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NB: This RealAudio stream contains FTRs 271 and 272 in sequence. Each is a 30-minute broadcast.
1. This broadcast opens with discussion of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. Duke has recently been active in Russia, where he is marketing an anti-Semitic tract. (“Ex-Klansman David Duke Sets His Sights on Russian Bigots” by John Daniszewski; Los Angeles Times; 1/6/2001; p. A2.)
2. With an introduction written by a former minister in the government of Boris Yeltsin, the book is on sale in a store immediately adjacent to the Duma (the Russian parliament.) (Idem.)
3. The bulk of the broadcast deals with Attorney General-designate John Ashcroft’s liaisons with elements of the neo-Confederate movement, as well as his support for a white supremacist accused of plotting to murder an FBI agent and a federal witness.
4. Ashcroft has expressed support for Confederate generals Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Confederate president Jefferson Davis. (“Unseemly Alliances” by Bob Herbert; New York Times; 1/18/2001; p. A31.)
5. The periodical in which he expressed this support (Southern Quarterly Partisan Review) has also endorsed David Duke. (Idem.)
6. If Ashcroft becomes the top law-enforcement official in the United States, it could lead to a proliferation of people with views like David Duke’s. (Hence, the title of this broadcast.)
7. In addition to going to bat for the likes of Lee, Jackson, Davis and Duke, the Southern Partisan has attacked Abraham Lincoln and endorsed his assassination. (“Setting the Record Straight: Attorney General Praised White Supremacist Magazine;” Media Advisory issued by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting.)
8. In addition, Southern Partisan has endorsed slavery and attacked Jews, Italians, Irish, Puerto Ricans, Cuban-Americans, Eastern Europeans, feminists and gays. (Idem.)
9. One of the better publicized aspects of the controversy surrounding Ashcroft’s nomination concerns his criticism of Judge Ronnie White (an African-American) as “pro-criminal.” (“Ashcroft Unfair in His Criticism, Judge Says” by Zachary Coile and Louis Freedberg; San Francisco Chronicle; 1/19/2001; pp. A1-A19.)
10. This criticism is grotesque in light of the fact that Ashcroft himself has been very vocal in support of an ultra-rightist accused of plotting to murder an FBI agent and a federal witness. (“Why Did Ashcroft Try to Help Dr. Sell?” by Joe Conason; New York Observer; 1/18/2001; p. 5.)
11. Convicted of defrauding Medicaid, Dr. Charles T. Sell allegedly plotted to murder the FBI agent who arrested him and a federal witness. (Idem.)
12. Sell counts both Ashcroft, and the white-supremacist Conservative Citizens’ Council among his supporters. (Idem.)
13. The latter is an overtly racist and pro-fascist group that regards African-Americans to be inferior, glorifies the Confederate States of the American Civil War. The CCC interfaces with a number of fascist organizations, including the National Alliance. The CCC has enjoyed the support of prominent republicans, such as Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. (Idem.)
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