Alabama Politician Makes National News

[MDM4AU 336]

Democratic candidate for state AG Darby denies Holocaust occurred

JAY REEVES

Associated Press

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A Democratic candidate for attorney general denies the Holocaust occurred and said Friday he will speak this weekend to a "pro-white" organization that is widely viewed as being racist.

Larry Darby concedes his views are radical, but he said they should help him win wide support among Alabama voters as he tries to "reawaken white racial awareness" with his campaign against Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson.

The state Democratic chairman, Joe Turnham, said the party became aware of some of Darby's views only days ago and was considering what to do about his candidacy.

"Any type of hatred toward groups of people, especially for political gain, is completely unacceptable in the Alabama Democratic Party," said Turnham.

Speaking in an interview with The Associated Press, Darby said he believes no more than 140,000 Jewish people died in Europe during World War II, and most of them succumbed to typhus.

Historians say about 6 million Jews were slaughtered by the Nazis, but Darby said the figure is a false claim of the "Holocaust industry."

"I am what the propagandists call a Holocaust denier, but I do not deny mass deaths that included some Jews," Darby said. "There was no systematic extermination of Jews. There's no evidence of that at all."

Darby said he will speak Saturday near Newark, N.J., at a meeting of National Vanguard, which bills itself as an advocate for the white race. Some of his campaign materials are posted on the group's Internet site.

"It's time to stop pushing down the white man. We've been discriminated against too long," Darby said in the interview.

A poll published last month indicated the Democratic race for attorney general was up for grabs. The survey showed 21 percent favored Tyson to 12 percent for Darby, but 68 percent of respondents were undecided.

Darby, founder of the Atheist Law Center and a longtime supporter of separation of church and state, said he has no money for campaign advertising and has made only a few campaign speeches.

Tyson said aside from his views on race and the Holocaust, Darby also has publicly advocated legalizing drugs and shooting all illegal immigrants.

"I am astonished as anyone has ever been that anyone is running for public office in Alabama on that platform," said Tyson. "I do not take him as a serious candidate."

Turnham said the party began an investigation last week after hearing about some of Darby's comments in a television interview. While the party supports the free-speech rights of any candidate, Turnham said some of Darby's views appear to be in "a realm of thought that is unacceptable."

"We have Holocaust survivors and families of Holocaust survivors here in Alabama, and many of them are members of the Democratic Party," said Turnham.

The winner of the Democratic primary on June 6 will face either Republican Attorney General Troy King or Mark Montiel, who is opposing King in the GOP primary.

Ledger-Enquirer

Google Search Shows Coverage from Israel to San Francisco

[Tigermike 3,053]

Now I know who not to vote for.

[DKW 86 7,440]

Democratic candidate for state AG Darby denies Holocaust occurred

JAY REEVES

Associated Press

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A Democratic candidate for attorney general denies the Holocaust occurred and said Friday he will speak this weekend to a "pro-white" organization that is widely viewed as being racist.

Gee, an Alabama Dem speaking to a white racist group. Anyone see anything new here? I didnt think so, move along people....

[Tigermike 3,053]

Democratic candidate for state AG Darby denies Holocaust occurred

JAY REEVES

Associated Press

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A Democratic candidate for attorney general denies the Holocaust occurred and said Friday he will speak this weekend to a "pro-white" organization that is widely viewed as being racist.

Gee, an Alabama Dem speaking to a white racist group. Anyone see anything new here? I didnt think so, move along people....

235048[/snapback]

Shame on you David! You know the Dims cannot be racists because they care more and look out for the little men and the folks who cannot look out for themselves. It is the Republicans who are racists. Haven't the dims told us that for years?

[Shug2003 1]

It shouldn't matter what "Party" this idiot is affiliated with because he OBVIOUSLY does NOT speak for any recognizable segment of our population. He is a disgrace to this country and to Alabama.

[quietfan 233]

It shouldn't matter what "Party" this idiot is affiliated with because he OBVIOUSLY does NOT speak for any recognizable segment of our population. He is a disgrace to this country and to Alabama.

235066[/snapback]

Yeah, any idiot can call themselves a "candidate" and even get on the ballot by meeting the minimum qualifying requirements. Except for whatever petition signatures, if any, might be required to qualify (I'm not 100% sure of the state/party requirements), it doesn't mean he/she represents the views of anyone but him/herself.

It seems a little weird to me that he would pick the Democratic Party in Alabama, since in state politics that is usually associated with the black vote much more than the Republicans. But then, he doesn't sounds like a man of great political insight.

Shame he made the AP national wire service, though...another black eye for the state of Alabama.

[TexasTiger 13,016]

American Nazi Party Candidate for House District

The national socialist party, which calls itself the American Nazi Party, says that Montanans are rallying to the Swastika banner as a result of the attention and popularity of Shawn Stuart.

Stuart is a Republican candidate for Montana's seat on Butte's 76th House District.

http://www.ktvq.com/Global/story.asp?S=488...nav=menu227_4_1

Imagine the outrage had I tried to saddle the Republican party with this idiot, just because he is running as a Republican.

[Jenny AU-92 0]

Nice try to play spin the party, Tex, but you know any sane person would bash this guy, regardless of what party he has linked himself to. The comments were merely pointing out that with the predominence of blacks in the Dem party, it was odd that this guy chose to run as a Dem, especially since the Dems are always quick to jump on the Republicans as the party of racism. Even you would have to admit the irony in this.

[Shug2003 1]

Geat post Tex and very timely too. Goes to show that Party affiliations mean zilch when the candidates are total Idiots, although SOME would have you believe it is the party platform.......when they find one like the guy from Alabama.

[DKW 86 7,440]

I think most of us are making fun of the guy being a Dem. If this guy was a Conservative, the howling would be like an avalanche.

[quietfan 233]

Nice try to play spin the party, Tex, but you know any sane person would bash this guy, regardless of what party he has linked himself to.  The comments were merely pointing out that with the predominence of blacks in the Dem party, it was odd that this guy chose to run as a Dem, especially since the Dems are always quick to jump on the Republicans as the party of racism.  Even you would have to admit the irony in this.

235087[/snapback]

Wait a minute!! Tex didn't start anything.

I made the comment about blacks in the Democratic Party in Alabama, by which I meant blacks in the state tend to vote Democratic, not that the Democratic Party in the State is predominantly black...and certainly not that Republicans are necessarily racist or that Democrats can't be racists. I just thought it odd and self-defeating for him to run in a primary where he would probably face more black voters.

As far as I can tell the first mentions of racism and parties in the same post on this thread were:

Gee, an Alabama Dem speaking to a white racist group. Anyone see anything new here? I didnt think so, move along people....

235048[/snapback]

(And I'm not sure if David actually meant anything more here than merely that it's not really news for a politician in Alabama to speak to racists groups, so I give him the benefit of the doubts as to whether he meant that as an attack on Democrats.)

and:

Shame on you David!  You know the Dims cannot be racists because they care more and look out for the little men and the folks who cannot look out for themselves. It is the Republicans who are racists.  Haven't the dims told us that for years?

235051[/snapback]

Sounds to me like Tex's post was in response to this from Tigermike, and merely agreeing with me and Shug2003 that any loon can run for office and it's ridiculous to blame either party for the psychos that try to attach themselves to it uninvited. He in fact pointed out that it would be outrageous to try to equate the Republicans with Shawn Stuart's beliefs, just as it's unfair to imply that the Democrats actually want Larry Darby associated with them.

No reason to jump on Tex for spinning anything!

[AUloggerhead 2,253]

Some more info on Shawn Stuart: Link

Meet Butte National Socialist Shawn Stuart

Shawn Stuart is no ordinary Republican. The 24-year-old combat veteran, the only Republican running to represent Butte’s House District 76 in the Montana Legislature, also happens to be a state leader for the National Socialist Movement, which dubs itself “America’s Nazi Party.”

News of Stuart’s affiliation, first reported April 1 by the Montana Standard, prompted a fast and furious denunciation by the Montana Republican Party, which denies it knew of his views or encouraged his candidacy, and whose spokesman told the Independent April 10 that it will throw its support behind the winner of the Democratic Party primary to cement its opposition to Stuart.

For his part, Stuart doesn’t seem to understand what the big deal is all about. He says he shared his ardently anti-abortion, anti-gay and pro-gun views with Republican representatives in Butte, but that he didn’t see the need to tell them about his involvement with a group that’s also virulently anti-Semitic and envisions an America where only white people can be citizens and members of all other races, as well as Jews and homosexuals, would be classified as aliens without rights. Freedom of religion would be absolute in the National Socialist Movement’s ideal society, the group’s 25-point platform says, provided that the “moral feelings of the White race” aren’t offended.

“Like anybody else, you can be part of one organization and part of another,” Stuart says. “I keep my political and religious beliefs to myself and don’t need to throw it down anyone else’s throat.”

Besides thinking party leaders didn’t need to be clued in, Stuart says he’s not sure he even would have bothered to tell voters about his National Socialist links, and in fact, when he was first questioned by the Montana Standard about the issue, he denied any involvement with the group.

Asked why, he responds with a curious analogy: “When Bill Clinton was caught up with Monica Lewinsky, do you think he talked to advisers before saying anything to the press?” [LMAO at the clinton "legacy" ]

Stuart, who was born and raised in Bozeman and joined the Marine Corps after high school, served two tours in Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom and was discharged in May 2005. After moving to Butte to attend Montana Tech on the GI Bill, Stuart says, he became involved in Republican politics through various local committees and the Young Republicans club.

His political and social affiliations with the National Socialist Movement began in 2004 in Iraq, Stuart says, when he came to believe the United States was fighting the war on Israel’s behalf. (Recent press releases about Stuart’s candidacy from a National Socialist representative refer to the “lies of the Jew-aligned media,” and the group’s website is peppered with its logo, the swastika, and images of Adolf Hitler, as well as elaborate conspiracy theories about Jewish domination of the world.) The National Socialist Movement announced the creation of a Montana unit in December 2005, and Stuart says he’s one of two state leaders who holds meetings and plans to conduct rallies, though he won’t say how many members he’s enlisted.

In an interview, Stuart resists being pegged as a white supremacist, saying that people unfairly label as racist those who merely support their own culture and race. As the conversation lengthens, though, he talks more about the differences between races and how it’s just natural for them to stay separate (“Do pelicans and crows hang out? No,” goes Stuart’s logic).[ ] Eventually, as his voice rises both in volume and vehemence, he expounds his belief that white people are superior: “We view ourselves as the master race. We’re number one and we don’t care what other races do.”

Travis McAdam, research director for the Montana Human Rights Network (MHRN), which alerted the Montana Standard to Stuart’s affiliations and was subsequently called a cover for a terrorist network by National Socialist representatives, says the MHRN is interested in the attempted legitimization of extremist views via mainstream politics. In 2005, for instance, Kevin McGuire, recruiter for the white supremacist National Alliance in Bozeman, ran for a position on the local school board but lost miserably. By relaying anti-abortion and anti-gay-rights views to Montana Republicans while staying silent on his more radical views, McAdam says, Stuart initially managed to tap into the credibility that accompanies membership in one of the two major political parties.

Stuart says he announced his candidacy to Republicans at the Butte Pachyderm Club’s Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinner in March and that the response was supportive.

“When I said I was going to run, they said ‘That’s great.’ They said they’d help me out if I need them,” Stuart says.

Chuck Butler, Republican Party spokesman, confirms that local party representatives did offer support, but says Stuart never had any contact with the state party, and clarifies that even local support was based on the deceptive impression fostered by Stuart. After all, Butler says, what Republican in his right mind wouldn’t support an eager young Marine who had just returned from serving his country, was attending college and appeared to fit the conservative mold?

“He never told them he had this skeleton in his closet,” Butler says. “He made a nice appearance and got himself on the ballot and then he happened to say, ‘Oh, I represent some other interest.’ Had we known about it prior to the filing deadline, there would have been someone else, a person with true Republican values.”

Once the March 23 filing deadline closes, candidates are locked into the primary race and so the Republicans couldn’t kick him off the ticket. Even so, Stuart says, he tried to change his party affiliation to “National Socialist” once the Republicans rejected him—a move denied by election officials. Regardless, Stuart says he’s determined to run the full race, and he claims that losing official Republican support won’t hurt his chances. Perhaps ironically, he cites Abraham Lincoln’s political persistence as a root of his hope.

“Oh there’s always a chance. Lincoln went bankrupt twice, lost three elections and later became president—I can always have a chance,” Stuart says.

Butte’s voters, now fully informed of Stuart’s views, will decide just what those chances are.