corrente

It probably says something really awful about the state of political discourse today, or possibly my mental condition, that my response to seeing this story was to laugh my ass off. Okay, before you fill up comments with it, I will concede the obvious that it may be both:

(via Philly Inquirer)

A radical white supremacist group that believes George Washington held separatist and anti-Semitic views similar to its own has received a permit to hold a two-hour rally next month in Valley Forge National Historical Park.

Jeff Schoep of the National Socialist Movement said yesterday he expected that 200 to 300 people representing various organizations, including the Ku Klux Klan, would attend the event on Sept. 25. He said that all "white patriots" had been invited, regardless of ideological differences.

"Valley Forge is important to us because this is where George Washington camped out," he said. "We are patriots, and we are honoring our founding fathers."

Washington fought against the corrupt regime of King George III, said Schoep, 30, of Litchfield, Minn. The National Socialists are protesting the "corrupt dictatorship" of President Bush, he said.

Deputy park superintendent Barbara Pollarine said the group had applied by mail and included the $50 processing fee the park charges for all groups using park facilities.

Schoep said he expected the Valley Forge rally to be more effective than protesting or demonstrating at next week's national Republican Party convention.

"The white race needs to come together," he said. "We are the unifying force attempting to do that."

I would like to advise Lambert to put special care into polishing the chandeliers at the Mighty Corrente Building before this august September gathering (I always wanted to be able to use that phrase) takes place. These folks might want to drop by for tea and a discussion of our use of the term MBF:

Mark Potok, director of the Intelligence Report for the Southern Poverty Law Center, disputed the National Socialists' claim that, with 45 chapters, they are the largest Nazi group in America.

"They will not say how large they are, but we think the chapters are tiny - maybe one or two members," he said.

The group dresses in brown shirts and displays swastikas, which leads some to refer to the group as the "Hollywood Nazis," according to Potok.