Lost in all the noise about the bailout, and the will-he-or-won't-he-debate speculation about McCain was this ominious news item.
The Mississippi White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan will be among the crowd at Ole Miss for the Obama-McCain debate tonight.
The "emperor" of the white supremacist group, who insisted on anonymity, said that KKK members would be
invisible ... Our people won't be in regalia or demonstrating. So, I guess you'll just have to guess which of the people present are Klansmen.
First, this threat (and don't kid yourself, it is a threat) underscores the importance of tight security on and around campus.
Second, let's look under the hood(s). Which candidate do you think the Mississippi White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan supports? Obama? Or McCain? Do you plan to hold your breath waiting for Man of Honor John Sidney McCain III to disavow the support of this odious bunch?
Third, just whose Cross do you think these "Christians" are sieg-heiling and burning in these photos? Aren't these the same people who spread the false smear that Obama is a Muslim?
Finally, we must avoid the temptation to dismiss the KKK as a pathetic shadow of its former self. While most present-day bigots are more circumspect, the KKK has played an important and especially evil part in fairly recent Mississippi history. Our media has spent an inordinate amount of time dismissing Obama as incapable of garnering the bigot vote, captured in various unconvincing euphemisms. As the candidate of choice of bigots everywhere, John Sidney McCain III has a special obligation to explain and reject his appeal to this hateful and hate-filled demographic.
...The Klansmen won't be wearing robes or hoods or making "a big hoopla," says Imperial Wizard Richard Greene, 46, who refuses to divulge how many members the Mississippi chapter has. Nor will they take advantage of the designated protest zone outside the debate theater to stage one of their typical demonstrations - which include fiery speeches and a cross burning - for fear of causing riots. "We don't want anybody to get hurt," says Greene, who insists physical violence is no longer part of the Klan way of doing things. [...]The Klan will, however, have pamphlets and membership applications on hand for any audience members who happen to share the Klansmen's views. Some examples of those views: Obama's election "could be the destruction of America," says Greene, who states categorically that he would not vote for a black candidate. Adds the Emperor of the Mississippi White Nights (the group's ritual leader), who asked not to be identified: "Locally, every place that has come under black rule has declined, and has declined sharply." He cited Jackson, Mississippi, and Washington, D.C., as examples. "Not all black people are particularly bad people," the emperor adds. But leadership, he asserts, "is just not in their character...it's just not in their ability."
Wow. Just wow.