With the Obama administration floating trial balloons in the New York Times on immigration reform, it doesn't take a clairvoyant to foresee nativists, white supremacists and other elements of the far right seething with reactionary rage. The lot of 'em have invested far too much time and energy whipping up hate against Hispanics to go quietly into the night should anything come of such policy maneuverings.
So it doesn't surprise me when I see signs of an apparent uptick in neo-Nazi activity locally. Recently, the neo-Nazi hate site Stormfront.org featured a thread detailing the distribution of racist fliers locally. And there have been other threads openly discussing plans to recruit new blood to their ranks from these Tax Day Tea Parties that conservatives are throwing around the country.
Regarding the fliers, some are already making the rounds. They were first mentioned in a post to Stormfront on April 9, where forum member "Hail C18" (a reference to the British neo-Nazi group Combat 18) disclosed that the "Arizona chapter" of the National Socialist Movement had 2,000 racist handbills ready to go.
"The NSM Arizona plans to distribute these fliers sometime very soon this week," wrote Hail C18, who on his own may be all of the "Arizona chapter," as far as I can tell. "Keep a watchful eye out on the local/national news."
National news? In your dreams, bubba. I am getting reports of people receiving this garbage, though I have yet to confirm the areas of Phoenix that are being hit. As for the propaganda itself, even some of Hail C18's fellow swastika-lickers got on him about misspellings, specifically the word "methamphetamine." (See the complete handbill, here.)
"Illegal Immigrants want: Your jobs, your money, your country," states the flier. "We spend $283.7 billion per year on services for illegal immigrants. Mexican filth are [sic] bankrupting our country. Mexico imports [sic]: Marijuana, methamphetames [sic], heroin, cocaine."
And here I thought meth was the neo-Nazi drug of choice. Or maybe they just want to buy American, and avoid the cheap Mexican knock-off. As for the "$283.7 billion" figure, what a crock. Next, they'll be arguing that the brown people cost us three hundred billion-trillion-gazillion-quadrillion simoleons. To the tenth power. Yeah.
These Tea-Tax Parties are anti-stimulus, anti-Obama, anti-tax, Glenn Beck-ish sort of happenings, designed to appeal to a broad spectrum of conservatards. Local conservanut talk radio station KFYI 550 AM is sponsoring one this Wednesday April 15 at the state capitol from 5:30 to 7 p.m. (Also brought to you by Gallagher's Sports Grill. No, really.)
The Phoenix hootenanny is scheduled to feature neo-Nazi hugger and Arizona state Senator Russell "Don't mind the rock between my ears" Pearce, and KFYI lip-flapper and former Congressman J.D. Hayworth, the Huckleberry Hound of the Phoenix Falange. As a result, this wing-ding will be drawing every hillbilly wackjob with missing teeth in the Valley. That's to be expected, but the presence of local stormtroopers seeking converts in the crowd adds a piquant spice to this already funky melange.
"I think every [White Nationalist] needs to not only attend the April 15th Tea Party nearest you," writes one online boot boy, "but then stay involved and help provide leadership to this movement."
He continues, stating, "I believe that this is the white revolution we've been waiting for. It doesn't look what we expected but this is it...For the first time, white people (a.k.a. the lemmings) are finally awake and taking to the streets...Right now the movement is about taxes . . . but with leadership and guidance we can help turn this movement into a lot more.
"So turn off the computer. Take off the red laces and fold your jeans over your Doc Martins [sic]. Hang the storm trooper uniform in the closet. Take off the robe. Reverently fold your Confederate flag and put it away for now. Become one of them. Join the marches and help organize future events in your neighborhood. Go slow . . . don't hit people with WN philosophy all at once."
The threads about recruiting at tax parties include comments from members across the country (including Arizona) promising their attendance. True, it's hard to go from hating high taxes to curbing black men in a single diatribe. That said, if the Hitler-worshippers recruit a fraction of a percentage at these shindigs, they'd be happier than a skinhead on meth...
