American Politics Journal -- Politics, hate Groups and te Bush Brothers



Home • Latest • Archive • Search

Guest Editorial
Politics, Hate Groups, and the Bush Brothers
by Carol Levy

Jan. 14, 1999 (AmpolNS) -- NEW ORLEANS -- There was a very interesting -- albeit long -- article in a local New Orleans paper, The Gambit, about Keith Akins, visiting Professor of Anthropology at University of North Florida. For his thesis, Akins decided not only to write about the Skinheads, but to become one in an attempt to (as he put it) "get [my] head where theirs were."

It was an interesting article, including details of how he took part in acts of violence including crossburnings, firing guns, harassing others -- all so he wouldn't blow his cover. He did say that he was with a group of Ku Klux Klan members when they had decided to visit a new local gay bar to "teach them a lesson." Akins said that he was able to talk them out of their plans to beat up a gay man, convincing them that it was too dangerous. So instead, they keyed the automobiles in the parking lot. He provided a description of how they go about their violence -- and how he proved the link between the Klan and the National Association for the Advancement of White People and militia groups.

But what really caught my eye in the article was his discovery that many University faculty and staff members, local law enforcement officers, and government officials were members of these various groups. One, Sue Lamb, was elected to a special school board commission on desegregation. She also happened to be with Pat Buchanan's '96 campaign -- until her membership in a racist organization drew national attention and she was forced to resign (I'm sure to the dismay of Buchanan).

But that's not the worst of it.

The other major fact Akins detailed in his article was that the one militia group began forming in Florida in 1994, and in two years it had grown to at least 72 members. Akins concluded that central and northeast Florida host the largest concentration of militia groups in the country.

All of this relates to the politics this election year.

Jeb Bush became Governor of Florida in 1998. According to the biography page of the Governor's web site:

"Bush moved to Miami Florida in 1980 to help form what became a highly successful real estate company. He became the chairman of the Dade County Republican Party in 1984, and in 1987 Governor Bob Martinez appointed him to head the state's commerce department. In 1994 Bush ran for governor against a popular incumbent, Lawton Chiles, losing by a small margin."

Now, compare that with this information from Texas Governor George W. Bush's official bio:

"He began his career in the oil and gas business in Midland in 1975 and worked in the energy industry until 1986. After working on his father's 1988 presidential campaign he assembled the group of partners that purchased the Texas Rangers baseball franchise in 1989 and which later built the Rangers' new home, the Ballpark at Arlington. He served as managing general partner of the Texas Rangers until he was elected Governor on November 8, 1994, with 53.5 percent of the vote."

So, Jeb moved to Florida in 1980. Florida has a large population of Hispanics. George Jr. officially starts working in Texas in 1975, another state with a large Hispanic population.

Now, what follows is purely speculative on my part: I am only looking at the dates and facts in front of me. Both brothers Bush move to two of the largest states with Hispanic populations -- which happen to be infested with extremist groups such as the KKK, militias and the NAAWP groups, a situation that makes for easy instigation for trouble. It's also easy to whip minorities and extremists into a frenzy, so ready to pounce on each other that they miss the bigger picture that both brothers are working for almost 20 years building up a power base in two states key to a Presidential run.

Whether Jeb is named as running mate or not, it still seems mighty convenient for Junior -- actually, for daddy Bush who wants to be President ex-facto and run the country from behind the curtain. Here we have two states with
building tensions between minorities and extremists and one other factor: the brothers Bush, who realized that the next minority to be a major factor in society and politics was the Hispanic community and had spent the same amount of time building their power base.

Add to that the large influx of Hispanic immigrants over the last 20 years, and one can conclude that they predicted correctly on which minority group to target.

They just forgot one thing: in order to get any minority group to actually vote for you, you have to actively engage with them, not just set up photo ops for the press.

But then again, they figure that all minorities are too stupid to figure that out.

The Ampol Mailbag

From: Andrew Goodwin
Subject: Tim Russert & John Gregory Dunne

I don't know if you caught this tidbit from the Nov. 8, 1999 issue of the New Yorker. In a review of Cameron Crowe's book "Interviews with Wilder," the novelist John Gregory Dunne, who is also Joan Didion's husband, had this to say about NBC News' Chief Washington Correspondent:

"It is delicious to contemplate Wilder's gimlet eye on Chris Matthews or Geraldo Rivera or NBC's Tim Russert, each so flatulent with self-regard that if brushed by a zephyr he would break wind and call it a thought."