*McKinney on hate radio again

I recently wrote about former U.S. Representative and 2008 Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney having been interviewed on a radio program largely devoted to hate speech against Jews. (Read here.) That interview, conducted by someone calling himself "Ognir", included an allegation that Rahm Emanuel, who was described as being of "Jew nationality and Jew loyalties", actually controlled President Obama on behalf of an international "Zionist" conspiracy. During the interview, "Zionists" were also blamed for promoting illegal drugs, medical marijuana and homosexual marriage in order to weaken American society and make it more malleable to their evil designs. McKinney cheerfully allowed her host to make these claims without disagreeing, responding only with her allegations that "Zionist" spies had infiltrated her campaign for congress (comparing herself to Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King in the process) and agreeing with the host, at great length, that "Zionists" control the president and congress. McKinney enjoyed this hourlong interview so much, she returned for a second one.

To get further insight into the character of that program, read the post I wrote about it. It includes extensive quotes. That program is done by a group associated with a website called InfoUnderground. You can see for yourself who they are by reading their forum here. The member with the "Deathflag" website -- the one sometimes featuring a death's head banner, sometimes a mushroom cloud -- posted some hate-filled comments on this blog, all the while protesting that he's an "anti-racist". After a forum member named "Shiksa Rage" posted that she "bet dollars to doughnuts that this guy is one of the Self Chosen masquerading under a WASPish name", InfoUnderground conducted an investigation into whether my name been changed to hide a Jewish identity. That's here. One of them went so far as to search a website called avotaynu.com and found 20 Jewish names related to "Holland". Who knew? Based on that, I was found out as a "Zionist agent". Read here. I thought it was the Star of David hood ornament on my Aston Martin that gave me away.

Now McKinney has done several more interviews on another racist radio show with far-right links -- this time with a better-known, and much more widely read, internet hate monger called Daryl Bradford Smith. You can read an archived version of his website's homepage here: Zionism Research - The French Connection - Fighting Criminal Zionism. (Has McKinney read it? How did she find these people?) This webpage, on which recordings of the programs featuring McKinney can be found, features a banner headline endorsing the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. It reads:

The Protocols are sometimes criticized as containing nothing that had not been said previously by philosophers or statesmen; but even if that were true, it would detract little from their interest. For their importance does not lie in the aim, world domination, nor in the theory by which it is attained, exploitation of man's baser instincts, but in the extraordinary astuteness with which the practical application of the plan has been suited to existing conditions.

Smith's homepage links to other pages on his website devoted to the works of infamous bigots such as Charles Coughlin, Denis Fahey, Nesta Webster, and Douglas Reed. The page devoted to Fahey deals with what Smith calls the "Judeo-Bolshevist plot against Christianity". (Read here.) In fact, the vast majority of the authors published by Smith on his website come from the extreme far-right of the political spectrum, and promote, as did the Nazis, the view that communism was a Jewish conspiracy. However, Smith's website also promotes the Stalinist Doctors' Plot myth. It seems that Smith is happy to cross ideological lines and promote myths of czarist, fascist or Stalinist origin, so long as they support his anti-Jewish agenda. Now he's interviewed Cynthia McKinney and added her socialism of fools to the mix.

The mp3 of a June 16 interview posted on Smith's website starts with McKinney waiting on the line as Smith gives a disjointed, grammar-defying introduction to a hate-fest.

"How (is it that) organizations affiliated with a single group of people -- this is important stuff -- we have to define terms. The people we'll be discussing tonight, have, in my view and in the view of research, been involved in activities that are against the republic of the United States and, in many instances, of the world at large. Now they -- many of them -- come from the Jewish community -- not all of them. And many of them are declared Jews -- not all of them. The conspiracy itself -- at the top -- is predominantly a Zionist political ideology. It is important to make these distinction because all Jews are not involved in this . . . The people that are doing this are powerful enough to silence the world's press . . ."

Having thus clarified that he and McKinney will discuss an powerful, international Jewish conspiracy in which not all Jews are culpable, Smith gives the bill of particulars of the crimes of this imaginary conspiracy (i.e. the "crimes against the republic ... and the world"): the Lavon Affair, the U.S.S. Liberty attack, 9/11, and the campaign against McKinney's reelection to congress.

With that, Smith asks McKinney's impressions of the wonderful hospitality she encountered in Gaza. McKinney replies that "has to make a correction". By this she doesn't refer to her host's conspiracy theories connecting Jews to 9/11 or any of the rest of it. She just let's him know that she never actually made it to Gaza.

Smith goes on to compare Israel's accidental attack on the U.S.S. Liberty in 1967 to the interception of a boat on which McKinney attempted to travel from Cyprus to Gaza as part of a propaganda campaign against Israel's blockade. McKinney alleges that the Israelis and the international news media lied about what happened. She goes on to agree with Smith's comparison of her attempted Gaza voyage to the Liberty incident, claiming that the Liberty attack was deliberate and that Israel lied about it.

"The Israelis will lie to cover up an action they carry out which they deem to be in their national interest. It's nothing new . . . The case of the U.S.S. Liberty -- the Israelis were murdering people in Egypt. So they were afraid there were going to be some witnesses to the murder . . . The leaders of Israel have, for the most part, been war criminals."

Smith replies by blaming this on an attitude of Israeli superiority based on a belief that they are "God's chosen people", a biblical phrase which clearly refers not to Israelis, but to Jews in general. (Note: this English translation of a biblical phrase clearly does not refer to a political doctrine of superiority, but to a religious belief connecting Jews to God. I have literally never heard this phrase used in support of Zionism, only against it.)

At this point in his exchange with McKinney, Smith unloads a string of conspiracy theories which may set the record for the most attempts to blame Jews for 9/11 in the least amount of time. McKinney's response is instructive.

Smith: "Mr. (Ron) Lauder -- he donated lots of money for the founding of the Mossad University in Herzliya -- a very important spy center. He was also very important in getting the head of the Port Authority, Lewis Eisenberg, to make the sale to Mr. Lowy and Mr. Silverstein. What about the collusion between these groups? But it doesn't stop there. It goes on to a companies that are watching our airports in Boston and Newark, named ICTS Company International (and) owned by former Mossad active spies -- by the children of the founder of Mossad -- a woman . . . It goes on to Daniel Lewin, Jules Carl (?), and Jerome Hauer, Indigo Systems, and Goldman Sachs making money on it. In other words, we can go down the list of one thing after another. Mohamed Atta -- his apartment in Florida -- both sides had Israelis living in it. The moving company with bombs inside its vans. How about the three Israelis who go back to Israel -- the dancing Israelis -- that they were there to document the event. How did they know that there would be an event to document? And go on and on and on -- and we find people like Dov Zakeheim, a Chabad Lubavitch rabbi, and Ari Fleischer, and Faith Wurmser (Douglas Feith and David Wurmser?). All of these people are actually a fifth column that has invaded our control structure of our government. And they are involved in strong-arming Congress, and they are in complete control of the Executive Branch. Now, how do we get this kind of crime gang from unclenching from their control?"

McKinney: "Well... people have to stand up! One of the things you said -- I do have to say -- I heard an extraordinary (speech) given by Lord Levy, who is, I believe, in the U.K. House of Lords. And the language that he used was absolutely incredible! Basically he said that only 3% of the Israeli people voted for peace and . . . he called Israel an indefensible state . . . Being in the United States, we don't hear that kind of talk at all. It was a Jewish member of the House of Lords who was saying this."

This follows McKinney's pattern of allowing her interviewers make extremist, bigoted comments for her. She then offers her tacit agreement, saying nothing to correct the record. Instead, she launches into an attack on Israel and finds a Jewish ally for her attack. As the comments to this blog have proven, this is good enough for her supporters to defend her from charges of anti-Semitism, and to argue that she does not claim that Israel was behind 9/11. As should be clear by the above exchange, she gives precisely those views her support with her response to Smith's outrageous charges. If she disagreed with him, she would have said so. Anyone with knowledge of the facts and an ounce of decency would have responded by telling Smith exactly what he is.

A litte background

In case you haven't been following McKinney's career of late, she's become a professional anti-Zionist, travelling the world to attend several conferences sponsored by the foundation led by Malaysia's former Prime Minister Mahathir. Mahathir has been spreading some money around to burnish his claims to be a leader of an international anti-Zionist movement: sponsoring several conferences and funding anti-Israel groups. He has also made a point of very publicly linking himself to Ahmadinejad and the Iranian dictatorship. Considering that Mahathir, his chief advisor Matthias Chang and Cynthia McKinney (like Ahmadinejad) all promote anti-Zionism as a form of anti-globalization, maybe I should refer to their ideology as the anti-globalization of fools.

Speaking of Ahmadinejad and Iran, on the night that much of the world were glued to news channels watching the power of the Iranian people risking their lives to voice their outrage at having their votes stolen, viewers of Iran's English-language propaganda channel, Press TV, were treated to several hours of Cynthia McKinney hosting a talk show on racism and the failure of democracy in Obama's America. (Read here . Video of program here.) The timing of that pathetic spectacle does not seem at all coincidental.

McKinney broadcasting on Press TV the night of Iran's elections

Also in June, McKinney announced her founding a political party seemingly modeled after one founded in the U.K. by George Galloway. (Read here or here.) Galloway's was called "Respect"; McKinney's is called "Dignity". Galloway and McKinney have much in common. Galloway, like McKinney, went from serving as a legislator with a major party, to a career devoted to endless self-promotion on the political fringes. Like Galloway before her, McKinney seeks to bring together an anti-Israel coalition of the far-left and Muslim communities. Like Galloway, she appears ready to do business with those who oppose democratic values in their own countries while decrying Israel and the U.S. as undemocratic.

Armed with mailing lists most fringe politicians would envy, McKinney is hoping to draw supporters for her party from the anti-Zionist far-left and far-right and to build a sort of coalition of extremes. Remember that she raised a lot of money for her failed congressional bid in 2006, largely based on anti-Israel fundraising. That built up her mailing list considerably. She presumably has the mailing lists from the several "9/11 truth" groups she' s led. Having been the 2008 Green Party presidential candidate, she must have their mailing list as well. For that reason alone, however absurd her statements and her affiliations are, she is still worth watching. She seems intent on maintaining her position as the United States' most vocal opponent of Israel. As odd and apparently self-destructive as her decision to work with the far-right appears, it may be part of a deliberate strategy to attract attention. She may be banking on the idea that there's no such thing as bad anti-Israel publicity.

As for Daryl Bradford Smith, he has had extensive connections with the Holocaust-denial publication American Free Press, although he appears to have burned his bridges with them by claiming that they too are somehow part of the international "Zionist" conspiracy. (Read here.) In response, some of his former friends have claimed that he is a "Zionist agent", a crypto-Jew or even a"Talmudist". (Read here and here and here and here and here and here.) Like many in the U.S. neo-fascist far-right, Smith spends as much time fighting fellow fascists as he does Jews and other supposed enemies.

My previous posts about McKinney's affiliations with the far-right are available here. Harry's Place covered this story here, the anti-conspiracy theory website Screw Loose Change here, JTA covered it here, Little Green Footballs here and History News Network reposted my one of my posts on McKinney here.

And while I'm on the subject of McKinney's supporters on the extreme right, there's this odd fellow.

The following links go straight to mp3's of McKinney's interviews posted on Smith's website. The first of these interviews, done on June 16, is available here. The second, done June 17, is here. The third, done on June 24, is here. A fourth, done on June 25, is here. I intend to continue digesting these interviews in the upcoming days in order to to continue to put McKinney's ties to the far-right on the record. Stay tuned.

As always, if anyone wishes to correct any factual errors in this or any other post, feel free to post a comment. Also feel free to offer your opinions. I am debating whether to allow the sort of hostile invective previous posts about McKinney have elicited from her supporters, including gross obscenities, bigotry, misogyny, and threats of and allusions to acts of violence. While it's useful to see exactly who is supporting McKinney, I hate to expose readers to that sort of material. McKinney supporters: when commenting, remember that readers are judging your views by how you choose to express yourself.

UPDATE: Is Ron Paul's son Rand Paul, candidate for U.S. Senate from Kentucky, really a Facebook friend of McKinney? Search her name here.