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E-mailHuffington Post slams Glenn Beck and his 'Irish' roots group
Published Tuesday, November 17, 2009, 4:54 PM
Updated Tuesday, November 17, 2009, 5:49 PM
In a stew: The League of the South has a strong Irish flavor
There is a significant Irish presence on a Southern separatist group known as the League of the South that calls itself Anglo-Celtic and has been featured on the Glenn Beck show on Fox News. Now, The Huffington Post has attacked the group as racist — and Beck for allowing them to appear on his show.
The Southern Poverty Law Center labeled League of the South a "racist hate group" and issued a report filled with allegations of racist statements, especially by the League's president Michael Hill. According to a news article, Hill "welcomed the designation as a 'badge of honor'" and stated SPLC has "a very leftist agenda, these sorts of things are designed to discredit you public.
Hill – the man who appeared on Beck’s show – spoke of his connections with Ireland. “My family emigrated from Ulster back in the 1680s and 1690s,” he said. Hill has spent time in the Republic of Ireland and in the North. “It’s almost like home,” he said, adding that in Ireland “I see an organic, deeply-rooted historical culture that stands at odds with the international global elite.”
Part of the group’s philosophy is its links with Ireland. On its website it sells Irish records from a company called harpofdixie.com, as well as Irish food.
Thomas Ray Floyd is chairman of the group’s Mississippi chapter. “The people who settled the South were Irishmen, Scots, and Welshmen,” he said, speaking to IrishCentral.com. “Most were Christians, and they established the Protestant churches in the South.”
Hill refuted any accusation of racism. “We don’t accept that label. It’s very easy to throw labels around. We’re Southerners, and Southerners, particularly traditional conservatives, have always been cast in that light.”
Sam Stein of The Huffington Post disagrees “Hill's League of the South group is a decidedly white supremacist organization, arguing that the ‘Anglo-Celtic’ culture of the South must be protected and insisting that ‘white men’ must ‘shed the guilt heaped upon them by their opponents and defend their interests.'"
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Posted by liseuxx on Nov 24, 2009, 10:08 PM ESTGlenn Beck has a great following in America- because we're tired of the socialist mess Obama is bringing on us.
Personally, I think Beck is a bit extreme, but with wackos like Obama and his socialist/marxist fellow traveler appointees, Beck seems quite safe and able to get us some conservative values back in play.
Posted by liseuxx on Nov 24, 2009, 10:06 PM EST
Who cares about the Huffington Post. It's about as biased as was TASS News Agency in the old USSR.
Posted by IrishAndProud on Nov 22, 2009, 10:26 PM EST
sully1167 wrote: "Hey IrishAndProud why don't you get over yourself already? Being angry at the world is not going to get you anywhere. You obviously have way too much free time to be blogging on this website."
No more than you, sully. You have consistently interacted with me on this blog -- and yet you've failed to answer my question.
Posted by IrishAndProud on Nov 22, 2009, 10:24 PM EST
sULLY1167 wrote: "Hey IrishAndProud why don't you get over yourself already? Being angry at the world is not going to get you anywhere. You obviously have way too much free time to be blogging on this website."
No more than you, sully. You've consistently interacted with me, just as much -- but have not yet answered my questions.
Posted by IrishEddy on Nov 22, 2009, 08:58 PM EST
Beck needs an injection of freon, he keeps blowing nothing but hot air.
Posted by sully1167 on Nov 20, 2009, 09:28 AM EST
Hey IrishAndProud why don't you get over yourself already? Being angry at the world is not going to get you anywhere. You obviously have way too much free time to be blogging on this website.
Posted by IrishAndProud on Nov 19, 2009, 09:15 PM EST
SULLY1167 wrote: "Go ahead IrishAndProud throw a "Spin" into anything anyone says. People like you always use manipulation and twist everything. You have your opinion,and I have mine."
We certainly do. Incidentally, what 'spin, manipulation, and/or twisting of things' are you talking about, sully1167? Could you be more specific? Sooner or later in an argument, you need to offer specifics and proof.
Posted by OldBull on Nov 19, 2009, 02:03 PM EST
Not only is Glenn Beck a punk, but he's an ugly, stupid, arrogant punk. I don't care about the issue--I just wanted to respond to ciarrai's post. I will say, though, that the SPLC has somewhat outlived its usefulness. Not that there are no longer any poor people in the South, but its heyday was during the "Civil Rights Era." Much like the NAACP, it is running out of battles and in danger of becoming irrelevant. Can't say about the League of the South--never heard of them before this story. Oh yeah . . . Glenn Beck is an ugly, stupid, arrogant punk.
Posted by sully1167 on Nov 19, 2009, 07:22 AM EST
Go ahead IrishAndProud throw a "Spin" into anything anyone says. People like you always use manipulation and twist everything. You have your opinion,and I have mine.
Posted by botfeeder on Nov 19, 2009, 03:45 AM EST
kbandell: your Wonder Bread depiction of the SPLC immediately brings to mind the word "whitewash".
The SPLC is an organization that works to discredit groups that it characterizes as "hate groups", some of which are hate groups and some of which simply advocate policy views that are at odds with the radical leftist agenda of the SPLC.
Consequently, the SPLC's opinion regarding an individual or organization is useless in reaching an informed opinion about said individual or organization.
Responsible people don't take the SPLC seriously, only those who both subscribe to a leftist agenda and who have no ethical objection to the use of character assassination as a political weapon.
Posted by IrishAndProud on Nov 18, 2009, 09:07 PM EST
kbandell wrote: "...the Southern Poverty Law Center is functionally nonpolitical - that is, it can appropriately to characterised as neither right nor left....most of its work and the cases it defends revolve around discrimination of one sort or another....its program for schools - that is, Teaching Tolerance - has been widely celebrated and is extensivel used...." kbandell, you've just illustrated the blindness that liberals have inflicted on themselves. You automatically think that clearly, obviously LIBERAL positions (such as the ones you just rattled off) are not really liberal -- let alone political -- at all; rather, they're just neutral, non-partisan existence, as it is -- and so therefore by default it is anyone and everyone ELSE who opposes those positions who are partisan and political (not to mention mean, racist, bigoted, etc). And you're so indoctrinatied with this tactic that you can't even see it. It's a way of comforting yourself that you have the moral high ground, but of course no one else does, who feels differently than you. Plus, it's a great way to try to shut down any opinion from anyone different, before you even have to debate it (saving you the trouble of thinking); after all, who but a loathsome, child-molesting KKK-type would oppose 'Teaching Tolerance,' as it's called? But I dare say that most Americans (beyond the 20% who identify as liberal) know it's pure HOGWASH to say that a group like the SPLC is 'non-political;' of COURSE it's political, it CANNOT BE non-political, and not only is it political but it is HARD-LEFT political. Even a cursory glance of its website will tell you it's as left-wing as they come. If the League of the South is right-wing, my gosh, folks, the SPLC is LEFT-wing. Here's their site, btw... http://www.splcenter.org/
Posted by IrishAndProud on Nov 18, 2009, 09:07 PM EST
kbandell wrote: "...the Southern Poverty Law Center is functionally nonpolitical - that is, it can appropriately to characterised as neither right nor left....most of its work and the cases it defends revolve around discrimination of one sort or another....its program for schools - that is, Teaching Tolerance - has been widely celebrated and is extensivel used...." kbandell, you've just illustrated the blindness that liberals have inflicted on themselves. You automatically think that clearly, obviously LIBERAL positions (such as the ones you just rattled off) are not really liberal -- let alone political -- at all; rather, they're just neutral, non-partisan existence, as it is -- and so therefore by default it is anyone and everyone ELSE who opposes those positions who are partisan and political (not to mention mean, racist, bigoted, etc). And you're so indoctrinatied with this tactic that you can't even see it. It's a way of comforting yourself that you have the moral high ground, but of course no one else does, who feels differently than you. Plus, it's a great way to try to shut down any opinion from anyone different, before you even have to debate it (saving you the trouble of thinking); after all, who but a loathsome, child-molesting KKK-type would oppose 'Teaching Tolerance,' as it's called? But I dare say that most Americans (beyond the 20% who identify as liberal) know it's pure HOGWASH to say that a group like the SPLC is 'non-political;' of COURSE it's political, it CANNOT BE non-political, and not only is it political but it is HARD-LEFT political. Even a cursory glance of its website will tell you it's as left-wing as they come. If the League of the South is right-wing, my gosh, folks, the SPLC is LEFT-wing. Here's their site, btw... http://www.splcenter.org/
Posted by ciarrai on Nov 18, 2009, 09:06 PM EST
Glenn Beck is a punk.
Posted by IrishAndProud on Nov 18, 2009, 08:47 PM EST
sully1167, you seem to be trying to back away from your initial assertion, without it being noticed that you're doing so. Firstly you say, '...and certain hate groups in the American South such as the Klu Klux Klan.' Why are you now mentioning THAT group? Why didn't you just say 'certain groups such as the LS (since that's the group this article is about)? The KKK isn't the topic here; the LS is. Your initial post said, and I quote: "The members of this group are descended and related to the same bigots that hate Catholics in Northern Ireland. What do you expect it's instilled in them." So, you've just A)assumed these people harbor bigotry in the first place, and then B)they've had that bigotry instilled in them, simply by nature of who they're descended from. That's a pretty sweeping damnation, and it's that I was taking issue with. Thomas Floyd only said a FACT: most Anglo-Irish, as they're known, were indeed Christians, and most of them who settled in the U.S. South back in the day established Protestant Churches. And...he wants to preserve that culture as one who is part of it and who identifies with it, as any number of other groups and ethnic minorities do. And again...nowhere in that entire website have I seen him or anyone else officially with LS proclaiming racial (or religious) superiority over ANYONE. You've done just precisely what Frieda Klotz did, in her article above: you've quoted something that there's nothing wrong with, as evidence of hatred that isn't even mentioned. And THAT is the truth, sully1167. If you cannot handle THAT, then it truly is too bad.
Posted by kbandell on Nov 18, 2009, 07:41 PM EST
...the Southern Poverty Law Center is functionally nonpolitical - that is, it can appropriately to characterised as neither right nor left....most of its work and the cases it defends revolve around discrimination of one sort or another....its program for schools - that is, Teaching Tolerance - has been widely celebrated and is extensivel used....
Posted by sully1167 on Nov 18, 2009, 06:54 PM EST
IrishAndProud,if you read the article;it stated that Thomas Ray Floyd from the Mississippi Chapter said that most Anglo Irish were Christians and established the Protestant Churches in the South. Yes you are correct that bigotry works both ways. I didn't say that hatred is instilled in every individual Protestant,or every individual Catholic for that matter.Obviously ones that belong to hate groups yes. I can care less about religion, I am not even a religious person. Religion can be dangerous as you can see,it divides people.I was only stating a fact about Northern Ireland, and certain hate groups in the American South such as the Klu Klux Klan. Sorry if the truth hurts you SIR! If you can't handle too bad!!
Posted by IrishAndProud on Nov 18, 2009, 03:42 PM EST
sully1167 wrote: "The members of this group are descended and related to the same bigots that hate Catholics in Northern Ireland. What do you expect it's instilled in them."
So, you're saying that certain people are inherently instilled and inbred with hatred? Exactly how is that any different than what pro-slavery whites said about blacks? You see, sully1167, sneering, racist condescention against others is always the same -- no matter who it's coming from , or who it's directed toward. You're either consistent across the board in opposing this practice, or you'r not. And you, sir, are not. You'd probably express 'rage' against the standard, default definition of racism (white-against-minority)...and then you'd turn right around and say hateful garbage like your post above. No consistency...NO consistency. And besides, how do YOU know if their descendants are Protestant Irish, or Catholic (and so what, either way)?
Posted by chesapeake on Nov 18, 2009, 03:37 PM EST
I am really not familiar with this organization; and would decry racism in virtually any form. If - and I stress "if",this group is claiming "affinities...with Irish culture, not with the culture of the United States", I have no use for them. The Irish share an important trait with the average American - they are fiercely independent and firm in the belief of God and freedom of organized religions. I'll pass on further comment.
Posted by IrishAndProud on Nov 18, 2009, 03:35 PM EST
noozguy1 wrote: "IrishandStupid should take a look at the 'Irish' (quotes intended, because it's about as Irish as Hitler) website in question to see the hate and racism from every corner. No need to take HuffPo's word on this one. A bigot site with Celtic decorations. Learn to read, pal!"
Snoozgal, I DID take a look at their website -- if you'd read my posts you would have seen that (perhaps YOU should learn to read, before accusing others of it). This group and their agenda are the things that were questioned here; find me even a single, solitary racist thing they officially embrace, at any level. Don't hurl that phony 'racist' charge at people unless you have direct quotes from them as back-up (and being a so-called 'progressive,' I guarantee that you are utterly intolerant of -- and bigoted toward -- any beliefs other than your own, and of certain ethnic groups of people, too). And another bit of advice: do NOT question peoples' Irishness simply because you have a warped view of their beliefs. I'm of Catholic Irish descent, with Union Civil War ancestry, and I support the option of secession. Try as you already have, you cannot marginalise other groups that you don't personally like, or blackball the concept of secession. Don't like dissent from the little, fake, broadbrush-and-stereotype-others world you've couched yourself in? Find some other website -- like the Huffing and Puffington post. I'm sure THEY'd tolerate your intolerant beliefs -- since they think that way, too.
Posted by jack112229 on Nov 18, 2009, 02:54 PM EST
After getting my DNA while tracking the genealogy of my Irish family, it turned out that mine and most Irish do not have most of their genes coming from the Vikings. The Irish genes in general come from North Africa, Spain, most of Europe and a few from Asia and the Pacific.
Posted by sully1167 on Nov 18, 2009, 02:50 PM EST
The members of this group are descended and related to the same bigots that hate Catholics in Northern Ireland. What do you expect it's instilled in them.
Posted by bostonblakie on Nov 18, 2009, 12:46 PM EST
Tempest in a teapot.
Posted by FastEddy on Nov 18, 2009, 12:28 PM EST
I'm Black Irish ... does that count?
Posted by washwoman on Nov 18, 2009, 11:49 AM EST
Our first clue that these clowns are not what they appear to be is that they were on Beck's show. Beck is a hatemonger of the worst kind. Water seeks it's own level and this group is bad news.
They wrap themselves in the cloak of Christianity and I ask you this: would Jesus belong to or approve of this group? They are bigoted hypocites and are using Beck's show to recruit.
Why are all of these people so afraid and so willing to spread hate to get their way?
Posted by FatherVol on Nov 18, 2009, 10:12 AM EST
Well, Mr. Owens has better historical perspective that the author of the article. The Founding Fathers endorsed the possibility of secession in many statements such as in letters exchanged between themselves and in public statements, and there was no law or constitutional article preventing a state from leaving the union. What effectively happened with the surrender of the CSA to the USA after the war was the establishment of a national government that supercedes all states' rights, and we have been paying for it ever since as we have become the slaves of the State. Funny that the US Congress has passed enough laws to transform the nation into one big plantation for the benefit of its own whims and fancies, isn't it? I'm laughing out loud ... NOT!
Posted by McNabb1966 on Nov 18, 2009, 05:25 AM EST
Obviously Huffington Post has an anti-Beck agenda...and obviously Frieda Klotz has the same agenda. Having read the Sam Stein piece and taken a look at the League of the South website, I think the attempt to make the HuffPo piece appear relevant to Irish Central readers was a waste of time. If you want to bash Glenn Beck, that's your perogative but let's not pretend that it has anything to do with Irishness. Let's not have Irish Central take its cues from Huffington Post or any other website promoting a single political ideology. Leave the thought-policing to other folks.
Posted by noozguy1 on Nov 17, 2009, 09:51 PM EST
IrishandStupid should take a look at the 'Irish' (quotes intended, because it's about as Irish as Hitler) website in question to see the hate and racism from every corner. No need to take HuffPo's word on this one. A bigot site with Celtic decorations. Learn to read, pal!
Posted by IrishAndProud on Nov 17, 2009, 09:48 PM EST
(continued, from below) In closing, it's unwise to attack the very idea of secessionism by reflexively hurling that silly, trendy (to liberals) 'RACIST!' charge against it. That only builds resentment, and is itself what helps to keep TRUE racism alive. I close with a quote from Thomas Jefferson, the very first DEMOCRAT President of the USA, who recognized the need to keep the secession option: "If any State in the Union will declare that it prefers 'separation' over 'Union,' I have no hesitation in saying, 'let us separate.'"
Posted by IrishAndProud on Nov 17, 2009, 09:39 PM EST
(continued, from below) You see, it helps to actually approach a subject objectively -- and not just automatically cut and past, and parrot groups and websites like the Huffing-and-Puffington Post, as it's known (which is basically to the left wing what the Drudge Report is to the right wing), and notoriously-leftist groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center. My gosh, Frieda...if THOSE are where you get your info from -- or what you consider to be 'normal' and 'mainstream' -- no wonder you're off-target. And if anyone from the LS happens to have Irish roots, so what? They can proudly claim those roots just as much as someone on the left of the spectrum could. That is not off-limits to anyone other than liberals, you know. As I was reading all the quotes you used from the LS guys, I honestly was asking myself, "What's bad, here?" And...lest I be reflexively and predictably accused of being a southern hayseed-hick redneck for saying all this (which is a racist assumption, in itself), I happen to be proudly and happily NORTHERN, and the proud descendant of UNION troops, who had relatives DIE in the service of the Northern cause, in the American Civil War. I have Jewish family members, and between my siblings and I we have dated blacks, Hispanic and Arab. But that doesn't mean there cannot be a legitimate case for secession from the USA, or that those who take that position automatically must hate minorities and be KKK people, etc. It's not wise to be so knee-jerk about subjects like this, Frieda. It shows weakness on your part, and a willingness to join the reflexive stampede just because you think it's the popular thing to do (which it isn't necessarily, either).
Posted by IrishAndProud on Nov 17, 2009, 09:38 PM EST
(continued from below) Now where in the LS statement I just quoted -- or anywhere else on their website -- do you see anyone claiming that whites are superior to blacks, or preaching white supremacy? Because if it isn't there, then you have just technically committed LIBEL, Frieda. Further, what exactly is wrong with seeking to protect one's culture and identity -- whether black, white, oriental, middle-eastern or what-have-you -- particularly when that race (whites, in this case) have been undeniably attacked and smeared just for being white, and doing what minority groups are lauded and PRAISED for doing?
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