Comments on: Beth Rickey, 1956-2009

Beth Rickey, 1956-2009

Horace Rumpole — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 05:51:26 -0800

Beth Rickey, instrumental in thwarting the rise of neo-Nazi David Duke in Louisiana politics, died this weekend at the age of 53 in a Santa Fe motel.

By: By The Grace of God

By The Grace of God — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 05:57:37 -0800

. Never heard of Ms Rickey but I am truly sorry for her passing. What a magnificent fighter.

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 06:01:01 -0800

. I went to school with the son of a well known New Oreleans mobster. One time in class we were discussing wetland redevelopment and the topic of Edwin Edwards came up. He spoke up and said, "hey, let's stop talking about Edwards, he's a friend of my family." I leaned over to him and wispered, "would that be your immediate or 'extended' family?" He wispered back with a wink, "both." Still better than Duke.

By: By The Grace of God

By The Grace of God — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 06:01:19 -0800

Upon reading further I am even more impressed that she did all this while having Crohn's disease and precursor conditions to that. A close loved one in my had that condition and I know that it can truly sap your energy.

By: Paris Hilton

Paris Hilton — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 06:24:35 -0800

In a phone interview with The New Mexican last week, Rickey said she had spent all of her savings on health care and was too ill to work. She said her last income came from selling her incomplete dissertation on Duke to the American Jewish Committee, but believes that the public should not forget Duke.

By: Slap*Happy

Slap*Happy — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 06:27:22 -0800

A great American, impoverished and finally killed by an antique Robber-Baron health care system. Can you imagine what a woman like that could accomplish if she wasn't trying to scrape together enough spare change to afford both an apartment and the next doctor's visit? There's no doubt she'd still be battling it out in New Orleans against neo-nazis and crypto-fascists. It's a thankless job that pays poorly, but in desperate need of being done, and done with passion, determination and intelligence. And now this true lion of the Republican party is done, laid down to die in the desert, abandoned by her nation, while Duke snickers.

By: Midnight Skulker

Midnight Skulker — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 06:35:29 -0800

I recall that during this Louisiana election, the best ever bumper sticker came out. "Vote for the Crook: It's Important"

By: bunnytricks

bunnytricks — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 06:47:36 -0800

dot and lol

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:05:54 -0800

while Duke snickers Actually, more like, while Duke lives in exhile in Austria after having completed his prison sentence in the US and having been thrown out of the Czech Republic in April. But maybe he is snickering, who knows? Who wants to listen to his bull shit long enough to find out?

By: tizzie

tizzie — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:09:51 -0800

Thanks for this post. I wasn't aware of Ms. Rickey's bravery, and I'm sorry she didn't get the recognition she deserved.

By: dirtdirt

dirtdirt — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:20:52 -0800

By: Iridic

Iridic — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:23:33 -0800

By: hydropsyche

hydropsyche — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:49:11 -0800

By: languagehat

languagehat — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:58:22 -0800

Thanks for the post. I too had been unaware of her, and I'm glad to know about her. .

By: DU

DU — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:00:43 -0800

while Duke lives in exhile in Austria What? How can David Duke be free in Europe with his views and their notoriously strict anti-Nazi laws?

By: octobersurprise

octobersurprise — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:23:31 -0800

"Vote for the Crook: It's Important" Those were great. One day I threw a half full can of soda at Duke. Looking back on it now, I'm sorry I littered.

By: hortense

hortense — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:27:33 -0800

Update on global fascism, emphasis on Austria

By: localroger

localroger — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:15:00 -0800

By: Zed

Zed — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:19:18 -0800

How can David Duke be free in Europe with his views and their notoriously strict anti-Nazi laws? Wikipedia says: "Local authorities have stated that as long as he does not break any laws, Duke is allowed to stay in Austria if he wishes." It seems he's safe as long as he keeps his mouth shut. Does make me wonder how he got his visa, though.

By: tcv

tcv — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:26:12 -0800

This was the only political activism I was ever involved in. I marched against Duke in New Orleans. I still don't buy some of the ideas such as when he reached Baton Rouge he would "turn on the ovens," but he was clearly not a Good Idea. Racism runs deep in Louisiana. It still does. Duke would have won without Ms. Rickey's help.

By: Skeptic

Skeptic — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:28:56 -0800

I recall that during this Louisiana election, the best ever bumper sticker came out. "Vote for the Crook: It's Important" Heh, very similar slogans were used in the infamous French presidential election of 2002. Fortunately, the Crook also won there (by 82%!).

By: jonp72

jonp72 — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:33:16 -0800

According to the Santa Fe paper, she was the niece of Branch Rickey, who brought Jackie Robinson into the major leagues. She sounds like a great lady. It's a crying shame she died practically homeless.

By: dejah420

dejah420 — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 09:42:00 -0800

Tragic.

By: markkraft

markkraft — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:01:34 -0800

Meanwhile, David Duke *hearts* the Tea Parties... and so do his white supremacist friends. Stormfront, for instance, was founded by his ex-wife, and receives a reported 92,000 visitors a day. It has a special section of their forums dedicated to the Tea Parties, where members have arranged carpools for the most recent Washington, DC event and coordinated their plans. They have also discussed issues such as bringing weapons to the events. There was a post on Stormfront a few months ago saying the following:

"The Tea Party Americans Coalition is a work group of serious White Nationalists. It is meant to be a grand project of the entire WN movement . . .We hope to get not only individuals to work within our coalition, but entire groups, and organizations. . . We see the situation in America today, and the Tea Party movement as an opportunity to gain potentially millions of followers."

TPAC has a special forum on Stormfront, in fact. Really, it may be a bit premature to think that David Duke is gone for good.

By: rmd1023

rmd1023 — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:10:30 -0800

By: widdershins

widdershins — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:47:09 -0800

About 10 years ago, my ex worked as a waiter at a TGIF in Tallahassee, FL. One evening David Duke came in with a party of 4-5 people. After the hostess had seated them, one of the waiters recognized Duke and spread the word. Every single waiter refused to wait on the table, even though they were repeatedly flagged down by the increasingly annoyed customers. In the end, they left after about 30 minutes, pissed off and hungry. (If I hadn't heard about this from the source I wouldn't have believed it, as my experience with Tallahassee was that it is incredibly racist. But for once, yey Tallahassee.)

By: Librarygeek

Librarygeek — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:02:34 -0800

I wish I had heard of Beth Rickey before now. .

By: jb

jb — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:10:24 -0800

By: notashroom

notashroom — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:36:44 -0800

By: LobsterMitten

LobsterMitten — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:47:58 -0800

Wow, thanks for posting this.

By: Zed

Zed — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:58:16 -0800

Does make me wonder how he got his visa, though. Oh. If I actually RTFC (read the citation), it explains: "As a US citizen he can, as a tourist, stay three months at a time without a visa."

By: Jon_Evil

Jon_Evil — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:03:30 -0800

. Two great Americans were let down by the healthcare system already this week. Rickey and Crystal Lee Sutton both died because they couldn't afford to maintain care for their chronic diseases.

By: cazoo

cazoo — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:06:33 -0800

I too wasn't aware of her contributions until this post. .

By: ignignokt

ignignokt — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:55:55 -0800

I'm sad that I didn't know about her while she was alive, but glad that I do now. I'm impressed and disappointed that somehow we let her die that way.

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:23:20 -0800

Does make me wonder how he got his visa, though. Oh. If I actually RTFC (read the citation), it explains: "As a US citizen he can, as a tourist, stay three months at a time without a visa." Of course, as a convicted felon, he wouldn't be eligible for the benefits of the visa waiver treaties, right? But from the article: Mr Duke said he lived a quiet life in Austria: "I'm not in Austria for any political activities. I just come to Austria to relax – the mountains are beautiful. The Austrian Alps are just beautiful. There's beauty all over the world. You know who else used to like to spend time relaxing in the Alps over Salzburg? It's just too easy folks.