Arthur Topham: Not Pretending Anymore

There was a time, not long ago, when Arthur Topham claimed that he wasn't an anti-Semite. No, he was merely opposed to Zionism and Zionists. Besides, he couldn't be an anti-Semite since he claimed his wife had Jewish ancestry (though we're not sure that there was anything actually presented to substantiate that claim).

But it looks like any pretext has been dropped. The city has been razed and the lands surrounding it salted. Suffice it to say it's hard to convince anyone that you are not an anti-Semite when you post stuff like this:

 

Or this:

Man pictured in the link is not Fredrick Toben

Or especially this:

 

And if there were still any remaining questions, this:

At least he's being a little more honest now, if one wants to give him that much credit.

But then most of our readers didn't need Topham to convince them in the first place of his nature.

Keegstra's Death: Relic of the Past Responds

That James Keegstra did not die on June 12 when the news became public, but in fact died 10 days earlier, is telling. The name Keegstra was still mentioned occasionally by the likes of Fromm when he rambled on about Sec. 319 and about free speech in an abstract way, but the man himself had been largely forgotten, drifting into obscurity soon after his final sentencing hearing in 1996. Even his contemporaries appear to have forgotten about him and it seems that few even attempted to remain in touch with the man they, at the time, lionized and rallied around.

Of his contemporaries, many like John Ross Taylor, Doug Christie, Wolfgang Droege, and Martin Wiche have died. Others like John Beattie, Don Andrews, and Ernst Zundel have yet to acknowledge Keegstra's passing, in part because they have shied away from their more colorful past (Like Beattie, who is running for Deputy Reeve in Minden, Ontario) or couldn't be bothered to care.

Such is the nature of the White Nationalist movement.

But at least one of those infamous old relics from the past has decided to make a rare appearance. Terry Long, like Keegstra, disappeared not long after of the Canadian branch of the Aryan Nations' he lead collapsed. Last we heard he was living in Ontario, but he does periodically pop up from time to time. He ran for office under the Doug Christie-led Western Canadian Concept Party. We know that it was Long whom Todd Conroy (former BC Volksfront leader) had been visiting when he got into a near fatal motorcycle accident. And we know that he still keeps up on the state of the movement, as we copies of emails sent by Long to some of the more contemporary members of the movement dating to the 2000s. So while he might not be active anymore, he certainly hasn't changed his views. And when Keegstra died Long (eventually) decided to break his silence as well.

Actually, Western historians generally agreed that the number of Jews who died in Auschwitz numbered between 800,000 and 1.35 million since at least 1961 and the Soviet numbers had been long discarded, but why should we expect revisionists like Long to be accurate?

Paul Fromm also got around to posting a eulogy of sorts, but we aren't sure that yet another one of Paulie's  self-promoting missives is really all that necessary here.

While Keegstra's obscurity is telling, it is also fitting. And so is the fact that his remaining contemporaries will eventually follow him, some likely sooner than others. Ernst Zundel is 75, Long has to be at least in his 70s,  and Don Andrews is around 72. John Beattie, someone who sounds to be in the early stages of dementia, is in his early 70s (UPDATE: Beattie is 72) and Paul Fromm in his mid 60s. Another 10, 15 years....

There will come a point when these men too will shuffle off their mortal coil and their names forgotten. We find this fact to be a comforting one.

Jim Keegstra has died

UPDATE: Why don't we reference an internationally respected news agency rather than the rag we had here previously?

Jim Keegstra, notorious Canadian Holocaust denier, dead at 80

Keegstra, a teacher, was charged in 1984 with 'wilfully promoting hatred' for his anti-Semitic school lessons

CBC News Posted: Jun 13, 2014 1:35 AM MT Last Updated: Jun 13, 2014 6:35 AM MT

James ‘Jim’ Keegstra, a prominent Canadian holocaust denier and former high school teacher in Eckville, Alta., is dead at the age of 80, CBC News learned late Thursday night.

Keegstra made international headlines in 1983 when he was accused of teaching students that the history of the Holocaust was fraudulent, and that a Jewish conspiracy was responsible for many of the world’s problems.

It was alleged that Keegstra had been teaching his anti-Semitic views to his social studies class for 14 years before a parent complained to the local school board about his lessons.

In January 1984, Keegstra was stripped of his teaching certificate and charged with “wilfully promoting hatred against an identifiable group” under the Criminal Code of Canada.

At the time, no one had been successfully convicted under Canada’s hate propaganda laws enacted in 1970.
Keegstra was represented at trial by attorney Doug Christie, a political activist originally from B.C., who would go on to defend some of Canada’s most high-profile Holocaust deniers.

Keegstra was convicted at his original trial and fined $5,000. His lawyers appealed the decision, arguing that the law was unconstitutional and that it violated provisions on freedom of expression in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

After multiple trials and appeals the case eventually reached the Supreme Court of Canada, who in 1990 and again in 1996 upheld Keegstra’s conviction in a landmark ruling that found that the Criminal Code section on public incitement of hatred did infringe on Charter rights, but that infringement was justified.

Keegstra received a one-year suspended sentence, one year of probation, and community service.

He died on June 2, according to a report in the Red Deer Advocate. CBC News confirmed with his son that his father was in fact dead.

According to the same report, Keegstra spent the latter part of his life as a custodian at an apartment complex in the city.

Now we'll see what the usual suspects have to say about this.

Doug Christie: The Truth Will Out (Part III)

You know, it is remarkable how, when presented with the truth, how people in an echo chamber refuse to acknowledge it. Take our friends at Free Dominion, for example. Despite what we think is pretty strong evidence indicating that Doug Christie and those Holocaust deniers, klanmen, and neo-Nazis whom he defended had certain shared political beliefs, they continue to suggest otherwise. However, there are those who say even if he did agree with Holocaust deniers, it doesn't matter since he was someone who selflessly fought for everyone's right to speak and write freely.

You can follow the link here if you wish to read the full discussion, but we think that these few posts sort of encapsulate the debate (by the way, we have no idea who poster "Free Markets" is, but he or she has already been accused of being a supporter of the Collective. We suspect this article will only heighten the already existent paranoia):

Really?

Well then, shall we take up "free_life2's" challenge then?

Doug Christie: The Truth Will Out (Part II)

Christie in his law kiosk

Not surprisingly, we've already been criticized for our focus on Doug Christie by our friends at Free Dominion, including what might be a veiled (and pretty ironic in light of their claim to be supporters of free speech) threat of, we suspect, future litigation for having the temerity to post and comment on what Christie himself published. But then this is all part of the whitewash of Doug Christie and his reinvention as a free speech hero who defended those who said or wrote quirky things about Jews and people of color. As a result, Christie has practically been deified while we and other Christie critics are vilified.

But then our Free Dominion friends might have a little bit of a problem. You see, while we are an easy target (they don't like us very much for some reason), it might be more difficult for them to vilify someone who leads an organization that recently hosted an event to raise funds in support Free Dominion (pictures here and here).

What does Meir Weinstein have to say about the passing of Doug Christie?

NOTE: While it might seem silly to black out the names of the other individual also involved in the conversation we decided that we would do so unless given permission to post his name here.

So why would the head of the Canadian branch of the JDL write, "let him rot in hell" regarding the passing of Doug Christie? Well, one thing we've noted here in covering JDL, the organization in general and Meir specifically, are pretty consistent when it comes to an understandable antipathy towards people who hold anti-Jewish or anti-Semetic views and who promote those views publicly.

Which brings us to the topic at hand. Was Christie, as Meir Weinstein appears to imply, deserving of such criticism?

Answering Free Dominion: Part II

The way you deal with Nazis is to, “break their heads.”

The JDL fundraiser for Free Dominion took place about a week ago and was attended a who's who of the Canadian right-wing blogosphere as well as some of the more active members of Free Dominion. Prior to this, Connie responded to our last article:

Well, we really don't have to paint the JDL as violent, Connie, since your own membership seem to agree:

Now, our Free Dominion friend here couches the violence of the JDL in more respectable terms; they represent the "warrior race" that is befitting of the Jewish people. Our Free Dominion friend also goes on to claim that the reason why we or anyone else would be concerned about the JDL is because we are closet anti-Semites who want Jews to be powerless in the face of those who would harm them.

It's a ridiculous accusation (especially directed at us) but this is sort of Free Dominion's schtick.

It  might be instructive, however, to learn how the JDL earned the honor of being referred to as warriors since the Canadian branch of the JDL has engaged in the very activities that Free Dominion has accused (and condemned) us at ARC of engaging in.

But we begin at the beginning.

Update on Macdonald Court Appearance

We were sent this a few moments ago:

Shawn MacDonald's court appearance delayed till 1:30 pm today (same courtroom 307 at 222 Main). He has plead not guilty to the hate crimes and they are setting trial dates (he elected for a judge and jury). His lawyer is infamous/notorious far-right libertarian Doug Christie who has a history of defending white supremacists and neo-Nazis (Keegstra, Zundel, Collins, Fromm etc).

In addition to this, the individual who originally posted this message also stated she received an email from someone trying to intimidate her into being silent.

From what we know about this woman, that ain't happening. For the benefit of our bonehead readers, does the term, "chew you up and spit youu out" mean anything to you?

Paulie Quite Inadvertently Stumbles Upon the Truth

Well it's that time of year when Doug Christie hosts yet another misnamed George Orwell Free Speech Award Dinner (misnamed not in the sense that Orwell opposed freedom of speech, but in that as a committed socialist opposed to totalitarianism in all it's forms, he would likely be disgusted that his name was being used to honour people who share the same ideology he risked his life opposing during the Spanish Civil War). Past, ehem... winners of this, uhm.... prestigious award include Marc Lemire, Ernst Zundel, Paul Fromm, Doug Collins, James Keegstra, Malcolm Ross and, our good friends and faithful readers, the Fourniers, among others.

Because misery loves company, Collins and co. awarded the prize to another worthy recipeient:

And this year`s winner is.............