On the weekend of May 17th-18th, 2002, Steve Scalise was a 36-year-old Louisiana State Representative. Six years later, he’d become a United States Congressman. Six years after that, after only three terms, Steve Scalise would become the House Majority Whip, arguably the third most powerful and influential member of the United States House of Representatives.
But on that weekend in May, Scalise was reportedly armed with a microphone at the Landmark Best Western in Metairie and talking about tax policy to an international convention… of white supremacists and neo-Nazis. According to a commenter who used the name “Alsace Hebert,” Steve Scalise was a highlight of the convention.
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And from the sound of it, Scalise accomplished what he came there to do: He convinced some vehement white racists and neo-Nazi bigots to vote for him.
The quote above comes from blogger Lamar White, Jr., who broke the story yesterday. This link will take you to his blog entry (Note: Before you click the link to Mr. White's blog, be warned that
some of the links in his article will take you to the Stormfront website):
CenLamar.com
Mr. Lamar's account is confirmed by The Washington Post and The Times-Picayune.
Lamar's post is very interesting, as are the WaPo and Times-Pic articles. In short, Steve Scalise spoke at the European-American Unity and Rights Organization convention in 2002. The European-American Unity and Rights Organization (known as EURO - note: links to SPLC website) was established in 2001 by David Duke (links to SPLC), a former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Scalise claims that he didn't know what EURO's politics were (yeah right, he didn't know what David Duke stood for), but he does not deny attending or speaking at the event.
Hopefully, the Republicans will need to find a new Majority Whip.