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He's either Yukon Cornelius or I'm leaning towards the latter.

No matter the political flag one falls under, any mention of machine irregularities and fake voters should be met with a demand for evidence now and if it can't be produced immediately, heavy fines and jail time are the next steps. This is where the Judicial system needs to do it's damn job.

Here's your place to discuss your favorite books, great books, interesting books, upcoming books and books in between. I don't consider myself well-read because I only read in bed and always fall asleep, but I have read a lot of interesting stuff in my life. This book review has piqued my interest and thought I'd share via a new thread rather than burying it in another thread. A terrifying, riveting portrait of the KKK in the 1920s Timothy Egan’s ‘A Fever in the Heartland’ recounts how one man sparked the group’s resurgence in Indiana Review by Richard Just May 18, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. EDT Why are people drawn to demagogues? Why have millions of citizens of democracies chosen, from time to time over the centuries, to pledge fealty to leaders whose actions — political and personal — are obviously repugnant? What could possibly be the appeal? These questions hover over Timothy Egan’s excellent new work of narrative nonfiction. “A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them” is a highly readable chronicle of how the early-20th-century Klan resurrected itself following decades of dormancy; how it obtained millions of converts, not only in the South but throughout the country; and how, by the 1920s, it had infiltrated all levels of the U.S. government. But it is also a terrifying study of one particular Klan leader — a rapist and bigot who managed, in a matter of years, to acquire a vast popular following and to become the unelected boss of Indiana politics, all while formulating plans to propel himself to the White House. D.C. Stephenson, born in Texas, was a drifter with an amoral entrepreneurial streak, and he happened to find himself in Evansville, Ind., in the early ’20s, a moment when the national Ku Klux Klan was rapidly expanding and seeking inroads in Northern states. “He was a young man on the make, and a quick learner,” Egan writes. “His new life in Evansville was a dash and a dodge, just a few steps ahead of the multiple lives he’d left behind.” Stephenson was hired by a Klan recruiter, and he “presented a plan to leadership: He would conquer all of Indiana for the Ku Klux Klan, not just a bridgehead in Evansville.” He fulfilled this plan with shocking speed. The Klan’s agenda of white supremacy turned out to be all too popular among rank-and-file Hoosiers, who began joining the terrorist group en masse. Many institutions — especially Protestant churches, whose ministers the Klan bribed — were quickly co-opted. Within years, “the Klan owned the state, and Stephenson owned the Klan,” Egan writes. “Cops, judges, prosecutors, ministers, mayors, newspaper editors — they all answered to the Grand Dragon. … Most members of the incoming state legislature took orders from the hooded order, as did the majority of the congressional delegation.” And this hate-filled reign might have continued if not for the decision of Madge Oberholtzer, who was raped by Stephenson in 1925, to speak out. Her bravery set in motion a trial and conviction that ensured that Stephenson would spend decades in prison. The Klan was humiliated in the eyes of the public, and its power in Indiana began to wane. Egan is a meticulous researcher and, perhaps especially, a skilled storyteller. His reconstruction of Stephenson’s deplorable arc — his lie-fueled rise, his vile charisma, his ultimate fall — is a master class in the tools of narrative nonfiction: high stakes, ample suspense and sweeping historical phenomena made vivid through the dramatic actions of individual villains and heroes. But it was the question of “why” — why did so many people place their trust and admiration in this self-evidently horrible man and his fellow terrorists? — that I found myself returning to in the days after finishing this book. The most fundamental answer, unfortunately, is that bigotry — xenophobia, antisemitism and particularly racism — has always managed to find a receptive audience in American life. Depending on the moment and the context, that audience can be large or small, but it invariably seems to exist in some form. “A vein of hatred,” Egan writes, “was always there for the tapping.” Yet the Klan benefited from other factors as well. William Simmons, founder of the 20th-century Klan, said his group was aided by early attempts to discredit it, including congressional hearings. “It wasn’t until the newspapers began to attack the Klan that it really grew,” Simmons said. “And then Congress gave us the best advertising we ever got.” As for Stephenson, Egan notes how adeptly he manipulated the public: “He discovered that if he said something often enough, no matter how untrue, people would believe it. Small lies were for the timid.” Egan also suggests that Stephenson’s abhorrent personal behavior may have actually, for a time, reinforced his popularity. The year before he raped Oberholtzer, he was briefly detained after attempting to rape a manicurist at a hotel and severely beating a bellhop. In the wake of this episode, Egan notes, many Klan members “chose selective amnesia,” and “some were even impressed. For here was a man liberated from shame, a man who not only boasted of being able to get away with any violation of human decency for his entire life, but had just proved it for all to see.” More sensible citizens, meanwhile, may have been caught unaware. Stephenson and his allies demonstrated what demagogues throughout history have discovered: Odd-seeming movements can migrate from the fringes to the center in the blink of an eye. Egan quotes Robert Coughlan, from Kokomo, Ind., who wrote about the town’s embrace of the Klan. “It first appealed to the ignorant, the slightly unbalanced and the venal,” Coughlan explained, “but by the time the enlightened elements realized the danger it was already on top of them.” A press that inadvertently makes itself complicit in the rise of demagogues by showering them with attention; habitual liars who successfully blur the distinction between truth and fabrication through endless repetition of falsehoods; leaders admired by loyal followers in part because of their moral transgressions; a movement that begins with the unbalanced and venal before conquering the mainstream: Maybe this all sounds depressingly familiar to you in 2023. Egan mostly resists making explicit parallels to the present, but they lurk just below the surface of this well-crafted and thoughtful book — a grim, necessary reminder that the difficult-to-fathom appeal of the most unappealing extremists never really goes away. Richard Just is a former editor of The Washington Post Magazine, National Journal magazine and the New Republic. https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/05/18/fever-heartland-ku-klux-klan-timothy-egan-review/

Riders are folding?

There was a scoring error and Winnipeg really won the 2022 Cup?

Seems big.

Without question, she doesn't feel her opinions are wrong.... she just thinks people are misinterpreting them. Absolute bullshit. She literally compared transgendered youth to pieces of ****. What an absolute ghoul. How is someone with opinions like this allowed to hold/run for office of any kind???

What a clown. Amazing how far down that party has gone since the Reform took over.

I guess these proud christians didn't chase Jesus hard enough.

So this one time in university...

You couldn't pay me enough - to be the speaker right now.

Hopefully next week for our inaugural 2023 Bonfire Midweek show!

She was a speaker at a white supremacist convention.

poor, poor Booch........

I realize "evil" is often too strong a descriptive for a human being, but the shoe fits with Erik Prince.

A lawyer friend once told me something that applies to right-wing politics and seems particularly apt with the looming elections in Manitoba and Alberta. She was told that there are two ways to approach trying a case in court: If you have a sound case, you "pound the law". If you do not, you "pound the table". The right-wingers are so bereft of any cogent policies for governing that all they have left is to try to inflame their base by flailing away with grotesque attacks on anyone or anything they think might resonate with the fears and hatreds of their flock. All we can do is vote with our consciences and hope some of the undecided voters will become revulsed with the Cons' policies and utterances and throw the miscreants out.

Wonder which reporter is going to report this year on what a great camp Manase Foketi is having...

They just pick up the hate rhetoric they used against other groups and apply it elsewhere. They just shifted from immigrants and Muslims, to LGBTQ2S+. It's just the Hate-du-jour for the right.

Based on their performance last year, I'd say that already happened.

Unless you’re a Toronto Maple Leaf - then you cannot be a Stanley Cup Champion 😉

Brink - 56.4% comp. rate (https://www.statscrew.com/football/stats/p-brinkale001) Cornelius - 57.6% comp. rate (https://www.cfl.ca/players/taylor-cornelius/164836/)

Excerpt from CBC News A story by Joel Dryden "Minister Shandro stated that Premier Smith was passive/aggressive throughout the call. She asked him specifically if there was anything he could do about Mr. Pawlowski's case," she wrote. "She wanted him to make it go away, although she did not direct him to do so. She was concerned about a press conference that Mr. Pawlowski said he was going to have and how bad the optics would be for the party. "Minister Shandro told her there was nothing that could be done, and she accepted his advice. There were no further conversations between Minister Shandro and the premier on this subject." This is a snapshot of who these people are and how they are wired not just on this specific issue. Yea I get it that many are like this to varying degrees, but that's the key part of the sentence, to varying degrees. So not all the same but with similarities with varying degrees of impact and magnitude. If one says they are thoughtful critically thinking people but still cast their vote for a person who will take their orders from someone like this I would suggest your motives in doing so do not match the first part of this sentence. How else am I suppose to say this without being clumped into 'you all are just mean and nasty to one another'?

No **** Sherlock 🙃

Great thread! My previous career was as a librarian so obviously I love to read lol. My favorite genre is crime fiction and sports biographies, but every so often read fantasy. Not that big on sci-fi. My favorite authors: James Lee Burke Ian Rankin Peter Lovesey Mike Lupica Joe Abercrombie Currently reading CJ Box and his newest novel, 'Storm Watch'. On deck if you will is 'Shoe Dog', Phil Knight's(Founder of Nike) memoir.

Was there today but very cold. Kickers were hitting 50 yarders. Staton rung one off the post but otherwise they looked accurate. Holm made a nice play on the ball and caused a pick.

But wait, there's more! Deranged. Unhinged. Detached from reality. Extremely dangerous to democracy.

Hey thanks for starting this thread. I do most of my reading over the winter. Usually non-fiction but with a bit of fiction sprinkled in here and there. I've found myself diving back into a few that I already read and had buried deep in my cluttered office. A Fever in the Heartland looks interesting. Last winter I re- read The Lord of the Rings trilogy, American Fascists by Chris Hedges , Lake Agassiz by Bill Redekop and re-read The Pioneer Years by Barry Broadfoot.

I generally have 2 or 3 on the go at all times. I don't read a TON of new material, but always read the new Grisham when it arrives each fall. I like to read a lot of Manitoba-based stuff, and am currently reading the newly updated Bart Kives "Daytripper's Guide To Manitoba" and his co-written "Stuck In The Middle 2: Views Of Manitoba" which I'm also enjoying. Every year at this time, I re-read Bob Irving's curated Winnipeg Blue Bombers 75th Anniversary book, so I've got that going as well.

About freaking time. I hope he gets the max.

She doesn't know what those bolded words mean. I feel like the mask has come off true conservatism in the last decade or so. And it's a pretty hideous visage underneath.

That’s what happens when a group believes in a Trump approach. It makes them feel good inside. It’s who they are as people. They are not true conservatives. They’re knuckle draggers who have seized on an opportunity.

I have made a point of watching question period for a number of years. The behaviour of the current group of Conservatives is ridiculous.

A guy so well regarded Stephen Harper appointed him as Governor General.... yeah that guy ain't a partisan no matter how loudly Milhouse screams about it.

lol Poliviere. what a repulsive fool. mocking an outstanding man David Johnson. little bit "Johnston has had a long academic career, during which he came to specialize in securities regulation, corporation law, public policy and information technology law.[2] After 1966, he worked for two years as an assistant professor at the Queen's University Faculty of Law and then joined the University of Toronto's law faculty, where he taught until 1974, eventually being promoted to the rank of full professor. Johnston was then appointed as dean of the University of Western Ontario Law School, serving between 1974 and 1979, at which time he was elevated to become the fourteenth Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University." far too much to post.

Not only is she making a disgusting comparison, she's also dismissing the value of high academic standards.

Having said that, #6 Matt Cole has looked good in camp.

EDMONTON — A United Conservative Party candidate who compared transgender children in schools to having feces in food is apologizing while staying on to run in the Alberta election. Jennifer Johnson says in a statement that she has nothing but love and compassion for everyone equally and is embarrassed to have caused hurt with her remarks. Johnson, who is running in Lacombe-Ponoka, says if she wins the seat in the May 29 vote she will seek counsel on how best to communicate and meaningfully discuss her views. The NDP has called for UCP Leader Danielle Smith to dismiss Johnson as a candidate for the comments she made last fall that were recently been made public. In those comments, Johnson said Alberta has a first-rate education system but it's set against transgender children as young as 14 getting double mastectomies and chemical castrations to help them transition. Johnson also compared transgender students to feces in cookie batter. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 17, 2023. The Canadian Press The bolded sentence caught my attention. One way to interpret that is, to her, it's not the drivel she spews is the problem, it's how she spews her drivel is the problem. Nope I think the drivel no matter how articulate and smooth you package it (see Danielle Smith as a great example) is the actual dangerous problem.

Let's just get back to football.

Every. Accusation. Is. A. Confession. Canada isn't broken. Conservatives are.

Alberta FEARS intelligent people. Intelligent people wouldn't vote for Take Back Alberta. Alberta loves people with less than high school graduation who've spent their lifetimes in the oil patch. Those are the people TBA and Conservative Alberta loves.

Definitely wasn't sold on Holm last year. Sounds like he has stepped up his game in camp but we'll see. Maybe I can get out to a session.

It's totally the "I'm sorry you are offended" apology and clearly think if she just explains it better people will agree. ******* morons gonna wreck the whole province .

Oh, I'm certain too, it's just not their prime hate-du-jour. Same with indigenous, the hate is always there, but they're not rallying around it. Everything in a cycle. They'll get bored and distracted by some other shiny thing to hate and they'll move on.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/johnston-meets-party-leaders-china-1.6846235 Typical. Nothing but excuses.

Looking very good. One thing with the receivers...Lawler is the WR on the short side (X), Schoen the SB next to him. Then Bailey & Agudosi are in the SB position between Demski & Wolitarsky.

I haven't seen anyone post a training camp depth chart - official or unofficial. So here is my best shot at it. EDIT: Changed as per DT corrections

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/blaikie-confidence-prorogation-analysis-wherry-1.6845378

Countered with yea but everyone's bad followed up by I'm tired and embarrassed in hearing all of this bickering back and forth between different 'viewpoints' therefore minimizing the danger of hate, bigotry and fascism and in effect legitimizing it as just another perspective to be treated with respectful dialogue.

Except she was raised a religious nutter. She knew. They just like to make rules for others.