Interesting to find an article that so easily highlights the trouble “the right” has in contemplating the “extreme right”. Here’s a guy who was right in the top corridors of power in a Republican presidential administration, with a strong hate of the federal government (hence the “head shots” quotations from his show) and an appreciation for Nazi stuff that is a bit unsettling.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200411230004
[quote]The Fuhrer was G Gordon Liddy’s first political hero. Liddy was a sickly, asthmatic child when he grew up in Hoboken, New Jersey, in the 1930s. The town was full of ethnic Germans who idolized Hitler. Liddy was made to salute the Stars and Stripes Nazi-style by the nuns at his school; even now, he admits, “at assemblies where the national anthem is played, I must suppress the urge to snap out my right arm.” His beloved German nanny taught him that Hitler had – through sheer will-power – “dragged Germany from weakness to strength.”
This gave Liddy hope “for the first time in my life” that he too could overcome weakness. When he listened to Hitler on the radio, it “made me feel a strength inside I had never known before,” he explains. “Hitler’s sheer animal confidence and power of will [entranced me]. He sent an electric current through my body.” He describes seeing the Nazis’ doomed technological marvel the Hindenberg flying over New Jersey as an almost religious experience. “Ecstatic, I drank in its colossal power and felt myself grow. Fear evaporated and in its place came a sense of personal might and power.”[/quote]
However, it’s interesting to see how the GOP treats people who encourage the killing of Clinton-era officials … they become honored guests! http://www.fair.org/extra/9507/liddy.html
[quote]Later, after North signed off, Liddy had this exchange with a caller:
Liddy: When the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms thugs come to kill your wife and children, to try to disarm you and they open fire on you. When they come at the point of a gun, force and violence, when you’re going to defend yourself, use that Gerand [M-1 rifle]. That thing is 30-06, and it’ll take 'em right out.
Caller: And yes, aim for the head.
Liddy: Absolutely.
If Bob Dole, Newt Gingrich or Oliver North missed the Sept. 15 show, the Sept. 6 show would have helped them understand this Republican supporter’s character.
Liddy: Arm yourself. Get instructed in how to shoot straight.
Caller: I’ve got weapons.
Liddy: Absolutely. And don’t give 'em up, and don’t register either.
Caller: No way. And I’m aiming between the eyes.
Liddy: There you go. That way their flak jackets won’t protect them.
For the listeners to Liddy’s 250 stations, appeals for the election of Republican candidates were sandwiched between frequent depictions of the Clinton administration as an evil that needed to be resisted with deadly force. That may explain why Liddy was invited to be the guest of honor at the Republican Party’s “Salute to Talk Radio.” [/quote]