Raised in NC, I'm always interested to see how some elements of what I call 'cracker culture' weren't just regional but national. Carl McIntire is a recognizable crackpot in this story & takes me back... About this time (early 70s) there was a cultural exchange between Chinese and US ping pong team tours, & Carl spent a lot of time chasing the Chinese team around the US with his followers to harass them. (BTW, Carl's son, CT McIntire is an historian, & pretty good one.) Thanks, perfesser!
That story about McIntire's people chasing the Chinese ping pong team around the US harassing them reminds me of Huss's tactics. Whenever he ran for office his opponents usually refused to be on a stage with him, so he would follow them around to their events and pepper them with questions from the audience. It makes me think about how changes in our media culture have really worked to the benefit of these sorts of Matt Gaetz-like figures, who were gatekept out of "polite society" by mainstream media in the 60s and 70s, but now benefit greatly from a click-hungry mediascape driven mostly by outrage.
And now the GOP has nominated for Speaker a man who's claim appears to be "like David Duke but without the baggage".
To most of America it would seem being like David Duke *is* baggage. I appreciate your posts connecting so these dots so well to the political culture of those times and to today's.
Delighted to hear that the US became a kingdom in 1970. :) Wondering if Huss/cronies had an interest in secession movements like the State of Jefferson? By virtue of my zip code I’ve been getting promotional materials from the “Greater Idaho” movement. Really troubling stuff. As you’ve outlined here it seems important not to ignore these “I am not a crank!” secession people. I suppose Huss was more interested in the project of party takeover but wondered if maybe he thought about starting over?
I haven't seen any evidence that Huss was interested in secession, but one of the people he worked with in the 1960s, Bill Gardiner, went on to be an advocate for the secession of the coastal counties in the 1970s and 80s. He had a radio show for 10 years in Newport where he advocated that and other far right ideas. In the early 80s, after serving time for refusing to pay his taxes, he became affiliated with straight up Nazis. I actually was able to get in contact with his son who granted me a long and fascinating interview a few weeks ago.
Wow! Just wow! One big point: the crackpots never went away. They just traded in their tinfoil hats for cellphones...and AR15s.
Raised in NC, I'm always interested to see how some elements of what I call 'cracker culture' weren't just regional but national. Carl McIntire is a recognizable crackpot in this story & takes me back... About this time (early 70s) there was a cultural exchange between Chinese and US ping pong team tours, & Carl spent a lot of time chasing the Chinese team around the US with his followers to harass them. (BTW, Carl's son, CT McIntire is an historian, & pretty good one.) Thanks, perfesser!
That story about McIntire's people chasing the Chinese ping pong team around the US harassing them reminds me of Huss's tactics. Whenever he ran for office his opponents usually refused to be on a stage with him, so he would follow them around to their events and pepper them with questions from the audience. It makes me think about how changes in our media culture have really worked to the benefit of these sorts of Matt Gaetz-like figures, who were gatekept out of "polite society" by mainstream media in the 60s and 70s, but now benefit greatly from a click-hungry mediascape driven mostly by outrage.
And now the GOP has nominated for Speaker a man who's claim appears to be "like David Duke but without the baggage".
To most of America it would seem being like David Duke *is* baggage. I appreciate your posts connecting so these dots so well to the political culture of those times and to today's.
Delighted to hear that the US became a kingdom in 1970. :) Wondering if Huss/cronies had an interest in secession movements like the State of Jefferson? By virtue of my zip code I’ve been getting promotional materials from the “Greater Idaho” movement. Really troubling stuff. As you’ve outlined here it seems important not to ignore these “I am not a crank!” secession people. I suppose Huss was more interested in the project of party takeover but wondered if maybe he thought about starting over?
I haven't seen any evidence that Huss was interested in secession, but one of the people he worked with in the 1960s, Bill Gardiner, went on to be an advocate for the secession of the coastal counties in the 1970s and 80s. He had a radio show for 10 years in Newport where he advocated that and other far right ideas. In the early 80s, after serving time for refusing to pay his taxes, he became affiliated with straight up Nazis. I actually was able to get in contact with his son who granted me a long and fascinating interview a few weeks ago.
Oh geez. From tax evasion to Nazis. I bet that interview was really interesting.
Burpo sounds like a Bart Simpson joke