[Vision2020] Snub the Messenger

[Tom Hansen]

>From editorial page of today's (August 26, 2006) Spokesman Review -

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Snub the messenger 
Our View: Race-baiting NIC candidate will not succeed

August 26, 2006

Coeur d'Alene residents should be alarmed by the unruliness of the crowd at
U.S. Sen. Larry Craig's town hall meeting this week.

The seemingly organized attempt by political newcomer Stan Hess of Hayden to
whip up anti-immigration sentiment could be a sign of nasty things to come
this fall. Hess, who served as president of the California chapter of former
Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke's EURO organization, is running against
incumbent Denny Hague for a North Idaho College trustee seat. Apparently,
Hess plans to use his campaign as a soapbox to push his pro-white agenda.
 
Hess and others who hooted in support when Hess shouted down Craig don't
realize that Kootenai County has a long, distinguished history of defending
itself against uncivil ideologues and racists. The Kootenai County Task
Force On Human Relations has written the manual on how to deal with race
agitators. Hess will be hard-pressed to re-ignite the flames of intolerance
that were effectively extinguished when Aryan Nations founder Richard Butler
lost his compound and most of his organization after he was sued into
bankruptcy.

There are several practical ways to handle race baiters: Challenge their
message, comfort their victims, monitor their activities and vote against
them when they seek political office. North Idahoans have accomplished all
four of these objectives, with the task force leading the way. They have
learned that intolerance grows in a vacuum. That haters don't go away if you
ignore them. That "saying yes to human rights is the best way to say no to
prejudice."

Hess denies that he's a racist, insisting rather that he's simply crusading
for European-American recognition in this country to counterbalance the
attention paid to minority groups. However, the esteemed Southern Poverty
Law Center ranks him among the 100 most prolific white supremacists in the
country. A spokeswoman for the center told The Spokesman-Review: "He's a big
man in hate; there's no question." Hess' inflammatory actions Tuesday
indicate there's more there than he's willing to admit. Before stomping out
of the meeting, he called human-rights leader Tony Stewart a name from
another era: "Bolshevik."

Those who criticize immigrants and minorities have a right to voice their
opinions. But they don't have a right to disrupt meetings or to expect
others to embrace their message. Hess' actions at the public meeting, which
was ironically held in the new Human Rights Education Institute, indicate he
wants to be heard but not to listen. In the past, North Idaho showed its
contempt for political candidates with similar approaches and messages by
overwhelmingly rejecting the mayoral candidacies of supremacists Vincent
Bertollini, in Sandpoint, and Butler, in Hayden.

Hess' dark-horse candidacy should be snubbed, too.

Unquestionably, the issue of immigration is ripe for debate. This country
has failed to seal its porous borders and to reform immigration laws. But
the debate should take place in a civil manner.

Hess' brand of activism won't find fertile ground in North Idaho.

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Speak loudly and keep your powder dry, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"If not us, who?
If not now, when?"

- Unknown