League of The South

Huckabee To Keynote Fundraiser For Personhood Mississippi

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Wednesday, 8/31/2011 12:40 pm

Mike Huckabee is scheduled to be the featured speaker at a fundraiser for Personhood Mississippi, the group running the campaign to pass Amendment 26, which would criminalize abortion with no exceptions by giving rights to zygotes. In addition to banning abortion, the personhood amendment would also make certain forms of birth control, in-vitro fertilization and the treatment of problem pregnancies a crime. The American Family Association, which is based in Mississippi, committed $100,000 to fund the effort to pass Amendment 26 in November.

By supporting Amendment 26, Huckabee places himself even to the right of the National Right to Life Committee, which refused to back Colorado’s failed personhood amendment because they thought it was counter-productive and likely to be struck down as unconstitutional.

Moreover, the founder and director of Personhood Mississippi is far-right extremist Les Riley. Riley used to be a featured blogger for the Christian separatist group Christian Exodus, until his posts were conspicuously removed from the group’s site. But luckily, he left a paper trail:

According to Christian Exodus’s mission statement, “The initial goal was to move thousands of Christian constitutionalists to South Carolina to accelerate the return to self-government based upon Christian principles at the local and State level. This project continues to this day, with the ultimate goal of forming an independent Christian nation that will survive after the decline and fall of the financially and morally bankrupt American empire.”

The group, which is closely tied to the neo-confederate League of the South, attempted to set up an independent, theocratic state in South Carolina by 2016 but has since moved on to creating theocratic settlements in Panama and Idaho.

Riley is also chairman of the Constitution Party of Mississippi and stated that its goal is to “restore American government to its Constiutional [sic] limits and American jurisprudence to its Biblical presuppositions.” According to their platform, “The U.S. Constitution established a Republic rooted in Biblical law.”

But for Huckabee, it seems no activist is too radical to work with.

Leading Republicans Embrace Personhood Amendment and “Christian Exodus,” Separatist Advocate

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Tuesday, 1/4/2011 4:42 pm

Last week Right Wing Watch reported on the success of anti-choice activists to place a “Personhood Amendment” on Mississippi’s 2011 ballot to coincide with the gubernatorial election. The radical group Personhood USA hopes to use the so-called “Personhood Amendments” to criminalize abortion, common forms of birth control, stem cell research, and even in-vitro fertilization, by giving legal rights to fetuses and embryos.

Major anti-choice organizations including the National Right to Life Committee have generally shied away from “Personhood Amendments” due to the extreme nature of the measure and the fringe Personhood USA. Colorado voters rejected three different Amendments from Personhood Colorado by wide margins, with the 2010 measure failing with less than 30% of the vote.

Activists in Mississippi, however, have made great headway in receiving support from the Religious Right and the GOP. Leading Religious Right groups and Republican politicians, including the American Family Association (AFA), Liberty Counsel, and Congressman-Elect Alan Nunnelee, have backed Personhood Mississippi’s efforts. Mississippi’s Republican Lt. Governor and gubernatorial candidate Phil Bryant has embraced the Personhood Initiative as well. Bryant, when announcing his bid for governor on the AFA’s radio program, claimed that “one of my goals in public life is to end abortion in Mississippi, so we’re going to work really hard on that.” A vocal and ardent supporter of the “Personhood Amendment,” Bryant called the initiative “another way of trying to stop abortion in Mississippi and simply allow once and for all the opportunity for the people to say we want to do that and we feel so strongly about it that we want to add it to our Constitution.”

Today, Personhood Mississippi (the state affiliate of Personhood USA) will be hosting a rally in Jackson to celebrate the measure’s inclusion on the 2011 ballot, and Bryant is scheduled to speak at the event.

But who is behind Personhood Mississippi and the Personhood Amendment’s sponsor?

The head of Personhood Mississippi is right wing activist Les Riley, a featured blogger of the group Christian Exodus, which has “goal of forming an independent Christian nation that will survive after the decline and fall of the financially and morally bankrupt American empire.”

Christian Exodus had attempted to move thousands of supporters to South Carolina in order to “form a biblically inspired government and secede from the United States,” and also has close ties to the separatist and Neo-Confederate League of the South. Christian Exodus also is encouraging adherents to move to Panama and Idaho in order to build theocratic settlements.

Lt. Governor Bryant said he wanted to “personally thank Les Riley” for his work, and Les Riley told AFA Radio that Mississippi’s Personhood Amendment is “the biggest news in the pro-life movement in twenty years” because it will not only eradicate reproductive rights in Mississippi but also set up a challenge to Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court.

As the “Personhood Amendment” movement finds more allies and greater support in the Religious Right and Republican Party, its extremist leaders and radical beliefs have not changed.

Neo-Confederate Radical Catches GOP Wave, Elected to Arkansas State House

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Tuesday, 11/16/2010 5:09 pm

As the Republican Party lurches farther to the right and comes to the successful conclusion of its Southern Strategy, even the party’s most radical candidates can win elections. In an open Democratic seat in Arkansas, where Republicans made significant gains in the election, Republican candidate Loy Mauch defeated his Democratic opponent. According to the Arkansas Times, State Representative-elect Mauch is a staunch Neo-Confederate who is “a current member of The League of the South,” a white supremacist group, and an avowed opponent of Abraham Lincoln and his legacy. He describes the Confederate Battle Flag as “a symbol of Jesus Christ” and “Biblical government,” and an affiliate of the Sons of Confederate Veterans he led presented a speech entitled “Homage to John Wilkes Booth.” David Koon of the Arkansas Times writes:

For seven years, Mauch was the commander of James M. Keller Camp 648 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. He stepped down as commander last year. In 2004, angered by the city of Hot Springs' refusal to remove a statue of Abraham Lincoln displayed in the Hot Springs Civic and Convention Center, the Keller Camp hosted a conference in Hot Springs called "Seminar on Abraham Lincoln — Truth vs. Myth," with a keynote address called "Homage to John Wilkes Booth."

Mauch said that he believes Lincoln didn't follow the Constitution. Of the statue of Lincoln in the convention center, Mauch said: "I didn't think it had any place down in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He wasn't friendly to Arkansas. He didn't have anything to do with Arkansas. Nobody in Arkansas voted for him."

A prolific writer of letters to the editor (Garland County Democratic Party chair George Hozendorf said one of the only things he knew about Mauch was that he recalled a letter to the Hot Springs Sentinel-Record in which Mauch advocated for enlarging the controversial Confederate flag and Confederate soldier statue at the fork of Central and Ouachita Avenues), Mauch took pen in hand in 2008 during the controversy stirred up by Huntsville businessman James Vandiver's decision to respond to the election of Barack Obama by flying a Confederate battle flag in front of his motel.

"The government has lost its moral authority over God-fearing Americans," Mauch wrote to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "I wish more patriots like James Vandiver would take their stand for what the Confederate Battle Flag truly symbolizes."

When asked what the Confederate flag symbolizes, Mauch said: "It's a symbol of constitutional government. It's a symbol of Jesus Christ above all else. It's a symbol of Biblical government."

The Southern Poverty Law Center’s profiles of the League of The South, which calls for Whites to “establish a Christian theocratic state and politically dominate blacks and other minorities,” and the Sons of Confederate Veterans, which has ties to extremist groups such as the League and the Council of Conservative Citizens, reveal their radical underpinnings. The SPLC has documented the Southern Republican politicians who have ties to such racist groups, and Mauch appears to be the latest example of a politician who views the Southern Confederacy with nostalgia and praises its history with religious fervor and nationalistic devotion.

Roy Moore Acolyte Too Racist for WI Tea Party

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Friday, 4/9/2010 11:19 am

Yesterday, we noted how Harry Jackson was begging Tea Party activists to get a little more media savvy and work hard to salvage the movement's reputation in order to counter the growing impression that the movement is racist.

Would this count as a success or a failure, in that regard?

An Alabama attorney who has spoken to white supremacists who believe slavery is ordained by God withdrew Thursday from a planned appearance at a Wausau tea party rally next week after organizers questioned his views.

John Eidsmoe of Pike Road, Ala., was scheduled to speak at the April 15 event alongside Jefferson County Circuit Judge Randy Koschnick and others.

But Koschnick complained to the rally's organizer after being presented with information about Eidsmoe's background by The Associated Press. Wausau tea party organizer Meg Ellefson said Koschnick's concerns were legitimate and after she called Eidsmoe on Thursday, he offered to withdraw from the rally.

...

Eidsmoe has spoken before the League of the South, tagged by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group because it believes slavery was ordained by God. He's also spoken at meetings of the Council of Conservative Citizens, which opposes racial integration; has compared Michael Jackson to an ape, referred to blacks as "a retrograde species of humanity," and says America should "remain European in character," according to the SPLC.

"Eidsmoe doesn't just flirt with white supremacists, he regularly speaks to them," said SPLC research director Heidi Beirich.

I guess organizers deserve credit for dropping Eidsmoe from the event after they learned of his views ... which is more than can be said of, say, Roy Moore:

Eidsmoe, a colonel in an Alabama militia, is a former law school professor and one-time legal adviser to Roy Moore, the Alabama chief justice ejected from his post for defying federal court orders to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the Supreme Court rotunda. Eidsmoe works at the Foundation for Moral Law in Alabama, where Moore serves as president.

Neo-Confederate Behind Pro-Huckabee Flag Ads in South Carolina

Submitted by Anonymous on Friday, 1/18/2008 7:34 pm

As in 2000, a belated Civil War battle is being fought in this year’s Republican primary in South Carolina. But if advocates of flying the Confederate battle flag over the state capitol hope to convince people it’s unrelated to racism, they could hardly have a worse spokesman than Ron Wilson.

Ron WilsonWilson is the man behind the eloquently-named Americans for the Preservation of American Culture, which is running radio ads lambasting John McCain and Mitt Romney for their stances on the flag issue while praising Mike Huckabee. Huckabee—who recently expressed his enthusiasm for amending the U.S. Constitution to align with “God’s standards”—said this week that it was a states’ rights matter:

"In fact, if somebody came to Arkansas and told us what to do with our flag, we'd tell 'em what to do with the pole, that's what we'd do," Huckabee said.

According to Wilson, “This is close enough now that this issue is probably going to determine whether McCain wins or Huckabee." Huckabee may appreciate the attack ads on his behalf, but he might want to reconsider.

From the Southern Poverty Law Center:

Wilson is a former member of the League of the South and the Council of Conservative Citizens, both hate groups. His education expertise is limited to the business he ran out of his home selling textbooks to home-schoolers. One of these, Barbarians Inside the Gates, theorized that Jews are working towards world domination — and was specially touted by Wilson's Web site, which insisted, "You MUST READ THIS BOOK."

In his role heading the 32,000-member SCV [Sons of Confederate Veterans], Wilson was part of a takeover attempt by extremists, and led efforts to purge more than 300 members for publicly condemning racism in the SCV.

The SPLC reported in 2002 on the extremist takeover of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, as members hoping “to take the neo-Nazis, the white supremacists, and the skinheads and show them to the door” managed to defeat one white supremacist candidate for leadership in a raucous vote, only to have his close ally, Wilson, elected as a “stealth candidate.”

Look Away, Tancredo

Submitted by Anonymous on Wednesday, 9/13/2006 2:07 pm

“I wish I was in the land of cotton,” sang Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colorado), chairman of the House Immigration Reform Caucus, before a Confederate flag-waving audience. “Old times there are not forgotten, look away, look away, look away, Dixie land.”

Tancredo was in South Carolina to give his “standard immigration stump speech” at an event supposedly put together by the congressman’s own Americans Have Had Enough Coalition, reports the Rocky Mountain News. An invitation printed on the South Carolina League of the South web site reads:

Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-Colorado) will be our guest at the Visa Room of the SC State Museum at 11:00 AM, Saturday September 9th.    Barbecue will be furnished by Maurice Bessinger's Piggy Park.  The cost per plate will be approximately $20.00 with proceeds going to Congressman Tancredo's 501 (c) (4) organisation, "America has had enough".

As you are aware, Congressman Tancredo has led the fight against illegal immigration in Congress.  Join us at the State museum for two hours of vital information, fellowship, and good food.  The cost of the ticket will cover admission into the museum.

The League of the South (LOS), a self-described “Southern Nationalist organization whose ultimate goal is a free and independent Southern republic,” is listed as a racial hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The euphemism used by LOS in describing its first goal in its “Grand Strategy” as being to “revitalise our largely Anglo-Celtic culture” bears a resemblance to Tancredo’s warning that a Mexican “invasion” threatens America’s “civilization,” by which he was referring to (he said) Samuel Huntington’s ideal of “Anglo-Protestant values”  under attack from a “Hispanic challenge.”

Nevertheless, spokespeople for Tancredo and his Americans Have Had Enough Coalition denied that the South Carolina League of the South sponsored the event. As the News reports, Tancredo’s spokesman Carlos Espinosa instead “said Tancredo was aware that the audience included members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and Civil War re-enactors in Southern garb. When they began singing Dixie, Tancredo joined in, Espinosa said.” (The Sons of Confederate Veterans is also connected to the hate movement, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.)

Espinosa added that “Tom thought it would be rude not to take part.”

As the Southern Poverty Law Center notes, Tancredo's appearance is part of a five-day tour through South Carolina -- a key state for the 2008 Republican presidential primary.

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League of The South Posts Archive

Huckabee To Keynote Fundraiser For Personhood Mississippi
SUBMITTED BY: Brian Tashman, Wednesday 08/31/2011, 12:40pm
Mike Huckabee is scheduled to be the featured speaker at a fundraiser for Personhood Mississippi, the group running the campaign to pass Amendment 26, which would criminalize abortion with no exceptions by giving rights to zygotes. In addition to banning abortion, the personhood amendment would also make certain forms of birth control, in-vitro fertilization and the treatment of problem pregnancies a crime. The American Family Association, which is based in Mississippi, committed $100,000 to fund the effort to pass Amendment 26 in November. By supporting Amendment 26, Huckabee places himself... MORE >
Leading Republicans Embrace Personhood Amendment and “Christian Exodus,” Separatist Advocate
SUBMITTED BY: Brian Tashman, Tuesday 01/04/2011, 4:42pm
Last week Right Wing Watch reported on the success of anti-choice activists to place a “Personhood Amendment” on Mississippi’s 2011 ballot to coincide with the gubernatorial election. The radical group Personhood USA hopes to use the so-called “Personhood Amendments” to criminalize abortion, common forms of birth control, stem cell research, and even in-vitro fertilization, by giving legal rights to fetuses and embryos. Major anti-choice organizations including the National Right to Life Committee have generally shied away from “Personhood Amendments... MORE >
Neo-Confederate Radical Catches GOP Wave, Elected to Arkansas State House
SUBMITTED BY: Brian Tashman, Tuesday 11/16/2010, 5:09pm
As the Republican Party lurches farther to the right and comes to the successful conclusion of its Southern Strategy, even the party’s most radical candidates can win elections. In an open Democratic seat in Arkansas, where Republicans made significant gains in the election, Republican candidate Loy Mauch defeated his Democratic opponent. According to the Arkansas Times, State Representative-elect Mauch is a staunch Neo-Confederate who is “a current member of The League of the South,” a white supremacist group, and an avowed opponent of Abraham Lincoln and his legacy. He... MORE >
Roy Moore Acolyte Too Racist for WI Tea Party
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Friday 04/09/2010, 11:19am
Yesterday, we noted how Harry Jackson was begging Tea Party activists to get a little more media savvy and work hard to salvage the movement's reputation in order to counter the growing impression that the movement is racist. Would this count as a success or a failure, in that regard? An Alabama attorney who has spoken to white supremacists who believe slavery is ordained by God withdrew Thursday from a planned appearance at a Wausau tea party rally next week after organizers questioned his views. John Eidsmoe of Pike Road, Ala., was scheduled to speak at the April 15 event alongside... MORE >
Neo-Confederate Behind Pro-Huckabee Flag Ads in South Carolina
, Friday 01/18/2008, 7:34pm
As in 2000, a belated Civil War battle is being fought in this year’s Republican primary in South Carolina. But if advocates of flying the Confederate battle flag over the state capitol hope to convince people it’s unrelated to racism, they could hardly have a worse spokesman than Ron Wilson. Wilson is the man behind the eloquently-named Americans for the Preservation of American Culture, which is running radio ads lambasting John McCain and Mitt Romney for their stances on the flag issue while praising Mike Huckabee. Huckabee—who recently expressed his... MORE >
Look Away, Tancredo
, Wednesday 09/13/2006, 2:07pm
“I wish I was in the land of cotton,” sang Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colorado), chairman of the House Immigration Reform Caucus, before a Confederate flag-waving audience. “Old times there are not forgotten, look away, look away, look away, Dixie land.” Tancredo was in South Carolina to give his “standard immigration stump speech” at an event supposedly put together by the congressman’s own Americans Have Had Enough Coalition, reports the Rocky Mountain News. An invitation printed on the South Carolina League of the South web site reads... MORE >