| Subject: David Duke File (Section A) |
Author:
Colonel Angus
|
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
Date Posted: 00:01:08 06/11/06 Sun
DAVID DUKE
David Ernest Duke (born July 1, 1950) is a former Louisiana State Representative and former leader of the Ku Klux Klan in the United States. He has run for the Louisiana State House, Louisiana State Senate, United States Senate, United States House, governor of Louisiana and twice for president of the United States. In 2002 he pleaded guilty to tax evasion and fraud charges. He is a long-time New Orleans resident.
On race and politics
Duke is best known for his controversial views regarding race and politics. He is a self-styled white nationalist and is widely regarded as a white supremacist and neo-Nazi by mainstream political and civil rights organizations. He denies this description, stating that he is a "racial realist" and that he believes "all people have a basic human right to preserve their own heritage." [1]
Duke is the president of the European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO), and remains a political activist against affirmative action as well as non-European immigration into the United States. Duke has gained an audience in Ukraine and the Arab world for his views regarding Jews and Zionism. In September 2005, Duke received a Ph.D. in History from the Ukrainian Interregional Academy of Personnel Management (MAUP), writing his doctoral thesis on "Zionism as a Form of Ethnic Supremacism." MAUP is a large university accredited by Ukraine's Ministry of Education, and is regarded by its critics as the main source of anti-Semitic activity and publishing in Ukraine. [2]
He is the author of two books, his autobiography, My Awakening, and recently Jewish Supremacism. Both books have been successful overseas and are now translated and published in 9 languages.
Youth, the Klan and first campaigns
David Duke was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but his family moved soon afterwards, and after a short period of living in the Netherlands settled in Louisiana. He became interested in the white nationalist movement at an early age and joined the Klan in 1967. Duke went on to study at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and in 1970, he formed a white campus-group known as the White Youth Alliance. That same year, he made himself known even more by demonstrating in swastika regalia to protest William Kunstler's appearance at Tulane University, LA. He was involved in the campus ROTC, until he was kicked out due to his radical beliefs. In 1971, he went to Laos to teach English to Laotian military officers and serve on cargo flights for Air America over the course of ten weeks.
Duke returned to LSU, graduating in 1974. He became notorious on campus for wearing a Nazi uniform and swastika paraphernalia while picketing and holding parties on the anniversary of the birth of Adolf Hitler. The year of his graduation, he was elected Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. He attracted attention for trying to modernize the Klan and turn it into a modern nationalist political force. For example, he changed the title of 'Grand Wizard' to 'National Director' and sported a conservative suit as opposed to the traditional white robe.
In 1976, Duke sought a seat in the Louisiana State Senate as a Democrat. In 1978, he left the Klan and two years later formed the National Association for the Advancement of White People. In 1987, he conducted a direct-mail appeal using the identity and mailing-list of the Forsyth County Defense League, in Georgia, without permission, which League officials described as a fund-raising "scam" (detailed in The Rise of David Duke by Tyler Bridges). In 1988, he ran in the Democratic Party primary for President of the United States. After a dismal showing in the Democratic primaries, he appeared on many state ballots as the nominee of the Populist Party and received approximately 25,000 votes in the 1988 general election.
The Louisiana legislature
In 1989, he ran as a Republican for a seat representing Metairie in the Louisiana State House of Representatives. He defeated fellow Republican John Treen, the brother of David Treen, the first Republican to be elected governor of Louisiana since Reconstruction, by a narrow margin of 51-49 percent. Duke's victory came despite visits to the district in support of John Treen's candidacy by President George H.W. Bush, former President Ronald Reagan, and other GOP notables.
Challenging Senator J. Bennett Johnston, Jr.
In 1990, Duke challenged incumbent Democratic Senator Bennett Johnston in the open primary as a Republican and received 44 percent of the vote, including more than 60 percent of the white vote, according to exit polls. Johnston was able to win re-election (and thus avoid a direct run-off with Duke) by receiving 53 percent of the vote. The endorsed Republican party candidate, State Senator Ben Baggert of New Orleans, who had been supported by the Virginia Republican leader Oliver North, withdrew from the race two days before the vote. Distressed national Republican officials had anticipated Baggert losing and fragmenting Johnston's support; so funding for Baggert's campaign was halted, and he dropped out though his name remained on the ballot.[3] Republican Senator John C. Danforth of Missouri openly endorsed Democrat Johnston.
Duke derails Roemer's gubernatorial reelection campaign
Duke ran for governor as a Republican Party candidate, despite getting an official reproval (letter expressing the GOP's disdain for Duke's activities) from that party. In the open primary, Duke was second to former governor Edwin Washington Edwards in votes; thus he faced Edwards in a runoff. Duke received 32 percent of the vote in that initial round, pushing incumbent Republican Buddy Roemer down to third place with 27 percent of the vote, effectively defeating Roemer's bid for re-election. The election garnered national media attention. While Duke had a small hard-core constituency of devoted admirers, many others in Louisiana voted for him as a "protest vote", in order to register dissatisfaction with Louisiana's establishment politicians.
Some dismissed the reports of Duke's having ties to neo-Nazi and KKK organizations as simple mud-slinging. Between the primary and the runoff, technically called the "general election" under Louisiana's "jungle" primary (in which all candidates run on one ballot, regardless of party), Duke enjoyed the peak of his notoriety. White supremacist and far-right organizations from around the country contributed to his campaign fund. At the same time, Duke tried to distance himself from his more extreme views in public appearances while never officially repudiating them. Whenever reporters asked about his neo-Nazi and KKK ties, Duke refused to comment and denounced the reporters for trying to dig up dirt from the past.
Meanwhile, a large anti-Duke coalition threw its support to Edwards. His old rival Treen endorsed Edwards, who was widely perceived as corrupt, but the possibility of electing Duke as governor was seen as far worse. A popular bumper sticker read "Vote for the Crook. It's Important." Ads and documentaries aired on television showing footage of Duke from earlier years at Klan rallies and acting as a neo-Nazi spokesman. When a reporter asked Edwards what he needed to do to triumph over Duke, Edwards replied with a smile, "Stay alive." Duke lost the election by a wide margin. Edwards polled 1,057,031 (61.2 percent). Duke's 671,009 votes represented 38.8 percent of the total. Duke claimed, "I won my constituency. I won 55 percent of the white vote." In actuality, Duke had done little better in percent terms than the first major Republican gubernatorial candidate in modern Louisiana history, Charlton Lyons, had done in 1964.
A second Senate campaign, 1996
In 1996, Duke ran again for the U.S. Senate, when Johnston announced his retirement. He polled 141,489 votes (11.5 percent). Republican former state representative Louis Woody Jenkins of Baton Rouge and Democrat Mary Landrieu of New Orleans, the former state treasurer, went into the general election contest. Landrieu was declared the winner by some 4,000 votes. Duke's supporters are believed to have supported Jenkins.
"My Awakening" and a race to succeed Bob Livingston
In 1998, Duke published his autobiography My Awakening: A Path to Racial Understanding. In 1999, he again ran as a Republican in a special election for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. He finished third with 19 percent of the vote and failed to make the general election. This House seat opened when Bob Livingston of the New Orleans suburbs suddenly resigned when pornographer Larry Flynt threatened to expose Livingston's adulterous relationship with a woman. Former Governor Treen and State Representative David Vitter went into the general election, which Vitter won by a 51-49 percent margin over Treen. Duke endorsed Treen, perhaps as a way of embarrassing the former governor, who had supported Edwards over Duke in the 1991 gubernatorial general election.
In 2000 the former Republican supported Reform Party of the United States candidate Patrick J. Buchanan for President eschewing the Republican Party that had never embraced him or his followers. He and his supporters contributd over $15,000 to Buchanan.[1] In 2002, Duke traveled to eastern Europe to promote his book.
Fraud charges and imprisonment
David Duke pleaded guilty to tax evasion and mail fraud in December 2002. Four months later Duke was sentenced to 15 months in prison for his crimes. He served the time in Big Spring, Texas. He was also fined US$10,000, ordered to cooperate fully with the IRS, and to pay money still owed for his 1998 taxes. Following his release in May 2004, he claimed publicly that his decision to take the plea bargain was motivated by the bias that he perceived in the United States federal court system and not his guilt. He claimed he felt the charges were contrived to derail his political career and discredit him to his followers, and that he took the safe route by pleading guilty and receiving a mitigated sentence, rather than pleading not guilty and potentially receiving the full sentence, which could have destroyed his career anyways.
Duke was charged for what was described by prosecutors as a six-year scheme to mail thousands of his followers asking for donations. In the mail, Duke told his supporters that he was about to lose his house and his life savings. Duke raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in this campaign. However, prosecutors claim he had already sold his home at a hefty profit, had multiple investment accounts, and spent much of his money gambling at casinos.
Recent activity
On February 5, 2002, Duke claimed on his internet radio show that Ariel Sharon was "the world's worst terrorist" and that Mossad was involved in the 9/11 attacks. The broadcast claimed that Sharon wanted 9/11 to happen in order to reduce sympathy for the Palestinians in the West, and claimed that the number of Israelis killed in the attack was lower than it would be under normal circumstances, citing early assessments by The Jerusalem Post and "the legendary involvement of Israeli nationals in businesses at the World Trade Center". According to Duke, this indicated that Israeli security services had prior knowledge of the attack. [4]
In 2004 David Duke published his latest controversial book: Jewish Supremacism: My Awakening on the Jewish Question. While the book's title leads one to believe it is a continuation of his first autobiographical work, the book instead purports to be a collection of historical documents that detail religious beliefs of alleged Jewish supremacism since antiquity. The book is dedicated to Israel Shahak, a controversial writer, who was an ardent critic of what he saw as supremacist religious teachings in modern Jewish culture. Duke denies the book is motivated by anti-Semitism.
On May 29, 2004, David Duke brought together in New Orleans leaders of the European Nationalist movement to sign an agreement that would "mainstream our cause". The New Orleans Protocol signatories pledged to avoid violence and internecine attacks. It was immediately signed by eight racialist far right figures of varying extremity, most representing organizations, including the notorious National Alliance, and Stormfront. Duke signed on behalf of his new organization, European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO), previously called N.O.F.E.A.R., the National Organization for European-American Rights, until a legal challenge by Nofear caused him to change it.
David Duke receiving his History doctorate
In 2005, Duke teamed up with Don Black of Stormfront and delivers a one-hour webcast six days a week. Black is married to Duke's former wife. Listeners of his show can ask their questions by either logging on to Stormfront's forums or sending Duke an e-mail. In addition, he tours Europe and the Middle East, promoting his book and rallying support and funding for EURO. On March 19, 2005, for example, his audience at Pedro Varela's Spanish nationalist bookshop in Barcelona was disrupted by an estimated fifty protestors. On June 3, 2005, Duke co-chaired a conference "Zionism As the Biggest Threat to Modern Civilization" in Ukraine, sponsored by the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management (MAUP), reportedly the largest non-state university in Ukraine. The conference was attended by several notable Ukrainian public figures and politicians, and writer Israel Shamir (accused of anti-Semitism by critics).[5]
In August 2005, Swedish police thwarted an attempted assassination of David Duke. An anonymous tip to a Swedish radio station led police to the discovery of a powerful explosive device hidden near the podium where Duke was to address a group of Swedish nationalists.
In September 2005 Duke received a Ph.D. title in History from MAUP. His doctoral thesis was titled "Zionism as a Form of Ethnic Supremacism" [6]. This was the Ukrainian private university from which Duke had previously received a honorary doctorate. MAUP's "anti-Semitic actions" were "strongly condemned" by Foreign Minister of Ukraine Borys Tarasyuk and many human rights organizations. [7], [8], [9], [10]
On November 24, 2005, Duke visited Syria, addressing a rally, which was broadcast on Syrian television [11] (video), where he referred to Israel as a war-mongering country, and said that "Washington, New York and London and many other capitals of the world" are "occupied by the Zionists." Syrian parliament member Muhammad Habash replied that Duke’s visit gave Syrians a "new and very positive view of the average American." [12]
David Duke also runs a daily Live Web Radio Broadcast which can be found on his home website (www.Davidduke.com)[13].
In late 2005, Duke lost his home in New Orleans because of Hurricane Katrina, which struck while he was in northern Europe [14].
Since 2005 Duke has appeared three times on "Current Issues," a Lafayette, Louisiana-based television show hosted and produced by Palestinian-American Hesham Tillawi, which has recently been picked up by Bridges TV. Tillawi afforded Duke the opportunity to discourse at length about his beliefs about Jewish 'supremacism.' In an appearance on the show in October 2005, Duke also added that Jews are responsible for undermining the morality of America and are attempting to "wash the world in blood." [15]
After John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt's paper on The Israel Lobby appeared in March 2006, David Duke praised the paper in a number of articles on his website, on his March 18 Live Web Radio Broadcast, and on MSNBC's March 21 Scarborough Country program.[2]According to the New York Sun, Duke said in an email, "It is quite satisfying to see a body in the premier American University essentially come out and validate every major point I have been making since even before the war even started." Duke added that "the task before us is to wrest control of America's foreign policy and critical junctures of media from the Jewish extremist Neocons that seek to lead us into what they expectantly call World War IV." Stephen Walt responded, "I have always found Mr. Duke's views reprehensible, and I am sorry he sees this article as consistent with his view of the world."[3]
Works
Duke, David "Jewish Supremacism [16]" (Free Speech Pr, 2003; 350 pages) ISBN 1892796058
Duke, David "My Awakening" [17] (Free Speech Books, 1998; 736 pages) ISBN 1892796007
References
^ "Third Parties Struggle with Fundraising", by By Krista Schlyer, Opensecrets.org, accessed June 3, 2006
^ 'Scarborough Country' for March 21, show transcript, MSNBC, March 21 2006.
^ Eli Lake, David Duke Claims to Be Vindicated By a Harvard Dean, New York Sun, March 20, 2006.
Books
Bridges, Tyler "The Rise of David Duke" (Mississippi University Press, 1995; 300 pages) ISBN 0878056785
Rose; Douglas D. The Emergence of David Duke and the Politics of Race University of North Carolina Press. 1992
Zatarain, Michael "David Duke: Evolution of a Klansman" (Pelican Publishing Company, 1990; Gretna, Louisiana; 304 pages) ISBN 0882898175
Notes
↑ "Louisiana Republican Quits, Reducing Duke's Chances", Washington Post, October 5, 1990
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Duke"
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
| |
Feedback: 