This morning I woke up to discover I had founded an organization — and one tainted with, as you may have guessed — “racist” ties.
It’s a juicy story, of course, as it confirms the charges of those who claim that resistance to the global jihad is simply “racism,” although Islamic supremacism is not a race.
The only problem is that the charge is completely, utterly false.
The article is called “Tancredo, Buchanan Bruised by Racist “˜Karate Chop”: Amid Aide’s Guilty Plea in Assault Case, ‘Racist’ Attacks Backfire on Sotomayor Foes.” It is by David Weigel, a “journalist” who wrote a highly tendentious story and even worse follow-up about the late “blog wars” a few weeks ago. The new one is in The Washington Independent, June 2 (thanks to James):
On July 7, 2007, Marcus Epstein had too much to drink and stumbled onto Georgetown’s scenic, shop-lined M Street, walking in no particular direction. At 7:15 p.m., he bumped into a black woman, called her a “nigger,” and struck her in the head with an open hand. An off-duty Secret Service agent was watching. Epstein “jogged away,” according to the agent’s affidavit, and when Epstein was finally chased down, he “continued to flail his arms while being taken into custody.” […]
In 2006, Epstein co-founded a new paleoconservative group, the Robert Taft Club, with DeAnna and conservative writer Robert Spencer. The group easily drew in thinkers and activists from the mainstream and extreme right. Fox News pundit Jim Pinkerton and National Review writer John Derbyshire appeared alongside Begian [sic] extremist politician Filip Dewinter and Jared Taylor, editor of American Renaissance, a race-conscious conservative magazine which invited British extremist politician Nick Griffin to its 2006 conference. None of this was secretive “” the events were on the record and included panelists who vehemently disagreed with one another. None of it backfired on the attendees, despite SPLC reports and other exposes. (Note: The writer of this story attended several Robert Taft Club events as a journalist.)
David Weigel “attended several Robert Taft Club events as a journalist,” eh? But not as much of one.
In reality, I did not co-found the Robert Taft Club.
I am not a member of the Robert Taft Club.
I never even heard of the Robert Taft Club before this article appeared.
I do not know Marcus Epstein. I have never met him or corresponded with him or had contact with him in any way.
I’ve had nothing whatsoever to do with the Robert Taft Club or Marcus Epstein.
The Robert Taft Club and Epstein may or may not be what Weigel makes of them (I certainly wouldn’t take David Weigel’s word for anything), and certainly not all the people Weigel names above are racists, but be that as it may, the fact remains that I have never had anything to do with either the Club or Epstein.
Although I have spoken with him in the past, Weigel did not bother to contact me to confirm this claim before he published it. Perhaps Weigel means another “conservative writer” named “Robert Spencer,” but I know of no such person, and have asked Weigel to retract and correct this statement immediately.
UPDATE: Weigel has put in a correction — it was Richard Spencer who apparently co-founded the Taft Club. (Richard Spencer is another man I don’t know, and is no relation.) I appreciate the correction.