted for illegally competing with real U.S. currency. By that time, however, von Nothaus was already into a , becoming the 鈥渉igh priest,鈥 in his mellow words, of the Free Marijuana Church of Honolulu, where members smoke pot before retiring to a meditation room in 鈥渟erene bliss.鈥 The church鈥檚 website lists no address, however, and at press time no members could be found who actually remembered where it was located.
6. Most Clueless Professor Award
We鈥檝e never agreed much with Carol Swain, a black political science professor at Vanderbilt University and member of the National Council of Humanities , in essence, that America doesn鈥檛 need to reject white nationalists 鈥 it needs to start talking to them, and taking their ideas seriously. Hatewatch staff didn鈥檛 send Swain any roses, either, when she landed a paid gig as a commentator on CNN鈥檚 wretched 鈥淟ou Dobbs Tonight,鈥 hosted by a man who regularly issued defamatory falsehoods about Latino immigrants, and who was much admired by Swain. But even so, we were surprised to hear the good professor鈥檚 ringing endorsement of a by one Craig Bodeker, claiming the concept of racism was not real and is merely used to intimidate whites, as 鈥渙utstanding鈥 and 鈥渕eticulously done.鈥 And that surprise turned to amazement when it turned out that Swain鈥檚 much-lauded filmmaker on YouTube and a number of other websites, repeatedly describing blacks as 鈥渕onkeys鈥 and black men in particular as 鈥淓VIL monkeys [who] are DESTROYING鈥 America, and even suggesting that a black former White House adviser be lynched, 鈥淸p]ossibly with the aid of a noose.鈥 Told of all this, Swain continued to heartily recommend the film, with its 鈥減oignant鈥 scenes, to 鈥渕ulticultural forums across the country.鈥 Now, that鈥檚 tolerance!
5. Most Malignant Moms Award
Law enforcement officials in carried out a major sweep of members of the racist Inland Empire Skinheads group last spring, arresting members for conspiracy to commit murder, illegal weapons possession, armed robbery, witness intimidation, and dealing methamphetamine, among other things. They seized swastika banners, framed photographs of Hitler, firearms, brass knuckles and an album of photos showing bloodied gang members after fights. But despite it all, this was a family-oriented group, no matter what certain unkind critics said. They might not be your family values, but who can question the who, on the day of the sweep 鈥 April 20 鈥 induced labor to ensure that their babies would be born on Hitler鈥檚 120th birthday? You go, girls!
4. Left Meets Right And Then Some Award
Back in 2008, discussion group on the campus of the University of Oregon, it was a tale of a left-wing organization that began to indulge in open anti-Semitism as it became increasingly critical of Israel and its treatment of the Palestinians. Even then, the forum started in 1994 by pacifist professor Orval Etter had become a remarkable example of left meeting right, with a growing parade of Holocaust deniers and other anti-Semites featured as speakers. Etter and others in the group angrily defended themselves and attacked the Southern Poverty Law Center, saying that the forum was merely exercising free speech and inviting all points of view to be heard. , when a talk called 鈥淭he National Socialist Movement: An Inside View of America鈥檚 Far Right鈥 degenerated into a virtual neo-Nazi rally. When speaker and long-time forum participant Jimmy Marr invited his listeners to join him in the straight-arm Nazi salute, five people did. 鈥淪ieg heil!鈥 they shouted. 鈥淪ieg heil! SIEG HEIL!鈥 鈥淵ou鈥檙e goddamn right I object to the Jews,鈥 Marr noted. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e traitors!鈥 Still, forum enthusiasts didn鈥檛 have much to complain about 鈥 school officials say they will continue to rent space to such groups without screening them for ideology.
3. Most Disingenuous Debunking Award
FOX News鈥 has long been a loathsome character given to lies, half-lies and baseless but vitriolic . (President Obama is a 鈥渞acist鈥 with 鈥渁 deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture,鈥 and also 鈥渕ay be a full-fledged Marxist鈥; his 2008 win was a coup carried out 鈥渢hrough the guise of an election鈥; a left-wing 鈥渢hugocracy鈥 is planning to kill Beck; and so on.) But Beck also engages in a particularly bizarre form of propagandizing 鈥 by supposedly taking them on to 鈥渄ebunk鈥 them. This was seen most clearly in his airing of a core conspiracy theory of the 1990s militia movement, the idea that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is building a set of concentration camps into which the 鈥淣ew World Order鈥 will soon herd good American patriots. After ranting last spring about being in a country 鈥渢hat is headed for socialism,鈥 Beck said he 鈥渨anted to debunk鈥 the theory but was unable to. In all, Beck detailed the conspiracy over the course of three shows before finally concluding 鈥 like some chin-stroking intellectual announcing after careful study that, indeed, the world is not flat but spherical 鈥 that it was false. Wow! That's smart, Glenn. Thanks for the deep thinking!
2. Least-Missed Old Friend Award
There was a time when we used to speak occasionally to the aforementioned Lou Dobbs, whose long-time CNN show became a forum for and about them 鈥 you know, warning him about hate group leaders he was about to put on, false conspiracy theories he was promoting, . And . But that all ended some years ago, when Dobbs, taking a page from Glenn Beck, began calling us 鈥渇ascists鈥 and 鈥渃ommies鈥 and that sort of thing on the air. Even after we called him out for his 100% false but oft-repeated claim that there had been an immigrant-fueled surge of leprosy in recent years, the battle for truth on the airwaves seemed to have stalled. But last summer, Dobbs apparently crossed the Rubicon when he called on President Obama to prove that he was born in the United States, seeming to take up with the so-called birthers and their racist conspiracy theory. That prompted our own Richard Cohen CNN President Jonathan Klein, saying 鈥渞espectable news organizations should not employ reporters willing to peddle racist conspiracy theories and false propaganda.鈥 A flood of other human rights organizations soon joined in and, in November, Dobbs unexpectedly announced he was leaving CNN for parts unknown (both FOX and CNBC denied they were talking). Cost to silence the tendentious Dobbs? A reported $8 million. But it was worth every penny!
1. Worst-Read Sheriff in America Award
Maricopa County (Ariz.) Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the man who famously forced jail inmates to wear pink underwear, built a dangerously overcrowded and hot 鈥渢ent city鈥 instead of a real prison, and attracted more than 2,150 lawsuits totaling more than $50 million in claims, calls himself 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Toughest Sheriff.鈥 The New York Times editorial board, Arpaio is a 鈥済enuine public menace with a long and well-documented trail of , unjustified arrests, racial profiling, brutal and inept policing and wasteful spending,鈥 calls him 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Worst Sheriff.鈥 Regardless, according to an illuminating new blog post from Phoenix New Times鈥 Stephen Lemons, he is certainly the worst read. In a deposition taken in a racial profiling lawsuit in federal court, Arpaio said he had never read the complaint, didn鈥檛 know the 14th Amendment (equal protection under the law), and had never read federal guidelines on the use of race in investigations. He also claimed that he had not 鈥渢otally鈥 read Joe鈥檚 Law, the 2008 book he co-authored. Asked by plaintiff鈥檚 counsel if he saw illegal immigration as a 鈥渢hreat,鈥 the slippery sheriff said he didn鈥檛 call it a 鈥渢hreat on America per se鈥 鈥 this despite the fact that his book is subtitled 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Toughest Sheriff Takes on Illegal Immigration, Drugs and Everything Else That Threatens America.鈥 When the lawyer brought that up, Arpaio offered up this pearl: 鈥淓verybody doesn鈥檛 believe what you read in the books, right?鈥
And with that, we wrap up another year in exploring the dark and dank corners of the American radical right. It鈥檚 been quite a year 鈥 and seriously, folks, the growth of hate and other extreme-right groups has been deeply worrying 鈥 but we fully expect 2010 will produce another bumper crops of nuts, fruits and vegetables. We鈥檒l be hard at work, collecting for next year鈥檚 edition of the Smackdown Awards. In the meantime, we wish all our readers a happy, productive and sane new year.