Does giving a speech to a white supremacy group a dozen years ago disqualify a congressman from leadership?

It shows a lack of judgment, since it was pretty evident that it was a David Duke organization. It disqualifies you if you try to do something with Democratic support.

At the time David Duke had already been identified as a KKK white supremacist leader, a “third rail” in politics, so trying to distance oneself by saying, “I went to talk about the economy” is disingenuous.

But Boenher supports him, and the Republican rank and file don’t find it all objectionable for a Congressman to speak to a White Supremacist group. So he won’t lose his position.

It certainly doesn’t disqualify him if people elect him. He’s protected by the First Amendment.

@osoraro I think you misinterpret the First Amendment. The First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law…” but it does not say that protected speech must be acceptable in selecting party leaders in Congress.

I don’t see why even speaking at a neo-Nazi or avowed Communist rally should necessarily preclude anyone from a leadership position – by itself – the more important thing is “What did the person say?”

Even more important than that is “What has the person done?”

But no one seems to care about those things so much.

@CWOTUS The answer to “What has the person done?” is “they showed poor judgment speaking to a White Supremacist group.”

A public leader speaking to such a group is endorsing their existence, legitimizing their group.

I don’t think that the first amendment is relevant here – he is legally able to stick his foot in his mouth any way he wishes.

To me, it’s about perception. Whether he supports the EURO group or not, the perception is that he’s doing so. That’s where he looks bad.

If John Boehner doesn’t can him from the leadership position, then it’s another weapon that the democrats can use in 2016. Perception is more dangerous than fact, in politics.

Well it certainly doesn’t disqualify him from racist leadership. Someone has to lead them. About a month ago, I happened to hear a lecture in which a rather astute man stated that the politics in the United States are readily explained once one realizes that there are actually 3 political parties running the country. There are of course the democrats and republicans. But the 3rd party, rarely viewed or mentioned as such is the good old Confederacy—the still solid South. Those who buy (or push) the myth that racism is a bygone issue in this country need only look at the realities involved with our Southern States and the abrupt onset of passionate enthrallment with the “party of Lincoln”. So powerful is the racial divide to the very identity of the region that it really trumps every other consideration. The very spectacle of the agrarian South aligned with bankers and robber barons should serve to illustrate just how critical a factor race is to Southern politics.

There have been misteps on both sides of the isle. Senator Bird was actually the top officer (Exalted Cyclops) in the local Klan unit. Yet he served as the longest serving member of congress, a democrat no less with high ranking chairman positions. I would think that if an actual member of the KKK can be forgiven, merely speaking to the wrong group should be a forgivable offense. But of course I can’t say for sure since I’m not a democrat.

It’s true that Byrd was the ONLY dixiecrat who could not stomach trading sides merely for matters of race. The others fled INSTANTLY on passage of the civil rights act. This single shift is so pronounced, that it is next to impossible to deny the extent to which racism dominates the underlying landscape in the “land of the free”.

“The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech,”

The individual has the right to say whatever shit he wants. There is no law prohibiting assholes from being elected to Congress, and there is no law prohibiting assholes to being elected to leadership. He is, however, at the mercy of the voters.

Exactly! Now the question is, in what way was the speech beneficial or harmful to his career? Are there places where acknowledged racism is a decided plus?

I don’t think that I agree with you, @zenvelo, that a speaker necessarily legitimizes a group’s cause or its message by speaking to it. I may not agree with racists – well, I don’t, as a matter of fact – but if I’m running for office in a state that has a large bloc of publicly racist voters, then I probably have to find some way to entice some of them to vote for me. If I win the election, I will in fact represent them as citizens of the state, whether or not they vote for me. In the sense that I would validate the citizens in the group even though I disagree with them in fundamental ways, I still find nothing objectionable in the fact of speaking to a group per se. If he came down on the side of racism, segregation and other divisive and objectionable policies, then that’s another matter entirely.

We do have to talk to our opposition at some point in the attempt to win them over.

You may say that he’s unqualified to represent the people of his state if he doesn’t recognize some of the public figures in the state and their points of view, and I might agree with that. If a speaker in Louisiana spoke to a David Duke group knowingly, but didn’t know who David Duke was or what policies he advocates, then he wouldn’t pass my laugh test. But if he spoke in opposition to the group’s aims, or merely on neutral topics or “other topics” that he and they could agree on, I’d find no fault in that.

@CWOTUS You amaze me. You’re running for public office in a conservative district yet still participating here. This would be considered by most conservatives to be an extremely liberal place to hang out. Could the discovery of your attendance here be weaponized against against you?

Edit: Hitler served 5 years in prison and nothing stopped him from taking over Germany and becoming the Führer. Nelson Mandela served time for murder and became the president of South Africa. If you have something to offer than people might be welcome to overlook some stuff that you did in the past. ~Just remember not to inhale.

Of course it does. Next question?

The evidence is that in the Republican party speaking to a white supremacist group earns you a leadership position in the House.

I’m with @osoraro on this.

What did he say? He might have spoken out against their views. I doubt it but it’s possible. I’d need more information about the content of his speech to determine whether his views should exclude him from a leadership role.

I seriously doubt there’s a single member of Congress who doesn’t have some kind of skeleton(s) in his or her closet. And should we be surprised that Steve Scalise, a middle-aged Louisiania Republican, has this particular one in his? Read this New Orleans Advocate piece. It pretty well summarizes my feelings about this question.

He was speaking to a David Duke affiliated organization. Duke has been publically known as a white supremacist since his college days in the late 60s/early 70s (and especially since he started periodically attempting to run for office in the 1980s). The senator cannot claim ignorance here.

As for whether or not that disqualifies him: that’s up to the Republican party to decide.

Also, since the 1st Amendment has been brought up – the 1st Amendment only protects your right to free speech, it does not protect you from consequences of your speech.

A GOP consultant’s opinion on the matter:

John Weaver, a GOP consultant who advised the presidential campaigns of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), said in an e-mail that Scalise “cannot serve in leadership in our party as we’re in the process of trying to show the American people we can handle the burden of governing, especially in a country so divided across all demographic lines.”

we’re in the process of trying to show the American people we can handle the burden of governing

Pretending you don’t appeal to the Klan is “governing”?