Long before anyone ever heard of such right-wing zealots as Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Alex Jones, David Duke, Pat Robertson, or Ted Nugent, there was a bona-fide mouth-frothing, fire-breathing purveyor of conspiratorial fascist-speak who could put them all to shame.
(Well, maybe not ALEX JONES. He probably has no peer for sheer detestable stupidity but you get the idea.)
A say all this as a preface to the story of a current-day fear-monger named John Guandolo, a former FBI agent once assigned to New Orleans and who figured prominently in the investigation and prosecution of former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson when he became romantically involved with a witness in the case. But I’ll get to Guandolo in a bit.
It was back in the very early 1960s that a Tulsa radio evangelist named Billy James Hargis exploded onto the nation’s airways with his daily 30-minute Christian Crusade broadcasts which were introduced by the full-throated strains of a choir singing, “Glory, glory Hallelujah.”
What invariably followed was anything but any Scripture-based sermon but a ranting, screaming diatribe directed at the Democratic administration of John F. Kennedy and all those “godless communists” running our country. Hargis, if you can imagine it was even possible, advanced his communist conspiracies even further than had Sen. Joseph McCarthy.
For those too young to remember, the communists were the target of the hate groups after the Native Americans and blacks and before the invasion of those hordes of Mexicans and Islamics took their place as threats to the white man’s rule. (On that note, I have to wonder how the Native Americans might feel about border protection against undesirables encroaching on their land and their way of life.)
Paranoia, in fact, seems to be ingrained into the American culture these days, especially whenever it involves anyone with dark skin pigmentation.
I caught a Billy James Hargis address upstairs in the Louisiana Tech Student Center (the Tonk) back about 1961 and he was everything I had imagined—namely a lunatic—as I listened to his noon broadcasts over KRUS, that throbbing 250-watt AM station where I would later find employment as a manic disc jockey (people knew my voice all the way to the edge of the city limits).
But there was one small problem with the good reverend. Well, actually two problems but that second one would not arise until more than a decade later, after Hargis had already fallen somewhat out of favor.
The first came after Hargis allied himself with GEN. EDWIN WALKER, another darling of the right ordered against his will by President Eisenhower to enforce the historic 1957 desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock. Walker would join the John Birch Society two years later and would then go on speaking tours with Hargis.
The problem was that in 1960, Hargis became a suspect behind a series of five bombings of Little Rock public schools. The bombings were a message to civil rights leaders even as Walker was supposed to be keeping the peace. FBI special agent Joe Casper believed Hargis was planning to bomb the Methodist Church-affiliated Philander Smith College in Little Rock, a historically black university.
Then, in 1974, Tulsa, the so-called “Christian Fundamentalist Capital of the World,” was rocked when it was revealed that two students at Hargis’s Bible college married and on their wedding night, confessed to each other that each had had sexual relations with the good reverend. Hargis was forced into premature retirement by the scandal.
Now to JOHN GUANDOLO, the former New Orleans FBI agent-turned hysteria-spreading-profiteer-of-Islamophobia in the grand style of Hargis, Alex Jones, et al.
Guandolo, who has made his Understanding the Threat presentations to law enforcement groups in Hammond, Alexandria, and St. Charles Parish—you know, the really troublesome hotspots for Islamic activity—at a cost of about $12,500 a pop.
But here’s the real kicker responsible district attorneys and sheriffs should be concerned about:
Guandolo recently (on May 4) held one of his SESSIONS for 27 “students,” primarily police officers and sheriff’s deputies in a San Angelo, Texas, Baptist Church (ministers were allowed to attend free of charge).
Trouble is, the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE), which serves as the state’s law enforcement accreditation agency. DECLINED TO APPROVE Guadolo’s course for credit, saying the daylong course (during the event, Guandolo repeatedly plugged his more expensive three-day and week-long courses and offered to sign copies of his book at his “product” table) “painted an entire religion with an overly-broad brush” and “provided no training value for law enforcement attendees.”
Besides enlightening attendees on ways to spot jihadis in their midst (beards without mustaches, apparently, are a dead giveaway), Guandolo shared his interpretations of 14th-century Islamic law, gave tips on how to identify a jihadi job applicant, and how to thwart the Muslim Brotherhood in its conspiracy to topple America.
Pretty exceptional qualifications for a former FBI agent who couldn’t seem to keep his pants zipped around a star federal witness he was supposed to be…. well, handling.
All of which should really embarrass law enforcement officials in Rapides, Tangipahoa, and St. Charles parishes.
But probably won’t.
To the author of this article- I would strongly encourage you to investigate your claims more thoroughly rather than your ill informed perceptions. I have more than two decades in law enforcement and had attended this training by Mr. Guandolo, and this training has valuable insight into some social, political and economic issues in and around this State concerning the Jihadis movement globally and in the U.S. I challenge you to thoroughly digest the US vs Holyland Foundation trial as you will see a factual nexus. The training that I attended was not in any way a prejudicial rant on the Islamic religion, but an awareness of the radical views of that sect of the Muslim society whom are Sharia compliant with opposing views to our beliefs and out great Constitution. This training was extremely beneficial to the understanding of the ideologies of those whom wish to cause harm to our citizens whom are Christians and Jews, or oppose the views of Islam. I implore you to research the terroristic attacks on US soil in the last five years and look at the common denominators in all attacks. Again- you are way off course as it relates to the material or subject matter of Mr. Guandolo’s presentations regarding this his training course.
Great article Tom. Mr. Todd, if you have two decades in law enforcement, I question your training and intelligence and object to you inserting your religious view, why were you there? Surely you have read and studied the old testament and thousands of other writings and perhaps the US Constitution which says we can worship as we please. Seen any Sharia compliants lately, how about Christian compliants? Keep the religion in our spirit and churches, mosques, temples and pool halls, where love exits. Do not be afraid. and you can oppose any body, but do not do not use my tax dollars for your warped views. ron thompsonlovronalways ron
Imperial data and proven facts are not warped views. Sadly, you would believe this is about a religion, but it is not. Any training with a relevance to public safety is not a waste of tax dollars. If you want to see waste, look towards Baton Rouge. Before you pass judgement, research the topic and look for facts and not ideologies or perceptions then maybe you wouldn’t be so nieve as to question someone’s level of intelligence.
Speaking of intelligence, I believe it’s not nieve, but naive.
Mr. Todd, you are right. I should have used “ignorant” instead of intelligence. I will pray for you. love always ron thompson
Mr. Todd, for someone who (self) reportedly has two decades in law enforcement your English is pretty poor. Learn when to use who and when to use whom. Hint: you are doing it wrong.
I doubt anything you learned at this seminar was in any way valuable. Try reading the work of actual scholars who know something about 14th century Islam. They tend to have spent years reading material in the original languages — not developing wild-eyed theories based on a completely hysterical fear.
[…] At Louisiana Voice, Tom Aswell writes—What do John Guandolo and the late Billy James Hargis have in common? Propensity for fear-mongering …: […]