One of the most troubling and disturbing things about the Vlaams Belang controversy (that erupted when I raised questions about the Belgian far-right party’s participation in the counter-jihad movement) is the incredible amount of support for the Vlaams Belang among US white power and neo-Nazi groups.

Researching this issue, I’ve discovered literally hundreds of pro-Vlaams Belang messages posted at sites like Stormfront and Vanguard News (both White Power sites), and at the web site of David Duke. This isn’t guilt by association, either; if the Vlaams Belang had honestly and sincerely repudiated these kinds of views, there would not be any support for the VB among these knuckle-dragging freaks.

You certainly won’t find any support for Little Green Footballs in that crowd, because I have made it abundantly clear that I do not share their mental illnesses, and I don’t want anything to do with them. In fact, LGF is universally despised by them.

Out of these many associations, here’s one that’s especially noxious; in February of this year, Vlaams Belang leaders Filip DeWinter and Frank Vanhecke appeared on a radio show called “The Political Cesspool” (a very apt title), promoted at the web site of notorious white supremacist David Duke.

Pulling on my hip boots and wading into “The Political Cesspool” radio show, I discovered a real viper’s nest of white supremacism and race hatred; the online archives of their show read like a who’s who of White Power nuts, Holocaust deniers, and antisemites that you have to see for yourself to really believe.

On the show’s official web site, at the bottom of the page, you’ll discover links to two of the most notorious hate groups in the US: the Holocaust-denying Institute for Historical Review, and the white supremacist group Council of Conservative Citizens:

From a March 4, 2007 post at the Political Cesspool site, here’s a partial list of the people who often appear on their show:

Gordon Lee Baum, Esq., Peter Brimelow, Filip DeWinter, Dr. David Duke, Paul Fromm, Peter Gemma, Joel LeFevre, Dr. Wayne Lutton, Dr. Kevin MacDonald, Michael Peroutka, Rev. Ted Pike, Larry Pratt, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, Kyle Rogers, Dr. Tomislav Sunic, Jared Taylor and Frosty Wooldridge.

What do all of these men have in common? They’ve all been guests on The Political Cesspool during the last six weeks - and these are just a few of the luminaries we’ve had the honor of hosting! But, much more than just merely bringing you the most powerful voices of our movement, we actively battle and are unafraid to name the enemies of our shared Cause.

I hadn’t heard of many of those people before this, but after researching them on the web I needed a long hot shower to feel clean again. Look them up for yourself; don’t take my word for it.

The real point behind all this is that letting the counter-jihad movement be tainted by association with groups like the Vlaams Belang is simply not smart. It’s counter-productive in the worst way, because Americans will not support a movement that can be tied to groups with racist and Nazi pasts. I happen to believe it’s also morally wrong. And I don’t believe Filip DeWinter’s smooth evasions, any more than I believe Tariq Ramadan’s.

Exit question: if I had ever appeared on a radio show like this, how much slack do you think I would get from other bloggers and the media in general? And even more to the point: why are so many counter-jihad bloggers willing to cut DeWinter, Vanhecke, and the Vlaams Belang so much slack, despite all these indications that something isn’t right?