Governor of Mississippi, Haley Barbour – spoke before a Council-sponsored political rally last year and was photographed with Council leaders. He later claimed that he knew nothing about the Council of Conservative Citizens. We really find that hard to believe since he was the Republican National Committee Chairman when Trent Lott was embroiled in the controversy over the group. According to his biography:

Haley is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and founder of Barbour Griffith & Rogers, which Fortune magazine named the top lobbying firm in the United States.

Haley served as an advisor to President Ronald Reagan for two years as Director of the White House Office of Political Affairs.

Haley served two terms as Chairman of the Republican National Committee.

In 2000 Haley chaired the Bush for President Campaign Advisory Committee in Washington, D.C. He was one of ten members of Governor Bush�s National Presidential Exploratory Committee in 1999.

We agree with Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center who is quoted as saying, “It’s almost impossible for a politician and particularly a Republican to not know about the Council of Conservative Citizens scandal because of what the head of their own party said. I can’t say what’s in each of these politicians’ heads, but I think some politicians are simply pandering to white supremacists for political support.”

Obviously, Governor Haley Barbour knew better. Obviously, Governor Haley Barbour has the contacts and the clout to make a major impact on the current governmental officials.

Mississippi State Supreme Court Justice, Kay Cobb – she attended the same rally as Barbour and introduced council leader Virginia Abernethy. When she came under fire, she too claimed to be ignorant of the Council’s agenda. Claiming that she has never supported racism, she said that she thought that the group was just “ultra-conservative, mostly older, white, rural citizens.” She then conceded that her “perception may have been wrong.”According to Justice Cobb’s biography:In 1975, she enrolled in the University of Mississippi School of Law and graduated 13th in her class in January1978.She was also the recipient of Phi Alpha Delta and Phi Delta Phi scholarship awards.She has served on the President�s Commission on United States� Model State Drug Laws and the National Alliance for Model State Drug Laws. Her latest award is the 2003 Chief Justice award presented at the Annual Meeting of the Mississippi Bar, for her work in revising the Mississippi Rules of Court.Somehow, we find it difficult to believe that someone as smart and involved with the political process as Justice Cobb could fail to realize that the Council of Conservative Citizens is a hate group. She has to have witnessed numerous other politicians caught in the Council’s head lights, as well as all of the publicity surrounding the controversy. How can she look anyone in the eye and plead ignorance? We doubt that would stand up in her courtroom.Tommy Woods, State Representative for Mississippi. According to an October 14, 2004, article in the Clarion Ledger, written by Jerry Mithcell, Woods said he’s been a member of the council for the past several years. He said he joined because he opposes abortion and other liberal ideas. He went on to say, “We’re just really dedicated to preserving our Constitution and our American way of life. I know there’s a lot of folks that don’t agree with me. I don’t think we ought to just let anybody come into the U.S.”While he believes the needy should be helped, regardless of race, he sometimes gets upset at what he spots outside the local welfare office. “You drive by and see the new automobiles and SUVs,” he said. “In most instances, they’re white. I tend to have a feeling that it’s being abused.” (Clarion Ledger, 10/14/04)Representative Woods, according to his biography:
Occupation: Cotton GinnerTommy Woods is Chairman of the Interstate Cooperation committee. He also serves on the Banking & Financial Services; County Affairs; Management; Public Utilities; Transportation and Ways & Means committees.Representative Woods is a Gideon, Mason and Shriner and is affiliated with Sigma Phi Epsilon, Farm Bureau, AOPA, Marshall County Soil & Water Conservation and Northwest Junior College Advisory Board.We think that Representative Woods is pulling our leg when he expects us to believe that the Council of Conservative Citizens is interested in “preserving our American way of life.” That would mean protecting our multiculturalism – now we all know that is not what he meant.Mississippi State Representative Gary Alan Chism, Republican. Chism is listed as a member of the Southern Heritage Defense Panel at the 2003 meeting of the Council of Conservative Citizens National Conference.According to his government profile, “Representative Chism is a Mason, York Rite and a Shriner. He is affiliated with the Independent Insurance Agents of America, and of Mississippi, National Association of Insurance Financial Advisors, the Mississippi Association of Life Underwriters and the Society of Certified Insurance Counselors.” He has served as a state representative from 2000 until present.He is an Independent Insurance Agent as well as Co-Owner of Columbus Insurance Services, Inc.United States Representative from Mississippi, Roger Wicker – Wicker has been in attendance at meetings of the West Tennessee and Marshall County Chapters of the CofCC. He refused to comment on his reasons to both the Clarion Ledger and the Southern Poverty Law Center. We wonder if that is anything like pleading the Fifth.While he has engaged in some notable work during his years in Congress, his affiliation with the Council of Conservative Citizens gives us pause. Given that he is on some very powerful committees up there in D.C., we believe that an explanation to his constituency – and to others who might be the recipients of his actions. In the words of another great southern gentleman – “Is you is…or is you ain’t?”From his biography:He serves as a member of the leadership team in the House as deputy majority whip. In 2001, he was elected to the Republican Policy Committee, which is the policy-making arm of the majority party in the House. He was re-elected to that position in 2003.He landed a seat on the powerful Appropriations Committee in 1995, and he continues to serve on the panel. He is a member of three Appropriations subcommittees, including Labor, Health and Human Services and Education; Defense; and Foreign Operations. In 2003, he assumed additional legislative duties when he was named to the Budget Committee. He has also served as chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority Congressional Caucus.Dr. Brent Nelson – Ph.D in English; college professor; blatantly racist. Nelson is one of the many erudite academians of the Council of Conservative Citizens. With a PhD in Literature from Ohio University, Nelson has ingratiated himself into the fold of not only that organization but of the entire racist right.Virulently anti-Semitic, Nelson detests immigration and claims that the United States will soon resemble a Third World country. He desperately seeks a separate nation for blacks and whites.Nelson authored “America Balkanized: Immigration’s Challenged to Government,” published by none-other than the National Alliance’s “National Vanguard Books.”Nelson is an Assistant Professor and Librarian at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock. We wonder how proud Arkansas is of this jewel calling their hallowed halls of academia his.Jared Taylor – editor of the decidedly racist “American Renaissance” he is a favorite guest and speaker at all CofCC events, and is reported to be a CofCC Board member. Taylor believes that American heritage is white Anglo-Saxon and that it has been neglected and is in danger of being eradicated because of the current emphasis upon racial and gender equality.The Southern Poverty Law Center characterizes Taylor thusly: “Jared Taylor, the man who heads the New Century Foundation and edits its allied magazine American Renaissance, is a white supremacist who celebrates the “clear conception of the United States as a nation ruled by and for whites.” The foundation and magazine, based in Oakton, Va., tirelessly advance pseudo-scientific theories linking IQ to race and advocate eugenics � selective breeding to “improve” human genetic stock.”Taylor has also been the recipient of a Pioneer Fund grant. He is closely associated with Wayne Lutton, the editor of The Social Contract, a journal published by John Tanton the anti-immigration guru. In actuality, Jared Taylor, Wayne Lutton, Richard Lynn, Sam Francis, and John Tanton mesh quite well together on a number of projects and a number of fronts.Jesse Helms, Long time Republican Senator from North Carolina – reported to be on the Advisory Board of the Council of Conservative Citizens – but that is just the beginning with good ole boy Jesse. He served as a Senator from 1973 to 2003. A profile from Who2.com gives us this look at Jesse:“As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee he was one of the most powerful men on Capitol Hill, known as a fierce foe of Communism, arms control agreements and Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Domestically he clashed with liberals over issues ranging from school busing to the National Endowment for the Arts. (He was sometimes called “Senator No” for his implacable opposition to liberal initiatives.)”Jesse was always considered a member of the hard right. Robert Scheer of the Los Angeles Times wrote a scathing article on Helms in which he stated, “It was Sen. Helms (R-N.C.) who derided the 1964 Civil Rights Act as the single most dangerous piece of legislation ever introduced in the Congress” and later opposed a national holiday for that “pervert” Martin Luther King Jr. And it was Helms who, while millions throughout the world faced death from AIDS, sought to block funding for medical research on that dread disease to punish the “revolting conduct” and “unnatural acts” of gays.”Jesse Helms was on the advisory board of the Council of Conservative Citizens. Jesse Helms also shows up on the rolls of the Council for National Policy, a secretive hard right committee with a whole lot of clout.Harold James Brubaker
Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives – elected 1995, 1997 Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives, currently serving 14th term Republican from the 78th House DistrictBrubaker is listed as a Real Estate Appraiser and he is on the Ethics, Legislative Redistricting, Public Utilities, and Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House Committees. Brubaker came under fire for speaking before the Council of Conservative Citizens and sharing the dais with Jared Taylor and Kirk Lyons.Attorney Kirk Lyons has an illustrious resume. Long-time defender of White Supremacists, Lyons runs an organization which crosses over all of the neo-Confederate groups. He is most active in the League of the South but lends his “expertise” to the Council as well.Lyons enjoys dressing up in kilts and period clothing. He houses many pictures of him in various costumes and garb on his website. Lyons is a white supremacist and he flaunts it. He and his wife were married on the Aryan Nations compound by the late Pastor Richard Butler and Lyons has dedicated his law practice to defending racist extremists.Advocating “Southern Ethnic Cleansing,” Kirk Lyons thought he had the world by the tail and that he was a shoe-in for the “Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia,” an extremely prestigious position within the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The SCV is 30,000 members strong and has assets approximating 5 million dollars. But, that was not to be. In a very close vote, Lyons was defeated.Although his presence lately has not been something sought after because of his notorious past and the striving of the CofCC to appear mainstream, his fingerprints are all over this organization. In the past, he has spoken at fund-raisers for the CofCC and always supports them.Duke is a former Klansman and a former Louisiana State Representative. He was recently released from prison on some income tax charges. He loves to gamble – especially on the donations sent to him by his supporters. He enjoys living large and likes the ladies. He and Stormfront’s Don Black have been pretty buddy-buddy along with a host of others who are following his lead in attempting to become more “mainstream” in their approach to recruiting and their agenda.Trent Lott – a U.S. Senator from Mississippi for more than three decades.At a birthday party for the totally racist Strom Thurmond, Lott made a very racist remark which led to a great deal of furor from the media and the White House. In December of 2002, Lott resigned as Senate Republican Leader under pressure from his colleagues. During this period, Lott’s Honorary membership in the Council of Conservative Citizens was also made public.Lott is a Freemason and retains a membership in the extremely controversial and secretive Council for National Policy along with Jesse Helms and other hard right-wingers.Kenny Knight, former henchman for David Duke and now President of the Southern Louisiana branch of the Council of Conservative Citizens.Former Governor of Mississippi, Kirk Fordice – honored guest who addressed previous national conventions held by the Council of Conservative Citizens. Recently deceased. Even though Fordice died earlier this year, we have placed him here because of his stalwart stand with his buddies from the CoCC when they were being criticized and scrutinized. The CoCC has been very instrumental in electing their people to governmental office and Kirk Fordice was not about to abandon them.

Former Alabama Governor, Guy Hunt – honored guest who addressed previous national conventions held by the Council of Conservative Citizens.

Governor Hunt was convicted of using money collected for Innaguration Ceremonies for personal use – and ethincs violation. He was placed on five years probation and ordered to pay restitution in the sum of $232,350. After serving three years of his probation, he was pardoned by the Alabama Pardon and Parole Boad – a three member committee – two of whom had been appointed by Hunt. It was reported that he had paid very little of the restitution.

Bob Barr represented the 7th District of Georgia in the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003.

Bob Barr supports a Christian Conservative extremist position. According to the Religious Freedom Coalition, “Upon calling his office we find that all religions except ultra conservative christianity, “..aren’t “Real” religions.”

Barr has been referred to as “hypocritical,” “mean spirited,” and a “moral crusader, and an “anti-gay bigot.”

He called hate crimes legislation to protect the rights of gays and lesbians, women and disabled Americans “a backdoor way to obtain protected status for sexual orientation and sexual deviancy.”

Barr gave a Keynote speech to a gathering of the racist and anti-immigrant Council of Conservative Citizens and has graced them with his message on several occasions. He has taken a hard pro-life stance yet it is reported that he paid for one of his three wives to have an abortion.

In addition to his ties with the Council of Conservative Citizens, he has been supported by the John Birch Society who has paid for his speaking engagements with them. He currently belongs to the Libertarian Party.

William Lord – 1992 leader of the Mississippi Council of Conservative Citizens, was also a regional organizer for the “White Citizens Council.”

 Walter P. “Buddy” Witherspoon – A Republican National Committeeman from South Carolina. He was asked to resign his membership in the Council of Conservative Citizens by Jim Nicholson, Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Witherspoon refused to do so saying that he would not do anything of the sort.
 

Sam Dickson, out of Georigia. He is an attorney and lecturer. He wrote “Shattering the Icon of Abraham Lincoln” which has been bantied around the web by a number of the racist groups. He is a segregationist and a member of the Council of Conservative Citizens. He frequently speaks at their events as well as at the events of other hate groups.

Leonard “Flagpole” Wilson, esq. from Townley, Alabama serving as the National Director of the Council for Conservative Citizens and as Parliamentarian for the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

In a recent shake-up surrounding the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the Southern Poverty Law Center had this to say about “Flagpole:”

“Leonard “Flagpole” Wilson, a national director of the Council of Conservative Citizens, who became staff parliamentarian. Wilson earned his nickname by shouting from atop a flagpole during the violent 1956 demonstrations he helped lead against the admission of the first black student at the University of Alabama.”

Kenneth J. Schmidt of New Jersey. This guy has quite a history. A “Third Positionist,” Schmidt, according to the SPLC, advocates “environmentalism and animal rights, sides with labor against capital, and proposes to separate the races into their own ethnically pure countries, where they will live close to the land and govern themselves at the most local level possible.”

He is currently an officer of the New York chapter of the Council of Conservative Citizens and is considerably more overtly revolutionary than many of the others within the organization. He is listed among the “40 To Watch” published by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Wayne Lutton, in his 50’s out of Petosky, Michigan. He doesn’t like immigrants and detests gay people. He is on the editorial advisory board of the CCC’s “Citizen Informer.” He is also closely associated with American Renaissance as well as John Tanton who, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, who “built much of the anti-immigration movement.”

Lutton also edits “The Social Contract,” a publication that is put out by U.S. Inc. which is nothing more than an umbrella group of Tanton’s which provides publishing to a number of White Supremacists.

Lutton earned a PhD in modern history from Southern Illinois University and has made the rounds of the far right with both his writing and his speeches, hammering away at immigration, AIDS, and homosexuality. He is a favorite at CoCC events.

This is Ed Cassidy aka “Fisheye.” Cassidy was a Virginia Reform Party officer who liked to hang out with the likes of Mark Cotterill and served as a photographer for the Pat Buchannan campaign. He also led a local chapter of the Council of Conservative Citizen’s and is reported to serve as a photographer for that organization as well.

At one point, the Buchanan campaign officials decided that the publicity surrounding Mark Cotterill’s white supremacist views was too much for the Virginia Reform party. They threw Cotterill out, but “Fisheye” was allowed to remain.

Don Black – perhaps the most unreported on and under-rated racist in America today. Black is a former KKK Grand Dragon and keeps a large portrait of KKK founder Nathan Bedford Forrest an the wall behind his desk. He is frequently credited for having erected the first hate site on the World Wide Web. In the early 1980’s Don Black was arrested for helping to plot the overthrow of a Caribbean island. That is when he left the Klan.

Black’s son, Derek, runs Stormfront for Kids out of the same computer room that houses his Dad’s set-up. Formerly from Alabama, Black resides in Palm Beach, Florida. He has close ties with David Duke and others from the racist right. He has also been a favorite speaker at the Council of Conservative Citizens events.

**These are but a few of those who support the Council of Conservative Citizens. The actual number of notables is huge and often overlaps into other organizations with much the same agenda.