Rightlandia: It's not just a far right fever dream in the mind of Oregon's Walter Huss anymore

That's right, it's also a Substack newsletter (and eventually a book)!

1. Why this, why now

You’re probably here because you’ve read some of my long Twitter threads based on material I’ve found in the archive of Walter Huss (1918-2006), a white Christian Nationalist with links to neo-Nazis and far right domestic terrorists who became the chair of the Oregon Republican Party in 1978. I’ve decided to spend less time on Twitter and start this substack because a) I’m not thrilled about providing free content for a site that is owned and operated by an epistemological simpleton with an epic case of Dunning-Kruger who seems intent on undermining democracy by amplifying far right voices and conspiracy theories, and b) I wanted to create a space where I could begin producing long-form material that will eventually end up in a book.

To be totally honest, I’m also starting this substack because I know how hard it is to muster up the self-discipline necessary to write a book, having done it once. If I know that there are people paying a few bucks a month to get weekly updates from Rightlandia, that will incentivize me to pull my head out of those tempting archival rabbit holes and sit my self down at a keyboard on a regular basis to plunk out a few thousand words.

2. What kind of content will appear in Rightlandia

If you liked “Walter Huss, the Twitter thread,” I think you’ll be even more engaged by “Walter Huss, the illustrated mini-essay on Substack.” Beginning in early May, my plan is to produce at least one, richly-illustrated mini-essay per week on some important aspect of the history of the far right, drawing primarily on how that history manifested in the life (and is illustrated in the rich, 57 box archive) of Oregon’s Walter Huss.

Some topics you can expect:

• a running series on the many “colorful” grassroots antisemites and white nationalists (homemakers, insurance agents, history teachers, lawyers, small business owners, preachers, politicians, Christian Ventriloquists, etc.) I’ve encountered in Huss’s correspondence

• Some attempts at answering the $64,000 question of how a far right extremist was able to get elected chair of the Oregon Republican Party in 1978 when that state’s GOP had been historically known for its moderation if not liberalism

• Some glimpses into Walter Huss’s, shall we say, eclectic media consumption habits…he was very much a precursor to the avid Fox/Newsmax/DailyWire/Infowars/Breitbart news consumer of today.

• The scores of multi-level marketing scams that Huss devised to rip off the people in his church/political networks, and the even greater number of MLMs that Huss participated in at the bottom of the food chain, and which took money out of his pockets and put it into. those of already wealthy and well-connected Republicans.

• Walter Huss’s lengthy career as a seller of “health foods” and alternative medicines, including that time he got busted by the feds for importing Brazilian Bark Tea that he (falsely) claimed cured cancer.

• How to Not See—what the media and moderate Republicans of Huss’s time said and didn’t say about his far right beliefs.

• The many famous people who make an appearance in Huss’s files: including David Duke, Barry Goldwater, Dan Quayle, Ronald Reagan, Jack Kemp, Pat Robertson, William F. Buckley, Pat Buchanan, Bo Gritz, and many more.

• and much much more….

3. An experiment in writing a book out in the semi-public

Dan Quayle and Walter Huss pictured at a 1989 GOP fundraiser in Portland, OR. A framed print of this photo hung on the wall of Walter and Rosalie Huss’s house at 23rd and SE Belmont in Portland.

Beginning in May and continuing until August 2024, my time and attention will be devoted almost exclusively to producing first an article and then a draft of a book about the long history of the far right in Oregon from the 1950s into the early 2000s. Adam Serwer once called Twitter “crack for writers” because the endorphin hit of likes and retweets one gets is pretty irresistible. Ultimately, though, producing content for Twitter is not all that conducive to, you know, actually getting stuff done like writing articles and books.

Twitter’s not all bad though. One thing I’ve come to greatly appreciate about sharing my research on Twitter is that people often respond with questions or insights that redirect or clarify my thinking in useful ways. What I hope will happen with this newsletter is that the sort of Twitter folks who share my admittedly odd fascination with people like Walter Huss will continue to engage with me here. Each newsletter will have a comment section which I’ll read and participate in.

4. tl;dr What you get in return for your $5/month.

• One subscribers-only deep dive per week into some aspect of the history of the far right in Oregon and the US. These will be richly illustrated with a selection of the archival material on which I’m basing my interpretations and will also have suggestions for further reading.

• Access to a comments section on each post where you can nerd out with other weirdos (like me) who find people like Walter Huss fascinating.

• Substack has a “founding subscriber” option. For those in that group I’ll host a monthly zoom gathering where we can talk in person about this history I’m trying to dig up and surface. I’ll also send you a free copy of the book once it exists as a physical artifact.

• If you’re a student or for any reason don’t have sufficient resources to afford the subscription, please let me know and I’m happy to offer you a free subscription.

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