Paul Topete of the band Pokerface was interviewed recently on "Truth Jihad".
Topete's reputation as a purveyor of anti-Jew propaganda is matched if not exceeded by the person interviewing him, Kevin Barrett who has
a long history of spreading antisemitism under the tired excuse of "free speech". This individual was part of the "truther" scam from at least the mid-2000's, engaging in a
variety of frauds,
creepy behavior and
intimidation tactics against persons duped into the truth movement who refused to push the "Joos did it" meme, going as far as
spreading lies about people like Andrew Bernstein a 9/11 survivor.
Never mind the scammers have themselves to blame for duping leftists in the first place. What did they think was going to happen once the anti Jew agenda was revealed? Were these people really so arrogant as to believe real leftists would stay involved in the "truth" AND not speak out against racism? Really? I suppose it proves the fringe right really IS that dumb.
Hell hath no fury than an anti-racist conned into working with closet Nazis.
So it's no surprise Pokerface is being given a platform at "Truth jihad" radio:
http://truthjihadradio.blogspot.com/2014/01/paul-topete-of-poker-face-pushes-free.html
http://noliesradio.org/archives/75505
There's so much anti-Semite garbage spewed by Topete it's hard to choose a quote. In a way it's refreshing. Usually one has the reverse problem of trying to nail a closet racist who's practiced at dancing around the issue. Nope, wanker Topete gives us lots to chose from. His opening remarks say it all [ 3:13 to 4:36]:
KB: But you're coming at it from a whole different perspective...
PT: We haven't been christian--zio-nist, judeo---all these terms that Jews gave us to basically described the Judized ex christian. We're still of the hard core kinda christian school where if you don't have a cloak...so...or if you don't have a gun--sword --you sell your cloak and buy one....to uh what would Jesus do....My Jesus would pull out the cat o nine tails and beat the banking Jews out of his temple. He'd also called the banking Jews of his day the children of Satan as I do today. Talking about the Rothschild families, and the Rockefellers...it doesn't matter...nothing has changed from this time to our time.... they got better at it or we've become more disorganized or we let the (?) Jews for us. The fact that Catholicism...I mean they had Jewish popes since the Renaissance...the whole (?) the Jews and the pedophiles and the gays (?) the Devil. And they kicked out the most Catholic bishop, which was Bishop Williamson, because he had the temerity to basically say the Holocaust is a bunch of lies.
KB: I had him on my show not too long ago.
Well, all Holocaust Deniers together, I see.
Apologies for the incomplete transcription. There are only so many times I feel willing to listen to Topete's mumble in his stoner spaced-out voice about "the Jews".
Neither Topete nor "Pokerface" have a Wikipedia page. This is worth noting because it shows just how fringe their appeal is, contrary to them claiming to be
"the Protest Rock for the 2000's". Lady Liberty's Lamp very adeptly identify that fringe as the Patriot/Militia/Tea Party people:
https://ladylibertyslamp.wordpress.com/2009/07/05/controversial-patriot-militia-rock-band-headlines-tea-party-event-in-nations-capital/
Yet, the most notable and questionable presence was that of
controversial patriot/militia rock band Pokerface. Described by the ADL
as an “anti-government, anti-immigrant, conspiracy-promoting rock music band, helmed by “virulent anti-semite: Paul Topete”
Pokerface members not only played music for the crowd, but they also
managed the sound system, provided the event’s security and assisted
event coordinator Lisa Miller with the general organization of the DC
event. What makes their presence even more suspicious is that in all
promotional website posts or materials for the day’s event there was no
mention of Pokerface’s involvement anywhere.
In the past, Pokerface had been a staple of Ron Paul rallies and
enjoys a healthy following from the survivalist and white nationalist
communities. Lead singer: Paul Topete was a frequent poster on the white
nationalist website VNNforum.
Last year, public pressure about Topete’s racism was brought to the
attention of Ron Paul’s campaign and Pokerface was dropped from a RP
event in Michigan. But, to no avail Poker Face continued to play at
several Ron Paul rallies, including in the Washington DC since then.
Poker Face has also performed at a benefit for Willis Carto’s anti-semitic newspaper American Free Press and has endorsed the notorious Barnes Review, both outlets of longtime white supremacist Carto.
During this very July 4th Tea Party event, in a conversation with
anti-racist journalist Daryle Lamont Jenkins of One People’s Project,
Topete stated that “jews were responsible for 60% of all unreported
crime in the United States”, while further claiming in this same recent
conversation that “only 97,000 jews died in the Holocaust”. Paul went on
to say that his libertarian views make him support anyone who has been
imprisoned for simply speaking; he specifically noted holocaust denier
and revisionist Ernst Zundel as an example. Other “interesting” quotes
from Topete can be found in his interview with Mathaba:
Another point to make is Willis Carto is an associate of Lyndon Larouche, considered to be the original inventor of the "Inside Job" 9/11 conspiracy theories. [Carto and company vigorously denied the connection, but that's not surprising. Ron Paul denied writing his newletters that he made millions off of.]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/cult/larouche/main.htm
One man with whom LaRouche and his group dealt in the mid-1970s was Willis
Carto, the founder of the Liberty Lobby, according to LaRouche's deposition in a
libel case last year and one by Carto in another lawsuit.
The Liberty Lobby, a right-wing group, has said it was never allied with
LaRouche. Carto said in his 1980 deposition that the Liberty Lobby never
endorsed the NCLC but that he was "quite impressed" with its members and that
his organization's newspaper, Spotlight, had praised it.
http://www.lyndonlarouche.org/larouche-british17A.htm
Sometime in 1980, in one of my interminable
discussions with defectors who quit the LaRouche organization circa
1978 in protest over their leader's anti-Semitism, it was suggested that
I read Destruction of Freemasonry, which depicts the Masons as
being tools of a Jewish plot. I can't remember whether I was told that
the book had directly influenced LaRouche or simply that there were
similarities in outlook between LaRouche and Ludendorff. In due course, I
obtained a copy of the translation published by Willis Carto's Noontide
Press and confirmed that indeed there were some convergences between
the thinking of LaRouche and that of the late general.
It was also in the 1976-78 period that NCLC
members met repeatedly with leaders of the Liberty Lobby (Carto's
pro-Nazi outfit) and contributed articles to its newspaper, The Spotlight.
During this timeframe, LaRouche met personally with Carto to discuss
the "Jewish question," according to LaRouche's own testimony in a 1984
court case. Carto reportedly would boast later on (read here) that he had converted LaRouche to anti-Semitism, although the latter's earlier statements about Jews (example from 1973 here) suggest that he scarcely needed any persuading.
Topete is deeply involved with a group of nasty political players. This isn't Topete's first involvement with a "truther" conspiracy personality. In 2006 Topete was interviewed by Michael Wolsey of Visibility 9-11:
Visibility 9-11 Welcomes Paul Topete of Pokerface
podbay.fm/show/121399650/e/1160510520?autostart=1
Wosley, who I never new well, was always considered a "reasonable" truther. No mad theories and no connections to the racist/militia gang. It's easy to want to believe he was just fooled like many of us. Even a Jewish truther covered his interview:
http://www.yourbbsucks.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-13009.html
Clearly the awareness of who these people were was little known outside of Topete's fringe militia crowd. Many references to Topete's connections are dated after the 2006 interview by Wolsey. But this one isn't:
http://mikepiperreport.com/Articles_Archive/AmericanFreePress/AFP2006_01-06/Michael_Collins_Piper_AFP20060327_Face_Off_At_Rutgers_University.html
March 27, 2006
...
Libertarian Patriotic Musical Performers
Banned from Playing at Political Convention for Supporting Free
Speech for All
By Michael Collins Piper
OPP began a loud and aggressive smear campaign, raising a ruckus
not because of anything in the music of Poker Face. The group went
after Poker Face because its web site featured, among other things,
commentary critical of prosecutions of thousands of people in Europe
— including internationally-known best-selling historian,
David Irving, sentenced to three years in jail in Austria —
on thought control measures that level criminal charges and imprisonment
upon those found guilty of the ambiguous accusation of “denying
the Holocaust.”
Topete — who has both Jewish and Israeli friends who are fully
aware of his opposition to laws prohibiting freedom of expression
— was accused by the OPP of being “anti-Semitic.”
And, perhaps even worse, Topete was accused of being a “Holocaust
denier” himself — not because he questioned the Holocaust,
but because he dared to defend the right of free speech for those
who do.
This is where things start getting dodgy for Wolsey. If One People's Party was starting a loud aggressive campaign, how did Wolsey, who prides himself on not tolerating this rubbish, not notice?
I am Jewish. I see people who do try to push anti-semitic views onto
the movement, but luckily, the majority of the movement is smarter than
that. We are smarter than the Weekly Standard would lead you to believe.
We want anyone and everyone who was involved to be held held
accountable. Be it Christian, Jew, Neocon or Zionist, we want
accountability. Period.
If the 9/11 Truth Movement is anti-semitic, than what am I doing
here? Last time I checked, I respected the religion of my family.
Stop trying to paint the 9/11 Truth Movement as anti-semitic because it isn’t, and neither is Ray McGovern.
Wolsey was involved in a con in late 2007 instigated by Larouche patsy Webster Tarpley. It became known as the Kennebunkport Hoax and appeared to be an attempt to poison relations with the 9/11 truth movement. In retrospect, now knowing the "movement" is a right wing based front, I'm leaning towards the theory it was to identify and isolate non racist truthers. I was one of those targeted...and so was Micheal Wolsey, along with Arabesque, Cosmos and Jon Gold. Tarpley's mate Joe Azar even made a cute little pic to go with the ridiculous accusations we were "cointelpro":
This is possible one of the dumbest things these frauds ever did. Beside the obvious accusations from Tin Foil central, this was one of many clues the 9/11 "truth" movement was a manipulative toxic fraud. While I was on good terms with three of these people, I knew very little personally about Wolsey and literally nothing about Berlet. As in NO THING. Why is someone trying to connect me with people I don't know and they have no reason to think I know?
When I explored the oddness of this at DailyKos, Berlet himself acted shocked, SHOCKED, I could be doubting the sincerity of him being attacked and refused to answer any questions, no matter how polite. I've heard Berlet was also vouched for by a pathological liar and con artist who is a strong supporter of Kevin Barrett. Since I have learned Berlet virtually built a name for himself being the go-to source about the Larouche Cult. Based on other staged attacks, what this looks like is a complex confidence game to get the trust of anti-racist truthers. I hesitate to be more blunt in my suspicions. It is possible for anyone to be fooled. If Berlet is not part of the con, he dropped the ball by not promptly explaining his involvement when he had the chance.
As for Wolsey, he's expressed no interest in explaining why he was interviewing Topete, or even how he knew about him, considering Pokerface's mainstream appeal can be described at best as nil. This was a common occurrence in the "movement": people promoting the fraud, claiming to be anti-racists yet knowing or having contact with the right fringe most people on the left haven't heard of.
Paul Topete is one of those people. And he seems to be trying to renew his "career". Last November Topete was at the AFP FREE SPEECH CONFERENCE:
https://americanfreepress.net/?p=13450
AFP PODCAST: Paul Topete, Musician, Activist, All-Around Bright Guy
October 23, 2013
AFP
The leader of the popular rock-and-roll band
PokerFace and organizer of the annual Freedompalooza rally, Paul has been active in the truth movement his entire life.
Because of
this, he has been a front-line target for harassment by the
Anti-Defamation League, but he refuses to buckle, and will be on hand to
tell his own story and to encourage other patriots to speak freely.
Call
Julia Foster at the AFP office at 202 544 5977 (Monday through
Thursday—9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST) to reserve your spot at the conference.
Dave
Gahary had the chance to sit down with Paul to discuss his participation
in the upcoming AFP FREE SPEECH CONFERENCE in Austin, Texas on Veterans
Day Weekend, in this lively
interview
(8:16).
I lol'd at "popular" band. The words, "Paul who?" would be most people's response. Topete's last big bang was organizing Freedompalooza:
http://blog.adl.org/anti-semitism/freedompalooza-2013-july-4-weekend-extremism
June 19, 2013
30
Anti-Semites And Extremists To Host “Freedompalooza 2013” On July 4th Weekend
White
supremacists, anti-Semites, anti-government extremists and
conspiracy theorists are among speakers scheduled to appear at
“Freedompalooza 2013,” organized by Paul Topete,
lead singer of the band Pokerface and an anti-Semite and
anti-government extremist. It is the third time Topete has organized
such an event in Pennsylvania, but he allegedly has plans to
organize future events in other regions of the country.
That will be something to look out for.
Topete has lined up a long list of bands and speakers, many of the
latter coming from extremist and fringe movements and causes. One
theme that unites many speakers is virulent anti-Semitism or
anti-Israel sentiment. Two of the more prominent speakers, for
example, are former members of Congress: Cynthia McKinney and James Traficant. McKinney is a long-time anti-Israel activist who has supported anti-Semitic groups such as the Nation of Islam and the New Black Panther Party, while Traficant, since his release from prison on federal racketeering and bribery convictions, has joined the American Free Press,
in whose pages he has expressed his own anti-Semitic and anti-Israel
views. Another scheduled speaker is Jim Condit, Jr., who several
times ran for Congress in Ohio, taking advantage of his candidate
status to obtain a platform for expressing his anti-Semitic views in
radio advertisements.
This following pretty much confirms Topete's, and for that matter Barrett's, loyalties to the extreme racist fringe:
Other speakers reportedly scheduled to attend include Merlin
Miller, the 2012 presidential candidate of the white supremacist
American Freedom Party, several American Free Press
writers, and Cynthia Steele, the wife of white supremacist attorney
Edgar Steele (currently serving a 50-year sentence for conspiracy
to murder Cynthia, a charge she claims is false).
Denial must be a lovely country. I should fell sorry for her; she probably has no one else to turn to but other racist wackos. But come on, lady: just bail from the whole scene.
It's Merlin Miller who's the most telling participant.
American Freedom Party, formerly American Third Position, are desperately trying to whitewash their history, pun intended. Once a "Political Party for White Americans", they've fallen back on the "Ron Paul Liberty two step", insisting they're centrist, populist libertarian-ish. Meanwhile even some fringies think FreedomPaluza, or at least Topete, is
too fringe:
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/page/298659_Neo-Nazi_Views_of_Freedompaloo
At
least two of the groups that Topete also said were sending
representatives to Freedompalooza, the third such festival in as many
years, insisted they would not speak at the gathering despite Topete’s
claims. Stewart Rhodes, leader of the Oath Keepers, a conspiracy-minded
group that is part of the Patriot movement, told Hatewatch today that
his officials were not going to Freedompalooza and, having learned
recently of Topete’s denial of the Holocaust, would never do so. In
fact, Oath Keepers’ Pennsylvania representative, Mike Williams, wrote
Topete Friday asking that the Oath Keepers’ name be removed from the
Freedompalooza event. The Oath Keepers were still listed as
participating on Topete’s website today.
“[W]e will be alerting our PA members to the holocaust denial views
of the organizer, and encouraging them not to attend,” Rhodes wrote to
Hatewatch, adding that Topete had confirmed his Holocaust denial views
to the Oath Keepers.
Rhodes also said that an allied Patriot group, Gun Owners of America
(GOA), had withdrawn a promise by its leader, Larry Pratt, to speak. He
cited a GOA Web post that denounced Topete’s Holocaust denial.
You know it's bad when some patriots won't go along with Holocaust Denial.
Topete's dishonesty and refusal to remove material is not a surprise.
I can confirm that the one quality of the far right scammers have is a superhuman arrogance that eclipses rational self interest. Take this blog for instance.
The sole reason it exists is that, after over 7 years, the scammers refuse to remove lies and information gathered under false pretenses. All they had to do was shut up and use the delete button. Then, not
only wouldn't I be writing this, I wouldn't have ever networked with
anti racists or learned the 91l truth scam goes to the highest ranks of
political and racist organizations like "Campaign for Liberty".
Combined with the knowledge they are pushing a fringe right, racist fraud and don't seem to be stopping any time soon, means I'll do my best to keep other leftists from being scammed.
But I digress. Topete is as idiotic as the rest of the "truther" leaders. He knows he's representing a loud but small fringe and want followers to believe that they're "sweeping the nation" or some such. Admitting factions of their supposed base object would undermine morale. I can only hope Topete get's sued one day by fellow non-Holocaust denying patriots for his arrogance.
Facebook
page. Nothing really surprising: regular on Truth Jihad, racist friends, Paultard, etc. Though one image really plays to the "truther" base:
Terror drills that turned live, that were dun by da joolanders and their MOssAD asswipes
April 2013
Gotta give Topete credit for being an Out and Proud racist.
