Last week we gave you the skinny on the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Empower Texans and the John Hancock Committee for the States, which have Tim Dunn and Michael Quinn Sullivan as common links, but it seems there is so much more. It’s like drilling for oil and hitting a gusher!
The Texas Tribune reported yesterday on James Ives, tea party leader. We were fascinated by this tidbit:
Ives and his wife have been active Tea Partiers since the political movement began in 2009. Ives spoke about “American exceptionalism” at a 2010 “Back to Basics” rally at the state Capitol, shared billing on a live 2011 radio broadcast with prominent conservative activists Michael Quinn Sullivan and Jonathan Saenz, and in 2012 hosted a U.S. Senate forum for Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and the man who would later defeat him, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz. As recently as July, he was listed on the website of Houston radio station KSEV — Patrick’s station — as a regular contributor.
James Ives, Fascist Party Director of Propaganda
Meet James Ives, former director of propaganda for the American Fascist Party and current president of the Greater Fort Bend County Tea Party. Apparently Ives has associations he’ll admit and others he eschews.
He will proudly wear the banner of the Tea Party, but when asked directly about his associations with the AFP (interesting acronym parallel, no?), he demurs, saying he stumbled on their Yahoo group online and was “merely curious.” He also claims it was “all pro-Constitution, pro-America,” yet also claims he was doing research in order to “blow the lid off all of this.”
Which was it, Mr. Ives? Why would a good tea party soldier want to ‘blow the lid off’ an organization that was ‘all pro-Constitution, pro-America’? It was evil or it was good, and based on what remains of the postings there, it appears evil wins.
The group Mr. Ives posted in about ten years ago or so was called the American Fascist Party, but described itself as “a political party of Americans who want a strong military government to take control of the United States and put down the protesters, greeners, and ultra-liberals.” The online group was started on September 26, 1998, and claims 157 members as of this date. There appears to be some overlap between the AFP and the United Fascist Union Party (UFU), which fielded a 2008 candidate for President by the name of Jack Grimes. Jerry Springer was unimpressed.
As bizarre as it may seem, it would appear that calling themselves fascists was more palatable than calling themselves racists. So far, there is no evidence that Ives was associated with the UFU, but that only separates him from them by one very thin degree.
Readers might wonder whether a director of propaganda for the American Fascist Party might be using his skills to dodge what might otherwise be a difficult association. Perhaps a look at what postings of his remain in the original Yahoo! group would be useful.
There is this posting, for example, where Ives is quoted by another member before responding. In Ives’ original appeal, he says,
I want to get info on the availability of the t-shirt patch and the possibility of buying, or having made, the black banner. It would be a striking visual to gain notice at various events, and would look good on my wall, too!
Any use of Party Insignia, or any printings or public statements would, of course, be run through the leadership for approval.[Original posting here]
There is also this posting, which deserves to be seen in its original glory:
Ives, in his own words: “I know the isolation of the thinking mind amid the dross, of the concern and care over the nations future, while those around you cavort, and complain and stain the land. Worry not, for the day is coming, when we can make our mark, either in triumph, or in the anonymous service to the coming day. Mussolini spoke of the Bayonets of the New Dawn…”
https://www.breitbartunmasked.com/2013/03/19/ted-cruz-friend-to-fascists-past-and-present/