Holocaust Museum Attacker von Brunn Closely Linked to Neo-Nazi Leaders

The dark legacy of the Third Reich cast a violent shadow in the nation's capital this afternoon.

At about 12:50pm EST James Wenneker von Brunn (click to see a picture) an 89 year-old man from the Eastern Shore of Maryland walked into the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC (pictured at left) produced a rifle and proceeded to open fire on two museum guards before he himself was shot and wounded.

There is no question that von Brunn has numerous ties to known white supremacists in the US according to the Southern Poverty Law Center Hatewatch blog.

SPLC reports von Brunn was active in the Holocaust denial movement and was the author of an anti-Semitic/racist book entitled "Kill the Best Gentiles" published in 1999.

He has interesting web of connections to the American neo-Nazi movement. Von Brunn was also close with well-known white supremacist Willis Carto, one of the architects and biggest supporters of the modern American Holocaust denial media movement.

The SPLC reports that von Brunn was once employed by Carto's Noontide press which published various Holocaust denial books. Carto recruited William Luther Pierce, the author of the fictional account of a futuristic race war called "The Turner Diaries" - the book which helped inspire Timothy McVeigh to bomb the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building in Oklahoma City.

Listen to an excerpt of a 2007 radio interview with Willis Carto - ironically, he is being interviewed by white supremacist radio talk show host Michael Collins Piper in Washington DC.

With Holocaust Museum guard Stephen Tyrone Johns succumbing to his wounds we can only hope the mainstream press devotes more analysis of the neo-Nazi movement in the US. If there's any place where we assume we'd be safe from violent extremists it's at a Federal museum devoted to millions of innocent victims of the Holocaust.

Right Wing Political Gains in Europe: A Signal of Hate or Economics?

Downturns in the economy are traditionally boom-times for extremist hate organizations nowhere is that demonstrated more clearly than in Western Europe.

The recent election of British National Party leader Nick Griffin (pictured at left) to the European Parliament is just the latest sign of the political pendulum in Europe swinging to the right, ushering facists, neo-Nazis and right-wing extremists into political office as representatives of a European Union population of over 491 million people.

We need not look far for proof. In the US, membership in the Ku Klux Klan soared to an all-time high in the late 1920's before the onset of the Great Depression - just as the National Socialist Party was setting the stage for the Nazis rise to power in Germany.

Hate groups boost their numbers and garner sympathy to their cause by playing on the fears and insecurities that arise when unemployment is high, wages are low and costs soar.

Unfortunately for immigrants, minorities and members of some religious groups, extremists always have some marginalized group of people to blame for what's wrong with the world; but the cause isn't always just hatred.

The UK, the Labour party in particular, are still reeling from a slew of cabinet-level resignations in the wake of a widespread campaign finance scandal that has rocked Prime Minister Gordon Brown's political support.

The eroded support for Brown's Labour Party and dissatisfaction with the handling of the economic crisis were some of the factors that paved the way for Griffin to become the EU Parliament representative from England's North West region and fellow BNP politician Andrew Brons to represent Yorkshire and Humber.

What's the whites-only BNP about?

According to Wikipedia the BNP constitution describes their mission as being "committed to stemming and reversing the tide of non-white immigration and to restoring, by legal changes, negotiation and consent the overwhelmingly white makeup of the British population that existed in Britain prior to 1948"

The UK Guardian reports that Nick Griffin was chased from a BNP press conference today after protesters calling him a Nazi pelted him with eggs before he fled the scene.

Europeans are growing alarmed at an increasing faction of right wing political parties, each of which opposes immigration to the point of violence and openly embrace neo-Nazi ideology. But it's not just in the UK.

Who's who in Europe?

The Front National, or FN in France was founded in 1972 by Jean-Marie LePen. In addition to Holocaust denial, the party supports a range of anti-immigration platforms and neo-facist politics.

In Germany the NPD (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands) like the FN, has minimal representation in the German version of the state representative body. NDP leader Udo Voigt campaigns for white supremacy, "ethnic pride" and the ouster of "non-Germans" among other things. This rugged goose-stepper also predictably idolizes numerous figures from the Third Reich including Rudolph Hess and Adolph Hitler.

According to Wikipedia in 2008 in a document entitled "Africa Conquers the White House" the NDP claimed the election of President Barack Obama was the result of an "American alliance of Jews and Negroes."

It also suggested the wide-spread support for Obama within Germany was the result of an "African tropical disease."

In Italy, Forza Nuova is echoing the rings of Mussolini's facist state with calls for violence against non-Italian immigrants, laws against inter-racial sex and draconian nationalistic calls for ethnic and racial supremacy.

This trend warrants more mainstream media attention in the US than I've seen or read lately, even with America involved in two wars, a growing diplomatic problem in North Korea and global efforts to turn the tide of the economic crisis.

Nick Griffin speaks at a rally with ex-Klan leader David Duke.

Obama's Efforts to Recast America in the Eyes of the Muslim World Move Forward

Addressing tensions between the US and the Muslim world have been a clear priority for the Obama administration since day one, but the Cairo Speech signals a major step forward and underscores the seriousness of this administration to heal rifts with the the Muslim world.

In the latest step towards addressing the mistrust, fear and anger that characterize US relations with many in the Muslim world, the signaled a desire to overhaul American perceptions of Islam and challenged Muslim's to do the same.

The speech, delivered at Cairo University on June 4th, has prompted a mixed global reaction from different sides of the media representing those in both the Western and Muslim worlds the speech was clearly directed to.

The pro-Israel HonestReporting.com Website, which monitors and offers analysis on media coverage of Israel, was generally supportive of Obama's calls in the speech to confront the Holocaust denial rheoric that is increasingly found in the Mid-East.

But they side-stepped Obama's criticism of the Israeli settlement expansion policies in disputed areas of West Bank and other parts of Israel.

According to the BBC.com Republican House Minority leader John Boehner suggested in an interview that the speech portrayed the United States as weak based on Iran's support of Hamas and Obama's willingness to sit down and negotiate directly with Iranian political leaders.

Some conservative bloggers in the US, perhaps frustrated over Obama's broad high-profile media appeal, complained that the Cairo Speech lacked real substance and echoed the similar-sounding and usually factually abstract complaint that the speech made America seem "weak" in the eyes of the world.

Did it? Aren't compassion and understanding essential components for respect and therefore strength?

The conventional wisdom and spin on the speech shared on the al Jazeera Website suggests that millions of Muslims who watched the speech closely felt otherwise.

al Jazeera's Muqtedar Kahn described the speech as "truly transformative in intent and affect" and opined that "Never has an American President spoken with such eloquence, compassion, understanding and empathy to the Muslim World. There is no doubt that Obama gets the Muslim World."

That's a big philosophical shift for many Americans used to the Bush administration's rigid, one-dimensional post-911 casting of millions of Muslims as willing supporters of the 'Axis of Evil' rather than as individual citizens from different nations with a wide range of views on America.

For decades many Muslims have viewed America from the standpoint of a nation that destabilized a democratically-elected government in Iran to help install the Shah of Iran into power.

Many Americans from all walks of life have tended to view Islam from the perspective of angry Iranians holding American hostages captive in Tehran in 1979 and the terrorist attacks on US citizens that culminated with 911.

Obama's Cairo speech seems to lay out a willingness to engage in dialog that identifies common ground and a desire to move past thinking rooted in stereotypes and prejudice rather than truth and understanding.

Finding ways to push cultural respect and understanding forward is a sign of strength, living in fear of that is a sign of weakness.

Lee Tucker Deemed Competent to Stand Trial in Beating of Rabbi Moskowitz

As if the media doesn't already have a slanted-enough view of African-American/Jewish relations...

A judge has deemed a 38 year-old African-American man from Lakewood, New Jersey named Lee Tucker (pictured left) competent to stand trial on attempted murder charges after allegedly using a baseball bat to severely beat Rabbi Mordechai Moskowitz in October, 2007.

The then 53 year old Rabbi, a third grade teacher, was walking to synagogue to pray.

The attack has unsettled many in the Jewish e-media communities, including the Yeshiva World.com Website where I go to try and get a pulse on the orthodox community here in New York.

I blog about a lot of strange and sometimes senseless violent hate attacks here. But I must admit, this one just leaves me confused and saddened. Wondering, why?

One of the reasons I began this blog was to try and find some kind of creative outlet to explore the obstacles to racial and cultural tolerance that have so often confounded me during the course of my life.

Growing up as an African-American in a predominantly white suburban enclave was, in some ways, culturally isolating. But it also taught me respect of and appreciation for people of many races and backgrounds.

On the street I lived on were families from Bangladesh, Australia and there were white families who were devout Catholics or Protestants and some who were quietly non-denominational. Our next door neighbors were Jewish and our families were close.

My mother baked bread for them on Jewish holidays, when they went on vacation they gave me their house key to water their plants. Lee Tucker's actions make absolutely no sense to me.

It feels similar to how I felt trying to wrap my brain around the violence of the Crown Heights riots in Brooklyn, New York in 1991, partly because of the Dinkins Administration allowing the conflict to rage for three days, but also because it was such a stark contrast to the way I'd grown up.

Perhaps I was just a sheltered suburban child. Or maybe, there were thousands of people in the Crown Heights community on all sides of the issue who were similarly sheltered inside hatred and fear and ignorance. It's a matter of perspective.

But then there are the Lee Tuckers. What can you make of beating anyone with a bat, let alone a religious leader and teacher? Was Tucker trying to get his wallet, or just pissed off? Was he insane? Look at his photo above, he looks scared, but not crazy to me.

If Tucker is guilty I'm not sure it can be passed off simply as schizophrenia or insanity as the defense lawyers have tried to suggest.

Perhaps there are times when we have to just close our eyes and try really hard to remained focused on a vision of a world where unity, tolerance and respect are the norm rather than mindless brutality and violence fueled by hate.

Guys like Lee Tucker are branded by the hate and resentment, perhaps it's better if his lawyers just stop trying to cop insanity pleas for him so he can go to jail and think about the fact that he attacked a 53 year-old Rabbi and 3rd grade teacher with a bat when he was on the way to pray.

Lee Tucker is most definitely NOT Baracking, but he's not a reflection of evolved perspective. He's content to be sheltered by hate.

Arizona State: Obama Doesn't Rate

“We have to learn how to communicate and teach between all ethnic and cultural perspectives. Not with a dominant cultural perspective and marginal alternative cultural perspectives, but across all of these. We have not figured out how to do this. We need to embrace cultural diversification in America and change the culture of the university as a critical first step.”

ASU President Michael M. Crow
(remarks delivered at the 2004 Educating for a Diverse
America: A Summit and Symposium, Austin, TX)

Perhaps Arizona State University Michael Crow forgot his own remarks excerpted from ASU's "Diversity Plan" when he decided the vice-minister of China was more accomplished than the 44th President of the United States.

Seriously though, was it a mistake? Perhaps an oversight? Or is a former US Senator who was recently elected to the most powerful position in the free world honestly not yet accomplished enough to receive an honorary diploma from Arizona State University?

Even conservative political analyst David Gergen (who served in the Nixon and Reagan White House) called it an "Embarrassment" to the University and to the people of Arizona. Play the interview to the right and listen for yourself.

In an act that has left many people of all races scratching their heads, Arizona State University, not exactly the intellectual/academic hub of US colleges, has come under scrutiny by mainstream media and the Blogosphere by deciding NOT to bestow an honorary degree upon President Barack Obama when he delivered the commencement address there on May 13th.

With the thoughtful laid back perspective that made him such an appealing candidate, the 44th President shrugged off the controversy and delivered a rousing send off to the 9,000 ASU grads in front of a crowd of 63,000 at Sun Devil Stadium.

University spokeswoman Sharon Keeler was quoted as saying "His body of work is yet to come. That's why we're not recognizing him with a degree at the beginning of his presidency," after the school's student newspaper first reported the decision.

Was race a factor? ASU gave the vice-minister of education in China an honorary degree on his visit there - think about it. Some ASU grads have called for university president Michael Crow to resign his position.

Regardless the decision has backfired for ASU. The media, as well as many ordinary citizens were left puzzled and many, outraged. One her return to the SNL Newsdesk on Saturday night, Amy Pohler ripped ASU in a blistering editorial commentary that mocked ASU's long-held reputation as a 2nd rate Pac-Ten university and a destination for partiers rather than scholars.

Among the biggest critics of the ASU - decision, ASU grads, hundreds of e-mails and letters from outraged Sun Devil grads have poured into Websites and newspapers around the country; some grads mailed their ASU diplomas to the president, many embarrassed that their school decided to withhold the diploma.

The snub raises deeper questions in the minds of many who recall that Arizona was one of the few states to openly OPPOSE making Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday a paid holiday to appease it's ultra-conservative voter base; same state that sent Barry Goldwater, known as "Mr. Conservative" to the US Senate.

Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) opposed the legislation to make MLK Day a holiday in support of Governor Even Meachem's staunch opposition to the bill - which was signed into law by the first President Bush.

Ronald Reagan, former North Carolina Senator and pro-segregationist/openly racist Jesse Helms also led opposition to the bill - some forget that the US was rife with protests over Arizona's reluctance to endorse the holiday in the late 1980's and earl 90's.

Arizona's tourist industry suffered and the NFL moved the 1990 Super Bowl XXVII from Tempe to Pasadena in protest of the states opposition and the underlying meaning.

Sadly, ASU officials decided to make a completely pointless policy gesture rather than stand up and help rehabilitate the state of Arizona's legacy as a region of intolerance and right-wing conservatism by suggesting that the 44th President of the United States, former US Senator and former president of the Harvard Law Review was not qualified to receive the same recognition given to other US presidents.

In all fairness to Arizona residents, I think ASU's decision does NOT reflect the state's zeitgeist - the decision did far more harm to Arizona's image and frankly, in the wake of the media wash; they came out looking pretty ignorant.

Go Sun Devils!

Essence & Vibe Expand Multi-Media Offerings

With a growing segment of professional media-savvy African-Americans in the US, a couple different magazines that target black Americans are preparing to launch multi-media ventures that will direct their content to compete with more mainstream media company offerings.

Monday's Media Daily News Website reports that Essence Magazine, HLN and CNN will partner to produce a weekly television series on CNN that address current topics affecting African-Americans.

In 2008 CNN produced "Black in America", a multi-part series exploring different aspects of the reality of life in the US for African-American's in today's society; CNN will produce "Black in America 2" this year as well.

I thought it was a positive sign to see these issues explored in a mainstream news setting in a primetime slot, making it accessible to all Americans.

Celebrity gossip magazines/Websites are hot and Hip-Hop culture magazine Vibe is jumping in too. Defying the current slide in print revenue and the migration of content online, Vibe is jumping into the celebrity/gossip market with the launch of The Most.

According to Folio.com, the bi-annual print title will roll out in June and an accompanying Website, themostmag.com will go up two weeks later.

The Road to Heaven: John Demjanjuk's Alledged Role in the Sad Story of Sobibor

Mainstream news media organizations from the BBC-News to the New York Times reported on a frail 89 year-old resident of Seven Hills, Ohio named John Demjanjuk (pictured left)being deported to Germany to face charges that he was one of the Nazi SS guards who took part in the killing of over 250,000 Jews in the concentration camp known as Sobibor (pictured, top) over an 18 month period in 1942-1943.

In our 24-7 media-saturated world the here and now often seems to take precedent over the lessons of the past; stories that are 40-minutes old can be considered old news let alone a story that begins more than 40 years ago.

What will become of the past in the future?

With the rapid migration of news to electronic platforms and a seemingly ceaseless demand for faster delivery of information, will future generations remember Sobibor and the other extermination and labor camps constructed by the Third Reich to exterminate human beings?

Sobibor was constructed in the forests of Poland and completed in 1942. by May the facility was gassing large numbers of Jews using carbon monoxide from the exhaust of tanks according to Wikipedia.org.

After arriving at a railway platform, prisoners were marched along a 100-meter stretch of road through woods to their deaths. The road is known as the Himmelstrasse, or Road to Heaven.

Nicholas Kulish of the New York Times notes that sadly, so many years have passed since WWII that fewer and fewer first-hand witnesses with accurate memories of the camp survive; so Demjanuk's trial may be one of the last major court prosecutions of former-Nazis accused of taking part in mass extermination.

Will our current media consumption habits preserve those memories, or bury them?

Neo-Nazis are intoxicated with portraying the Holocaust as a myth and yet cloak themselves in the Nazi flag and idolize Adolph Hitler.

The only thing more horrific than the Holocaust is the thought that it could occur again because people forgot that it ever happened.

Sobibor was the site of one of the very few successful uprisings in German concentration camps - after it happened Henrich Himmler ordered the camp closed and trees planted where thousands of innocent people were gassed because of their religion.

Let's hope that our thirst for "data" never obscures the trees that line the Road to Heaven. Or that time never dims the light of justice.

Is John Demjanjuk really too old for prison? You decide.