The Rise of the American Reich

October 28, 2004 7:44 AM

Who is Laszlo Pastor ?
An in-depth and on-going study into just one of the players in the political underpinnings of America today. You may be shocked how much influence this person has and the history and background that inform his positions. Worth the time it takes to read and extensively sourced.
posted by nofundy (7 comments total)

That page reads like notes for an article that might be interesting. It's almost unreadable as-is though.
posted by smackfu at 9:03 AM on October 28, 2004

It's pitiful that 60 years later I'm still looking for my father in those photos (scroll down).
posted by semmi at 10:08 AM on October 28, 2004

Yeah, true enough smackfu - I had to scroll through the page a couple times to get where to start in on it. But it does reward a careful examination. It's sad commentary on the state of things that the GOP's affiliation with characters like these is not even newsworthy anymore.
posted by soyjoy at 10:22 AM on October 28, 2004

Strangely, I had an image of some sort of composite of the characters of Don Novello.
posted by Pollomacho at 2:28 PM on October 28, 2004

What is interesting is that ex-Arrow Cross types have never really been able to re-establish any credibility in Hungary itself. And until recently, they have had more influence in emigre communities outside the US (Canada, Australia, and Argentina) than within the US. After all, even though Ronald Reagan night have been attracted to Pasztor's political stands, Reagan found it much more advantageous to associate with Edward Teller, who fled Hungary in repnse to the 1928 Jewish laws.

Hungary has loads of right wing revisionist groups, right wing skinheads, and super nationalists on the far sidelines, but the actual Arrow Cross is pretty universally reviled - it is pretty well known that a lot of the AVO Communist Secret Police were former Arrow Cross. The newest Arrow Crossoid groups are some real wingnuts.
posted by zaelic at 2:51 PM on October 28, 2004

zaelic - that was a really nice additional window on this. Thanks.

Also - oddly - in the US, Teller actually has actually at times associates with emigre fascists. I can't cite a source right now, I just recall seeing his name attached to some emigre hard right group......somewhere in my recent net meanderings in search of ugly truth.
posted by troutfishing at 6:08 AM on October 29, 2004

I believe the organization you are looking for is Joseph Coors's Free Congress Foundation. The Southern Poverty Law Center does not speak well of them.
posted by Pollomacho at 8:02 AM on October 29, 2004