Hate Rears Its Ugly Face in Kansas

I noted last night that there are some who cannot feel good about themselves unless they are busy hating others.  Those others may be gay, black, Muslim or Jewish, but the need to hate in order to feel superior is consistent.  Indeed, under this sick mindset, the mere existence of others living their lives and possessing civil rights seems to fuel offense and outrage.  A case in point is shooting spree in Kansas by an individual with know ties to the Klu Klux Klan who yelled “Heil Hitler!” while sitting in a police car after being taken into custody by police.  Meanwhile, a man, his grandson, and a woman are dead, all so that Frazier Glenn Cross, a/k/a Frazier Glenn Miller, could feel superior. One irony is that at least two of the victims were not even Jewish although Cross/Miller seemingly was trying to target those who were Jewish.  The New York Times looks at the tragic events and reminds us that politicians who use dog whistle code words supporting racism and preachers who depict gays as a threat to children are the ones who are the real threat to society.  Here are article highlights:

The man was identified as Frazier Glenn Cross of Aurora, Mo., in Johnson County booking records. He was charged with first-degree murder and was scheduled to appear in court Monday afternoon.

The suspect, 73, is a former Ku Klux Klan leader with a history of anti-Semitism and racism, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights organization that tracks hate groups. It identified him as Frazier Glenn Miller, 73, commonly known as Glenn Miller, and said he was the founder and grand dragon of the Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.

A doctor and his 14-year-old grandson were killed in the parking lot at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City and a woman was killed a short time later in a parking lot at Village Shalom, a senior living community about a mile away, the police said.

Mr. Miller was taken into custody on Sunday afternoon at a local elementary school near Village Shalom, the police said. In video taken by KMBC, a local television station, the suspect yelled “Heil Hitler!” while sitting in a police car.

In a 2010 interview with Howard Stern, the radio shock jock, who is Jewish, Mr. Miller was asked who he hated more, Jews or African-Americans. Mr. Miller answered “Jews. A thousand times more. Compared to our Jewish problem, all other problems are mere distractions.”

Prodded to explain, he said Jews controlled the federal government, mass media and the Federal Reserve Bank. “And with those powers, they’re committing genocide against the white race,” he said.

Two of the victims were identified on Sunday night as Dr. William Lewis Corporon and his grandson Reat Griffin Underwood. Reat was a freshman at Blue Valley High School and an Eagle Scout, according to a statement from their family. Dr. Corporon was a “well-loved physician in the Johnson County community,” and he and his wife had been married for almost 50 years. Both victims were members of the nearby United Methodist Church of the Resurrection.

“While it is too early to label these shootings as a hate crime, the fact that two Jewish institutions were targeted by the same individual just prior to the start of the Passover holiday is deeply troubling and certainly gives us pause,” Karen Aroesty, the group’s St. Louis regional director, said in a statement.

What is frightening is that the type of mindset, if not the resort to violence, is welcome in today's Republican Party of Virginia religious extremists, white supremacists and anti-Semites are all too welcome.  What happened in Kansas should be a wake up call, but it likely will be ignored.