The Lott Brigade lives on

More proof that Republicans have shed their racist past -- by just pretending it doesn't exist:

Legislator under fire for helping 'hate group'

A state lawmaker is being criticized by a civil rights group for reserving a room at the state Capitol for what the Southern Poverty Law Center calls a white supremacist hate group.

Rep. Dick Brewbaker, R-Montgomery, said he reserved the Capitol auditorium for a League of the South conference on Saturday because he made a promise to a constituent who is a member of the group.

"I am not a member of the League of the South and do not endorse their views," Brewbaker told the Montgomery Advertiser on Thursday. "I'm a state representative, and if one of my constituents asked me to reserve that auditorium for the Southern Poverty Law Center, I would do so even though I do not endorse their view on the Ten Commandments or a great many other things."

Richard Cohen, general counsel for the SPLC, said he notified Brewbaker more than a month ago of the league's status as a hate group.

"The League of the South endorses Southern secession and is a white supremacist organization," Cohen wrote in a Feb. 7 letter. "In official statements, the League has said that its purpose is to ensure 'the cultural dominance of the Anglo-Celtic people and their institutions.' "

Note that later in the story, Brewbaker refers to the SPLC as a "biased" source. That's right, sir, they are biased: In favor of mainstream values like decency and fair play and equal rights. They're biased in favor of keeping the United States intact and against crass racism like that used by the League of the South. The bias of the SPLC is the same bias held by the churches and law-enforcement officials who support the SPLC.

Here's the extremely damning SPLC report on the League of the South that Brewbaker refused to bother reading:

A League of Their Own

"It is time for us, as Southern whites, to look to our own well being and defense against these thugs," [LOS President Michael Hill] wrote on AlaReb, an invitation-only, neo-Confederate discussion group on the Internet. "Moreover, it is time we demand that respectable members of the 'minority community' control their debased 'brothers and sisters.' If they refuse, then we can only believe that they secretly condone such behavior. Let us not flinch when our enemies call us 'racists'; rather, just reply with, 'So, what’s your point?' "

Or if you like, just go peruse the League of the South's Web site. [Fair warning: The main page plays incredibly annoying banjo music.] Be sure to check out the mission statement that calls for secession from the Union as well as the menu of hate-filled articles at The DixieNet Gazette. And if you like, click on that ad for the barrel of hate they unload on Abraham Lincoln.

Sometimes their own words speak volumes. As does the complicity of the Republicans who enable them.