Former League of the South Board Member Michael Peroutka Wins GOP Nomination for MD AG

The GOP just gets lower and lower.

Yesterday, GOP voters in Maryland elected Michael Peroutka to be their standard bearer in November’s race for Attorney General. Long time readers of this blog might recall many articles here about Peroutka’s involvement with the racist League of the South. The League was one of the white nationalist organizations involved in the Charlottesville riots in defense of the Confederate statues there. They have a long history of racist demonstrations and agitation. One of the stated objectives which Peroutka has been quite vocal about is Southern secession. I have a load of info about him and his Institute on the Constitution here and here.

While there are quite a few posts that come to mind on the occasion of his primary win, this one came to mind first. Once when speaking at the League of the South annual convention, Peroutka closed his part of the program by asking the audience to stand for the “national anthem.” However, instead of singing the U.S. national anthem, he led the audience in a rousing rendition of “Dixie.”

Here is the video:

Peroutka has said he isn’t in the League anymore. He has repudiated racism and said he didn’t see racism while he was in the League. Well, if you believe that, maybe you’ll believe Dixie is the national anthem.

Michael Peroutka Somehow Missed the Racism in the League of the South

Michael Peroutka, a former board member of white supremacist group League of the South and current member of the Anne Arundel County Council, said Monday night that he can’t recall racism among his former League colleagues. This is not the first time he has claimed this. In yesterday’s Capital Gazette (video), Peroutka is quoted at a county council meeting as saying:

I believed the group to be integrated and non-discriminatory with regard to race, and my recollection of topics that were discussed in my presence concerned objections to overreaching and intrusive policies and programs of the federal government; they did not focus on race…

I don’t know whether or not the League had regular board meetings when Peroutka pledged his resources to the League, but I do know the racist content was clear and undeniable.

I pointed it out to him frequently. The white supremacist aim of the League was the cause of a protest against Peroutka and the National Religious Broadcasters organization. NRB provided air time for Peroutka’s Institute on the Constitution despite knowing that Peroutka was a board member of the League. Let’s review.

The following links provide all the evidence anyone could want that the League was a white supremacist group when Peroutka was involved. Let’s begin by recalling that Peroutka has been attending and speaking at the League of the South conferences since 2004 when he received the organizations endorsement for Peroutka’s presidential campaign with the Constitution Party.

When Michael Peroutka joined the board of the League of the South in 2012, he supported the aims of the League which is to form a white homeland in the South. In his speech, he referred to secession and being in sync with League goals.

We have a basic Constitution course, now again I don’t disagree with Dr. Hill at all, that this regime is beyond reform. I think that’s an obvious fact and I agree with him. However, I do agree that when you secede, or however the destruction and the rubble of this regime takes place and how it plays out, you’re going to need to take a biblical worldview and apply it to civil law and government. That’s what you’re still going to need to do. Whether we’re going to have to have this foundational information in the hearts and minds of the people, or else liberty won’t survive the secession either. You see what I’m saying? So this view, I saying that because I don’t want the League of the South, for one minute to think that I am about reforming the current regime, and that studying the Constitution is about reforming the regime. I like many of you, and like Patrick Henry, probably have come to the conclusion that we smelled a rat, smelled a rat from the beginning. However, we believe that it is essential to take a biblical view of law and government and then make those applications so we publish actually three courses of instruction.

Furthermore, League president Michael Hill made it quite clear that the League is a pro-white separatist organization. Consider the following links.
League of the South President Michael Hill Defines Southerners as White – When Peroutka was on the board, Michael Hill defined Southern people as white.

Michael Peroutka Should Not Be Surprised at White Separatism in the League of the South – In this 2014 post, I provide video of a speech by Michael Hill opposing biracial marriage and extolling the superiority of whites at the same League of the South conference where Michael Peroutka spoke and led the crowd in singing Dixie – what Peroutka said at the time was the “national anthem.”

League of the South President: Relish Being a White Supremacist – In this 2014 post, Hill is quoted celebrating his white supremacist views. He cites several people (e.g., Robert Dabney) who Peroutka also approvingly cited on his website for years.

Michael Peroutka Says the Institute on the Constitution Led Him to the League of the South – In this post, I provide 2004 video where Michael Peroutka tells an informal audience that his study of the Constitution led him to affiliation with the League of the South.

League of the South President: Southerners are Whites – While Peroutka was a member, League president Michael Hill was clear about his white supremacist views.

Rules of Engagement to Help White Southerners Survive – Michael Hill suggested several rules to help white Southerners survive.

Peroutka articulated agreement with the League’s goals and the League’s president didn’t hide their aims. Peroutka’s current support for anti-hate statements is nice, but it would ring more sincerely if he gave a more credible story about his years as a League of the South leader.

The Institute on the Constitution Again Falsely Ascribes Quote to Thomas Jefferson (UPDATED)

If the Institute on the Constitution leaders can’t get these easy quotes right, then how can they be trusted to teach the Constitution?
This time it is Jefferson again. IOTC has Jefferson saying, “That government is best which governs least.” According to the ever reliable Anna Berkes at Monticello, Jefferson didn’t make that quote. 
iotc jefferson governs least
The IOTC has falsely attributed quotes to George Washington (twice), Thomas Paine, and to Jefferson (twice). It certainly looks like they don’t care. To my knowledge, they have never corrected the false information or removed the fake quotes.
UPDATE: Someone who runs the IOTC Facebook page said the following in response to my assertion that the Jefferson quote was false.

Actually he quoted Henry David Thoreau’s work called “Civil Disobedience”. The quote is also part of his philosophy.

In fact, Jefferson died on July 4, 1826 and Civil Disobedience was published in 1849.

Todd Starnes: School Board Members Who Voted to Remove Rebel Mascot and Dixie Anthem Are Dim-witted Lefties

Add Fox News Todd Starnes to the short list (including David French and Bryan Fischer) to the list of prominent conservatives who are defending symbols of the Confederacy.
In a column today, Starnes made fun of the Fort Smith, Arkansas school board for phasing out their Rebel mascot and removing Dixie as the school fight song. More precisely, the school board met as a committee of the whole and voted to make it official during an upcoming meeting. According to a notice on the district’s Facebook page (which Starnes partially cited), the changes are being made because the racist symbolism.
The board wrote:

Giving great consideration to the continuing impact of perceived symbols of racism on the community, state and nation, the Fort Smith Public School Board convened as a Committee of the Whole tonight and passed a motion to discontinue the use of “Dixie” as the Southside High School fight song in the 2015-2016 school year, and to phase out the use of the Rebel as the Southside mascot in the 2016-2017 school year.

This motion passed with a 6-0 vote and will be presented to the Board during the regularly scheduled meeting on July 27, 2015. The Rebel and “Dixie” have been used as the Southside High School mascot and fight song since the school opened more than 50 years ago. The Board understands the challenges of changing what has come to be the tradition of the Southside High School community, and will work with the student body and staff over the next year to name a new mascot and fight song for the school.

While this is sure to be controversial, it shouldn’t be. The Civil War was over a long time ago. It is time to move past Rebels and Dixie. Nothing seems clearer now; except to Todd Starnes. He closes his “news” break with this:

Folks around Fort Smith aren’t too keen on the idea of removing either the mascot or the song. Many posted their extreme displeasure on the district’s social networking sites.

“It appears to be a knee jerk reaction influenced by current events,” one reader wrote. “Removing flags or historical symbols because they may offend a number of people is a slippery slope.”

I’m curious, though, about this idea of perceived symbols of racism. It really is subjective, isn’t it?

I mean – I could perceive the Fort Smith School Board to be a bunch of dim-witted, dingleberry lefties who don’t have the sense God gave a goose.

But I could be mistaken.

However — in this case, I’m more than likely right.

And I’m not just whistling Dixie.

Starnes might like to hang with Michael Peroutka who thinks Dixie is the national anthem.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/EU-yheBdOTI[/youtube]

You Find the League of the South in the Strangest Places: CNN and the Institute on the Constitution

no Confederate flagThe League of the South appears to be leading the media defense of the Confederate flag. Tonight I watched the South Carolina LoS chairman Pat Hines try to defend the Confederate flag on CNN (I’ll get video when I can).


At one point near the end, Hines wondered why another guest (a South Carolina state legislator) was working for the “cultural genocide” of the Southern people by advocating removal of the Confederate flag. The incredulous response of the guests and host Don Lemon was the same as mine. You (Hines) can’t be serious. A symbol of slavery does not represent any good thing about anyone’s culture.
It was surreal seeing a representative of the League of the South as a guest on CNN. The leader of the League of the South. Michael Hill, has warned African-Americans about a race war and wants the Southern states to secede and become a homeland for whites. He has no problem being known as a white supremacist. His most recent rant is unhinged.
On another front, it has been surreal for a couple of years to know that members of the League of the South are leaders of a self-described effort to educate students and the public about the Constitution. Regular readers know I am talking about the Institute on the Constitution. Founder and director Michael Peroutka is a former board member of the League. David Whitney, IOTC senior instructor, is currently listed as chaplain of the Maryland/Virginia branch of the League (see image below).
At a news conference prior the Peroutka’s election to the Anne Arundel County Council, Peroutka defended the League, calling it “a Christian free-market group.” Peroutka said he quit the group but his Senior Instructor (Whitney) is a leader in the state branch and Peroutka has never denounced the League. Peroutka has also said he didn’t know any racists in the League but that stretches belief.
Whitney MD chapter of LOS