Neo-Nazis Enlist in the U.S. Military, Aided by Relaxed Requirements Due to Sagging Recruitment, Reenlistment Numbers

I was horrified to read on Salon that neo-Nazis are allowed to join our military. The Army has regulations that specifically prohibit soldiers from participating in racist groups, and recruiters are instructed to keep an eye out for suspicious tattoos. Before signing off on the forms, enlistees are required to explain any tattoos. But it seems like this was deliberately ignored by one recruitment office. According to Salon, at a Tampa recruitment office, Iraq War veteran Forrest Fogarty didn't have a problem enlisting, he just sailed right through the signup process. "They just told me to write an explanation of each tattoo, and I made up some stuff, and that was that," he says and soon he was posted to Fort Stewart in Georgia, where he became part of the 3rd Infantry Division. He was sent to Iraq for two years. He reportedly served in the military police, escorting officers, including generals around the country. Here's the kicker, he was granted top-secret clearance and access to battle plans. Of course, this tour of duty didn't change him one bit. It increased his racist resolve.

Fogarty speaks with regret that he "never had any kill counts." But he says his time in Iraq increased his racist resolve. "I hate Arabs more than anybody, for the simple fact I've served over there and seen how they live," he tells me. "They're just a backward people. Them and the Jews are just disgusting people as far as I'm concerned. Their customs, everything to do with the Middle East, is just repugnant to me."

Because of his tattoos and his racist comments, most of his buddies and his commanding officers were aware of his Nazism. "They all knew in my unit," he says. "They would always kid around and say, 'Hey, you're that skinhead!'" But no one sounded an alarm to higher-ups. "I would volunteer for all the hardest missions, and they were like, 'Let Fogarty go.' They didn't want to get rid of me." Source: Salon

It seems that the U.S. military has relaxed its rules since the launch of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, because it has struggled with recruitment and reenlistment of troops. The military has issued "moral waivers" in many cases, even allowing those with criminal records to join up. I wonder who they thought they would attract with the relaxed rules. Funny, they may have opened a Pandora's box. You see, this has opened the doors to neo-Nazis, white supremacists and gang members, all with potentially drastic consequences. Some of these very same neo-Nazis have been charged with crimes inside the military, and others have been linked to recruitment efforts for the white right. The right wing scoffed at a recent Department of Homeland Security report, "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment," all the while ignoring the fact that this vile brand of extremism is on the rise, emboldened by people like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Mike Savage, Ann Coulter, Pat Buchanan and many others.

Many white supremacists join the Army to secure training for, as they see it, a future domestic race war. Others claim to be shooting Iraqis not to pursue the military's strategic goals but because killing "hajjis" is their duty as white militants.

Following an investigation of white supremacist groups, a 2008 FBI report declared: "Military experience — ranging from failure at basic training to success in special operations forces — is found throughout the white supremacist extremist movement." In white supremacist incidents from 2001 to 2008, the FBI identified 203 veterans. Most of them were associated with the National Alliance and the National Socialist Movement, which promote anti-Semitism and the overthrow of the U.S. government, and assorted skinhead groups. Source: Salon

This is very troubling, indeed, and something drastic needs to be done and quickly. The education of recruiters about how to identify extremists seems to have fallen by the wayside, as well. How else do you explain all these neo-Nazis and white supremacists passing the initial process with flying colors. These are the things the U.S. Congress and all the right-wing loudmouths need to talk about. It is unconscionable that we could have such extremism in the military, of all places.

I would encourage each of my readers to read the entire article.

Photo credit: Iraq veteran Forrest Fogarty, Matt Kennard

Glenn Beck Says White Supremacist James von Brunn, Holocaust Museum Shooter, a Left-Wing Nut

Fox News' Glenn Beck, moron extraordinaire, said that James von Brunn is a left-wing nutcase. Wow, really Glenn? Why Fox News pays this idiot so much money to utter such obvious mistruths is amazing. Here's a link to the video from "Crooks and Liars." Never mind the fact that he continues to spew an extremist ideology from his show on a daily basis. I never thought for a minute that I would see, in my lifetime, white supremacy rearing its ugly head in such public places and with such effrontery. These people have become emboldened, not by the policies of President Obama, but because the right-wing is fanning the flames and fomenting this anger. It's amazing that the Republicans don't want the prisoners from Guantanamo Bay to be housed in U.S. prisons, but we have been confronting home-grown terrorists in growing numbers today. What are you going to do James von Brunn? Send him to another country to be imprisoned? Isn't he as much of a threat to America as one of these terrorists being housed at Gitmo?

Here are Glenn Beck's comments yesterday as excerpted from "Crooks and Liars:"

Beck: This guy is a lone gunman nutjob. ... You're going to see a lot of nutjobs coming out of the woodwork now. There are two very important things that are happening here. First one: It's what I talked about two years ago, um, when I talked about the "Perfect Storm" -- I said that there is a storm formulating. And it is the economy, it is political correctness, it's corruption in Washington, it's militant Islam. It's all of these things.

I said when it comes onshore, there's going to be a "go go go" mentality. And that's what this is. There is a mentality in our enemies. Our country is now vulnerable. Those people who would like to destroy us -- our enemies like, uh, Al Qaeda. There are also enemies like white supremacists or 9/11 Truthers who would also like to destroy the country. They'll work with anybody they can.

... We are under attack in almost every shape and form in America. We need to look out for enemies foreign and domestic.

Second: There is gonna be a witchhunt, I believe, in this country, and quite possibly all around the world. For two groups. First group: Jews. It happens every time. Second group: I think, Conservatives.

... Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security reports about right-wing extremists. You remember that came out a few weeks ago? Left-wing bloggers and some in the media have blamed conservative hosts like me or Bill O'Reilly for just stirring the pot! I'm not stirring the pot. I'm pointing out the pot is boiling and there is trouble in America. Since when -- have you ever heard of 'don't blame the messenger'?

This is not the work of right-wing conservatives. This is the work of someone today who is racist, crazy, or most likely, both. Common sense tells you that there are very hateful people on the Right and the Left. Source: Crooks and Liars

It is quite obvious that this lunatic was extremely far right. I think that the right-wing fanatics, including Michelle Malkin, should accept the driftwood that shares many of the same views as they do. Take a look at his record:

Von Brunn has a long history of associations with prominent neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers. In the 1980s or early 1990s, von Brunn was employed by Noontide Press, a part of the Holocaust denying Institute of Historical Review, which was then run by Willis Carto, one of America’s most prominent anti-Semites.

Von Brunn is the author of the 1999 book, “Kill the Best Gentiles,” a racist and anti-Semitic tome that argues that whites are seeing “today on the world stage a tragedy of enormous proportions: the calculated destruction of the White Race and the incomparable culture it represents. Europe, former fortress of the West, is now over-run by hordes of non-Whites and mongrels.” A raging anti-Semite, von Brunn blames “The Jews” for the destruction of the West. The book is dedicated to prominent neo-Nazis and racists including Revilo Oliver and Wilmot Robertson.

In 2003, AP reported that von Brunn had painted a portrait of Rear Adm. John Crommelin, a raging anti-Semite who was a close associate of neo-Nazi William Pierce, whose book The Turner Diaries inspired Timothy McVeigh’s bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building. Source: Crooks and Liars

The Rethuglicans need to accept the fact that they are inspiring this movement towards home-grown terrorism. When you have the head of News Corp., Rupert Murdoch, saying that President Obama is a dangerous man, what do you expect a right wing nut to say? Don't forget Minnesota's Michelle Bachmann's incendiary comments about the president. What else do you honestly expect to happen? So, Glenn Beck, get your facts right, this raging lunatic isn't left wing. This POS is all yours.

Neo-Nazi and Hate Blogger Harold "Hal" Turner, Arrested on Fugitive Warrant for Threatening to Incite Violence Against Three Connecticut Lawmakers

Reena Rose Sibayan/The Jersey Journal
Hate blogger Harold "Hal" Turner nervously passes his hand
over his mouth when he appeared in a Jersey City courtroom

Harold "Hal" Turner, a neo-Nazi and "friend" of Sean Hannity, has gotten himself in a heap of trouble. He appeared in court on Friday for the first time since he was arrested last Wednesday for threatening that several lawmakers in Connecticut should be shot. Turner is on a closed circuit feed beamed in to the Hudson County (NJ) Courthouse from the Hudson County Jail. This picture is quite comical because if the truth be told, he should have covered his mouth a long time ago. His lawyer, Michael A. Orozco, vowed to fight extradition for this nutjob. Really? Such requests are rarely successful, so Hal Turner had better be ready for the "mother of all fights."

Turner was arrested Wednesday by North Bergen police on a fugitive from justice warrant based on the Connecticut charge of inciting injury. Officials say that while championing a lawsuit filed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., Turner used his blog to incite violence against three Connecticut officials.

The three officials Turner laced into on his blog are Connecticut state Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford, and state Rep. Michael Lawlor, D-East Haven, co-chairmen of the Judiciary Committee, and Thomas Jones, enforcement officer for the Office of State Ethics.

On his blog, Turner wrote: "It is our intent to foment direct action against these individuals personally. These beastly government officials should be made an example of as a warning to others in government: Obey the Constitution or die.

If any state attorney, police department or court thinks they're going to get uppity with us about this; I suspect we have enough bullets to put them down too," he added. Source: NJ.com

There's a big difference between freedom of speech and terroristic threats, which this amounts to. He can fight the extradition all he wants, those requests are rarely successful. He should put his money where his mouth is and face the music. Let's see if the Roman Catholic Church will come to his rescue. Hah! This picture is priceless.