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WSWS : News & Analysis : North America : Starr Investigation

Judiciary Committee Republican Bob Barr spoke at white supremacist convention

By Barry Grey
12 December 1998

A spokesman for Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.) acknowledged Thursday that Barr was a keynote speaker earlier this year at a convention of the Council of Conservative Citizens, a white supremacist organization that views interracial marriage as "white genocide."

Barr, who began calling for Clinton's impeachment in 1997, has been the most outspoken proponent of impeachment on the House Judiciary Committee. In recent weeks he has appeared with increasing frequency on network news and interview programs.

According to an article in the December 11 issue of the Washington Post, the congressman spoke at the Council of Conservative Citizens' semiannual convention in Charleston, South Carolina on June 6. His presence was cited by Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, who testified last month against the impeachment of Clinton at a House Judiciary Committee hearing.

Last week Dershowitz wrote to Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde, stating, "Congressman Barr, who was fully aware of this organization's racist and anti-Semitic agenda, not only gave the keynote address to the CCC's national board, but even allowed himself to be photographed literally embracing one of their national directors."

Barr sent a letter to Hyde in response to Dershowitz's charge, in which he said Dershowitz's "accusations are unfounded and deplorable." He went on to accuse Dershowitz of "condoning the use of racism in court," citing Dershowitz's role as part of the defense team in the O. J. Simpson case.

Hyde has made no statement on Barr's ties to this racist and fascist organization, nor have they been reported by the major news media. But according to the Washington Post, the Internet web site of the Council of Conservative Citizens portrays the "white race" as under siege. The December 11 Post article quotes a column on the site by one "H. Millard" which says, in part:

"There too is the way to get rid of the world of whites. Convince them to mix their few genes with the genes of the many. Genocide via the bedroom chamber is as long lasting as genocide via war."

The revelation of Barr's ties to white supremacist forces lifts the lid on a fact of political life well known within the Washington establishment and the media--that a significant section of the Republican Party has links to ultra-right and fascistic groups.

Barr's role as the most insistent campaigner within Congress for the removal of Clinton underscores the central role of fascistic elements in the political conspiracy that has culminated in the impeachment proceedings.

See Also:
Political coup gathers strength
Clinton's groveling emboldens right-wing push for impeachment
[12 December 1998]