White Supremacist With Ties To Neo-Nazi Groups Elected To PA County GOP Committee

[Gopher]

LOL! The guy got one vote. His own. Sounds like a real trend.

[can you hear me now!]

I am not arguing that he should be there. I just wonder if the voters knew he was a scum bag when they voted for him.

sadly, they probably did. Since I am from that part of the world I can tell you Carville isn't too far off in his assessment of the state.

Luzerne County is a rather depressed area with lots of unemployment, a significant senior population and isn't exactly the most enlightened area on the planet. This an area that during the 1920s-1970s thrived as a coal and steel area. Most of the people who built those indistries were European immigrants from Germany, Ireland, Poland and Italy. It's fertile ground for people like this particular individual.

For those who pay attention to such things, Hazelton is part of Luzurne County and this is where a rather nasty battle was waged over an illegal immigration law that was declared unconsititutional....

[Retired Ramp Guy]

sadly, they probably did. Since I am from that part of the world I can tell you Carville isn't too far off in his assessment of the state.

Luzerne County is a rather depressed area with lots of unemployment, a significant senior population and isn't exactly the most enlightened area on the planet. This an area that during the 1920s-1970s thrived as a coal and steel area. Most of the people who built those indistries were European immigrants from Germany, Ireland, Poland and Italy. It's fertile ground for people like this particular individual.

For those who pay attention to such things, Hazelton is part of Luzurne County and this is where a rather nasty battle was waged over an illegal immigration law that was declared unconsititutional....

Since he received 1 (one) VOTE - a write-in, I guess he did know what a scum bag he is ;-)

[can you hear me now!]

Since he received 1 (one) VOTE - a write-in, I guess he did know what a scum bag he is ;-)

is it one vote or 3?....seems to be a conflict in the stories...

regardless of whether he voted himself in or not (which really says a lot about the state of the party if he could be elected with one vote), a better job of vetting candidates seeking a position might have been in order....think so? seems to be a hot topic among certain circles of people....

[Retired Ramp Guy]

is it one vote or 3?....seems to be a conflict in the stories...

a better job of vetting candidates seeking a position might have been in order....think so?

How would one "vet" a write-in candidate?

[octoburn]

GOP looks to oust member with racist ties

The Luzerne County Republican Committee is researching whether it can oust Steve Smith, a Pittston committeeman with a criminal record and past ties to racist organizations, committee Chairman Terry Casey said Monday.

and

Aaron D. Kaufer, the Republican nominee for the 120th State Legislative District, said he is upset with the slow response to Smith's election. "This is a black eye for Luzerne County," Kaufer said. "As a Jewish Republican, this issue hits very close to home. Until he is removed, I will not be silenced."

Casey said he did not want to issue "a knee-jerk" response and is waiting for advice from the Pennsylvania Republican Committee's legal counsel on whether Smith can be ousted. A vote to remove Smith could come at the upcoming county convention, which has not been scheduled, Casey said.

Linky

And as predicted ~

“Just because of the nature of the name skinhead. People get a knee-jerk reaction from it and they think of movies like American History X and think we are a bunch of violent thugs and we don’t listen to you so that’s why I got away from that,” said Smith.

He added he ran for the Luzerne County Republican Committee opening in April because no one else did. His write-in campaign gave him less than a handful of votes, but that was enough to land him a spot on the committee which helps recruit Republican candidates.

“I am going to try and get candidates not to be cowardly on these issues. You saw what happened in Wilkes-Barre. The crime rate is out of control. People are moving in from New York and Philadelphia and people are afraid to address the problem head on without fear of being called a racist or white supremacist,” said Smith.

Linky

OF course! He was never a racist at all! It was all just a misunderstanding.

Linky

[can you hear me now!]

How would one "vet" a write-in candidate?

one way would be to set the rules for running for these positions to exclude those with criminal records....sounds to simple to be enforced....not sure why you are confused....an ounce of prevention and all that good stuff that goes with planning ahead...

is a handful of votes more than 1?

[Calamari]

GOP looks to oust member with racist ties



and



Linky

And as predicted ~



Linky

OF course! He was never a racist at all! It was all just a misunderstanding.

Linky

It's good that they are not trying to minimize it the way crabsnbeer and others here are. Even among the GOP, some people realize that Nazis are kind of bad.

[Calamari]

GOP looks to oust member with racist ties



and



Linky

And as predicted ~



Linky

OF course! He was never a racist at all! It was all just a misunderstanding.

Linky

It's good that they are not trying to minimize it the way crabsnbeer and others here are. Even among the GOP, some people realize that Nazis are kind of bad.

Still, it took them an awful long time.

[Retired Ramp Guy]

one way would be to set the rules for running for these positions to exclude those with criminal records....sounds to simple to be enforced....not sure why you are confused....an ounce of prevention and all that good stuff that goes with planning ahead...

is a handful of votes more than 1?

.... and who was that guy that received votes in the primary while in jail?

[Calamari]

Don't lie about what I attempted to do, just because it is the sort of thing that you regularly do.

[Mitchum]

This isn't the first time the Repubs took their good old time distancing themselves from Nazi's. Remember JT Ready? Rich Iott?

[LarryN]

The GOP got what they been asking for in White Supremacist holding office in Pittston City,PA. They have been courting their vote for years, now they have one in office. What to do, what to do.

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/20...2533#c66902533

Did you even read the article you posted, or just the headline?

[NCBirdfan]

Did you even read the article you posted, or just the headline?

I'll take "Just the Headlines" for $500, Jack.

[NCBirdfan]

I'm curious: Has there ever be a skinhead or white supremist that was a candidate under the Democratic ticket? Is that even possible?

[jrob]

I'm curious: Has there ever be a skinhead or white supremist that was a candidate under the Democratic ticket? Is that even possible?

Lester Maddox for one, and likely many others. I've cited before an article from the 1960s, TIME magazine, that made it clear that segregation was supported far more by the democrats than the republicans, and that Goldwater was the rarity among republicans.

[Calamari]

I'm curious: Has there ever be a skinhead or white supremist that was a candidate under the Democratic ticket? Is that even possible?

They have to go back many decades to dredge anything even remotely equivalent up, but given how they dredge them up all the time, it only makes the criticisms in the topical post more fair.

[jrob]

and obviously any white person that supports the 'king for life' status of Sharpton the clown is a supremacist and bamboozler of the first order.

[veritas]

I can hear the libs grilling this guy now...."Are you now or have you ever been a member of the American Nazi party?"

Oh, that's right, this is only wrong when we're looking for and finding Communists.

[ODENTON]

GOP and White Supremacist.....They have been courting the White Supremacist vote for years and now that one has come from under a rock to represent them they want nothing to do with it. Ha Ha to late.