The Political Cesspool is a weekly far-right talk radio show founded by Tennessean political activist James Edwards and syndicated by the organizations Liberty News Radio Network and Accent Radio Network in the United States. First broadcast in October 2004 twice a week from radio station WMQM, per Edwards it has been simulcast on Stormfront Radio, a service of the white nationalist Stormfront websiteThe Political Cesspool: An Encouraging and Comprehensive Update and as of 2011 is broadcast on Saturday nights on WLRM, a blues and southern soul radio station in Millington, Tennessee. Its sponsors include the white separatist Council of Conservative Citizens and the Institute for Historical Review, a Holocaust denial group.
According to its statement of principles, the show stands for the "Dispossessed Majority" and represents "a philosophy that is pro-White." It has attracted criticism—including from The Nation, The New Republic, the Stephen Roth Institute, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and the Anti-Defamation League—for its promotion of antisemitic, white nationalist and white supremacist views. According to the SPLC, the show has featured a "Who's Who of the radical right", including members of the Ku Klux Klan; they say Edwards has probably done more than anyone in America to promote neo-Nazis, Holocaust deniers and other extremists.Zaitchik, Alexander. "Hawking Racism", Southern Policy Law Center, Intelligence Report, Winter 2006, Issue 124. "James Edwards: In His Own Words", Southern Poverty Law Center, Intelligence Report, Fall 2007, Issue 27. Retrieved September 29, 2010.
The show features Edwards and his co-hosts Keith Alexander, Bill Rolen, Winston Smith, and Eddie Miller, as well as producer Art Frith. Former staffers include Geoff Melton, Jess Bonds and co-founder Austin Farley. Its guests have included author Jerome Corsi, Minuteman Project leader Jim Gilchrist, former Constitution Party presidential candidate Michael Peroutka, actor Sonny Landham, British National Party leader Nick Griffin, Vermont secessionist Thomas Naylor, and paleoconservative activist Pat Buchanan. It is carried by at least three licensed terrestrial radio stations in the United States and on network feeds on the Galaxy 19 communications satellite.
Background
James Edwards Edwards is a far-right political activist from Memphis, Tennessee, described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a rising figure of the modern white-nationalist movement. He attended Briarcrest Christian School, a private school in Memphis, and in ninth grade transferred into a Christian-nationalist homeschooling program, a decision that he said led him into political activism. In 2000 he volunteered for Pat Buchanan's presidential campaign, and in 2002 ran unsuccessfully for the Tennessee House of Representatives. It was during this campaign that he met fellow activist Austin Farley, who was on the ballot against him. In October of that year, he and Farley established The Political Cesspool.
In 2007, Edwards was part of a panel that appeared on CNN's Paula Zahn Now, along with Roland S. Martin and Jesse Lee Peterson. The purpose was to discuss racial segregation in American cities. He told Zahn that white children should seek out those who share "the same values and traditions and heroes," and that "forced integration" was a "march toward totalitarianism." He said: "Crime and violence follow African-Americans wherever they go, and if you think that is racist, then spend some time on the mean streets of south Memphis." Martin described his remarks as unfit for national television. Edwards made a second appearance on Paula Zahn Now in 2009, during which he said: "Whites are in for the fight of their lives. America is becoming balkanized. We are being robbed of having a future in the very nation our ancestors carved from the wilderness."
In 2010, he became involved with a new party, the American Freedom Party, which advocates white nationalism and a form of economic nationalism known as the Third Position. Also in 2010 he self-published a book, Racism, Schmacism: How Liberals use the "R" Word to Push the Obama Agenda, distributed by CreateSpace, a self-publishing printer.
Staff and show history Other staff at The Political Cesspool include Bill Rolen, Eddie "The Bombardier" Miller, Keith Alexander, and Winston Smith. According to the show's website, most of the staff claim descent from Confederate soldiers. The show was initially broadcast on AM 1600 WMQM, a Memphis-based radio station, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Edwards and Farley invited friends Bill Rolen, a board member of the Council of Conservative Citizens, and Jess Bonds as guest hosts, as well as radio technician Art Frith. Frith had previously worked for a number of other radio stations including American Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) (in Keflavik, Iceland; Anchorage, Alaska; and Nea Makri, Greece), KFQD (in Anchorage), and WBCK (in Battle Creek, Michigan).
In 2005 the group moved to WMQM's Millington-based sister station, AM 1380 WLRM, and switched to a nightly schedule, Monday through Friday. Farley left the program in November of that year. Two years later, Geoff Melton, a former co-host, joined to help set up the show's website and the show entered syndication with Dixie Broadcasting Radio Network. The program went on hiatus on February 15, 2008, because staff members said they needed a break, but returned to the airwaves in June 2008 on WLRM on Saturday nights. One year later, it switched from Republic Broadcasting Network to Liberty News Radio Network. As of August 2009, Bonds and Melton are no longer affiliated with the program. Frith now lives in Nashville, Michigan, but remains a part of the show's staff. Since WLRM is not audited by Arbitron, the show's ratings are unknown. The show is listener-supported and, according to Edwards, receives more donations from Florida than from any other state.
Statement of principles The Political Cesspool describes its philosophy as "pro-White" and "against political centralization". Its statement of principles, with material borrowed from the Council of Conservative Citizens, reads:
Guests
The Political Cesspool has over the years featured many guest appearances, including political activists, Holocaust deniers, economists, and musicians. Former Tennessee gubernatorial candidate Carl "Twofeathers" Whitaker, who claims partial Native-American ancestry and is known for his strong support of the Minuteman movement, has appeared on the show, as has conservative Native-American activist David Yeagley. Filmmakers Merlin Miller (A Place to Grow, Jericho), who was the 2012 presidential nominee of the American Third Position (now known as the American Freedom Party), and Craig Bodeker (A Conversation about Race) have featured.
Author Jerome Corsi was interviewed in July 2008. During the discussion he spoke about his financial newsletter, and promoted his book The Obama Nation, which includes several statements that have been widely described as racist; for example, he opined that US President Barack Obama identifies more with his "African blood" than his American roots and that the President "rejects everyone white, including his mother and his grandparents". Corsi scheduled another promotional appearance on The Political Cesspool, but one month later he canceled this appearance, citing "travel plans that changed".The Political Cesspool: Corsi backs out. August 17, 2008. Edwards said that he believed the incident "just goes to show what incredible pressure everyone in public life is under to never have anything to do with anyone who speaks up for the interests of white people." Fellow authors John Derbyshire and Steve Sailer have also been guests. In July 2011, WorldNetDaily columnist Ilana Mercer appeared on the show.
Constitution Party nominee Michael Peroutka used his appearance in 2004 to promote his presidential campaign. Party member Michael Goza described the show as "Christian/Constitutionalist", and "a great blessing to our cause". Thomas Naylor, of the Vermont secessionist organization Second Vermont Republic, appeared on the show to celebrate Confederate History Month in April 2007, while American Freedom Party Chairman Bill Johnson appeared to promote his party.
On May 8, 2006, Minuteman Project leader Jim Gilchrist spoke on the program. Co-host Bill Rolen agreed with Gilchrist's view that illegal immigrants' intentions are to "just squat here and plunder whatever social benefits our programs provide them". However, Rolen disagreed with Gilchrist's claim that illegal immigration was "the 21st century slave trade". Gilchrist's colleague in the Minuteman movement, Chris Simcox, has also been a guest of the show.
Paul Babeu, the sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona, appeared on The Political Cesspool on July 10, 2010 to discuss illegal immigration; during the interview, he referred to James Edwards as a "great American". Less than two weeks later, Babeu's spokesman issued an apology, saying that he had not researched the show thoroughly enough before scheduling the interview and that Babeu has a policy of not conducting interviews with hate groups. Babeu himself said that he was "hoodwinked" into appearing on the show and that he rejects "any hate or bigotry". Prior to the interview, cohost Eddie Miller said that "Of all the people we've interviewed on this radio show, I would say the only people that came close to getting me this excited was Dr. David Duke." Following Babeu's spokesman's apology, Edwards alleged that Babeu was aware of the show's true ideology prior to appearing on the show, saying: "For Sheriff Babeu to change his mind and now regret coming on our show, for whatever reason, is his right. For him to act as though he had no idea of our ideology is a lie." As a result of the controversy surrounding Babeu's appearance on the show, Arizona U.S. Senate candidate J. D. Hayworth asked his primary opponent, John McCain, to drop several campaign ads featuring McCain and Babeu. In 2011, another sheriff, Dennis Spruell of Montezuma County, Colorado, also apologized after appearing on the show without knowing its actual agenda.
Paleoconservative activist and former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan has appeared twice as of 2011. In a June 2008 interview initiated and arranged by his publicist, he promoted his book Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War. During the broadcast, Buchanan defended Charles Lindbergh against charges of antisemitism, stating that his reputation "has been blackened because of a single speech he gave and a couple of paragraphs in it where he said that ... the Jewish community is beating the drums for war but frankly, no one has said what he said was palpably untrue." At the end of the interview, James Edwards said, "Mr. Buchanan, thank you so much for coming back on our program, for fighting for our people." Previously, in September 2006, Buchanan had made an appearance to promote his book State of Emergency; during this interview, he said that "we are being invaded by people of different cultures" and argued that Americans "cannot survive a bifurcated culture or a heavily Hispanicized culture, tilted towards Mexico ... I think that's the beginning of the end of the United States."