Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, a mainstream conservative careful to keep his distance from the fascism that has so strongly gripped his party, was on Fox News Sunday today where he said something to Bret Baier that isn't normally allowed on the channel. In discussing the J6 insurrection and the select committee, he said that "Trump is politically, morally responsible for much of what has happened," before leaving himself room for a defense in the High Court of a future fascist regime-- "but in terms of criminal liability, I think the committee has a long way to go to establish that." He also told viewers that "Republicans need to do a lot of soul searching as to what is the right thing here and what is the right thing for our democracy in the future and not simply adhere to the basic instincts of some of our base." Hutchinson likes his name being tossed around as a potential presidential candidate and invitations to come speak on the Sunday talking heads shows. That isn't going to lead to the White House but... maybe a cabinet position or something, now that his governorship is ending.
But his party isn't looking for mainstream conservatives yet. Their base is basically-- and I know the implications and I almost hate to say it-- rapid dogs. Like these 31 fellas in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, who were arrested yesterday as they were preparing to attack a gay pride event.
Coeur d'Alene is the biggest town (56,000) in the Idaho panhandle, an area that the far right thinks of as a white nationalist "homeland." Of the 10 counties that make up the panhandle-- Boundary, Bonner, Kootenai (of which Coeur d'Alene is the county seat), Shoshone, Benewah, Latah, Clearwater, Nez Perce, Lewis and Idaho-- only one, Latah, has a signifiant numbers of normal Americans, primarily because the University of Idaho is located there. Same as every county in Idaho, Democrats rank third in terms of registered voters, but like just 6 other Idaho counties, there are more unaffiliated voters in the county-- many of whom vote with Democrats-- than Republicans. Like I said, though, Latah is the exception.
This is how the 10 counties in the panhandle voted in the 2020 presidential election (and what percentage of each county's residents are fully vaccinated):
Idaho Co- 81.4% Trump (32% fully vaccinated)
Lewis Co- 79.6% Trump (53% fully vaccinated)
Boundary Co- 78.1% Trump (36% fully vaccinated)
Clearwater Co- 78.1% Trump (43% fully vaccinated)
Benewah Co- 77.9% Trump (54% fully vaccinated)
Kootenai Co- 70.2% Trump (48% fully vaccinated)
Shoshone Co- 69.7% Trump (44% fully vaccinated)
Nez Perce Co- 65.5% Trump (58% fully vaccinated)
Bonner Co- 67.2% Trump (45% fully vaccinated)
Latah Co- 46.0% Trump (61% fully vaccinated)
But the problem up there is beyond just a bunch of unvaccinated Trumpists running around. The Idaho panhandle is a bastion of American Naziism. Daniel Walters reported that after a tip was phoned in to the police, 31 Nazi members of the Patriot Front were arrested in a U-Haul van, suited up and ready for battle, headed towards the North Idaho Pride Alliance annual "Pride in the Park" event in downtown Coeur d'Alene. Many of the Nazis were from out of state and had come to the panhandle from as far away as Virginia and Texas specifically for the event with the local Panhandle Patriots, who backed out when they understood that violence was likely and instead decided to hold their own event called the North Idaho Day of Prayer.
An apparent leader of the group had a seven-page document outlining an operational plan in extensive detail, the [Coeur d'Alene police] chief said.
After pulling up a digital image of the document, Chief White read brief selections to the New York Times that detailed how smoke was to be used: “a column forming on the outside of the park, proceeding inward, until barriers to approach are met” and “once an appropriate amount of confrontational dynamic has been established the column will disengage and head to Sherman.”
Sherman Avenue runs through the center of downtown Coeur d’Alene.
Kootenai County jail records revealed that Thomas Rousseau, the founder of Patriot Front, was among those booked on criminal conspiracy charges.
Chief White also claimed their were "members of antifa groups present at the Pride event" and he told the media that "There were people walking around the event with long guns and handguns and bear spray and all kinds of things like that... Not that's illegal in Idaho; it's only the point that they start using it that we grow really concerned."
The Anti-Defamation League, which tracks the Patriot Front's activities, claims it is the leading white supremacist group in the country and that last year its members were responsible for more than 82% of the racist, anti-Semitic and other hateful propaganda in the lower 48 states.
The group is an offshoot of another violent neo-Nazi group, Vanguard America. The a teenager, Thomas Ryan Rousseau, broke away from the original group and built Patriot Front from the Vanguard America base. He's in jail today along with his 30 amigos, all of whom will be arraigned tomorrow after being charged with conspiracy to riot. Thomas Lecacque, a history professor at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, said "Patriot Front are accelerationist fascists who want to start a shooting war. The uniforms are deliberate, as is the masking, as are their symbols, as are their targets. I know we like to make fun of them but these people are very, very serious and dangerous."