(Robert Shelton - Imperial Wizard of the KKK - life of the party)

With the current wave of hatespeak flooding the air and cable, I noticed a striking similarity in all of it; that strange desire to take half-truths, outright lies and fabrications and somehow weave them into plausible, factual events and speak about them with an air of honest-to-God authority.

So I stumbled across an interview done by Marsha Tompkins at WBAI in New York with Imperial Wizard of the KKK Robert Shelton on December 23, 1969, conducted at his home in Tuscaloosa Alabama.

Shelton makes no bones about the fact that he's anti just about everything and every one on the planet. Tompkins makes no bones about being intimidated and doesn't question any of his logic. Which, in retrospect was probably a good thing, because it allowed him to spew and continue spewing in a way that would have ground any other interview to a screaming halt. In this context, Shelton is seen for the person he really was; petty, vindictive, ignorant, arrogant and terrified.

Pick which wingnut personality he most closely resembles today. Without too much trouble you'll probably find a lot. The common denominators are hate and ignorance and an overwhelming fear.

(They would have you believe they are as American as Apple Streudel!)