Michael Peroutka will remain an embarrassment to Anne Arundel County and the Republicans as long as he sits on its Council. This is a man who led people in the “national anthem” of Dixie next to the Confederate “Stainless Banner.”
The “Stainless Banner” includes the Confederate battle flag in its canton. The white was meant to express the Confederate fight for the supremacy of the white race. Peroutka did his proud rendition of Dixie at the national conference of the League of the South, a secessionist hate group. In 2012.
Peroutka got money for his campaign from a variety of source. I suspect, however, that not many Marylanders, can claim that Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore gave them $1000, as did Associate Justice Tom Parker.
Moore is the jackass who was removed from the bench unanimously by his colleagues for violating the Constitution and his refusal to comply with a federal court decision. He spoke to the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), the group that inspired Dylann Roof, but claimed not to consider them a “white supremacist” group.
(Weirdly, Republican Primary voters rejected Moore in gubernatorial bids in 2006 and 2010 but Alabama returned him to the Alabama Supreme Court as its Chief Justice in 2012 on the Republican ticket. But even Moore is backing away from the CCC.)
During his campaign, Peroutka refused to leave the racist League of the South or give up his on its Board. Yep, and this guy is an elected official in suburban Maryland.
Peroutka also received $1000 from Scott Scharf of Scott’s Gunsmithing in Glen Burnie. Scott’s Gunsmithing specializes in custom firearms and gives explicit instructions on how to get around Maryland’s gun laws to build a gun called “the Urban Broom.” No doubt Dylann Roof would approve.
As the unacceptability of the Confederate flag goes national in the wake of the nine assassinations in Charleston, many in both parties have looked to see how we can make Maryland a more inclusive place. Refusing to condone the acceptability of Peroutka and his politics would aid that effort.
