Idaho Republicans Very Sad For Lovelorn Austrian Nazi And US Sweetheart

Finally, an immigrant the GOP can sympathize with.

The GOP of Kootenai County, Idaho, went on record last week with a unanimous resolution to let an Austrian far-right figure come to the USA so he can marry his sweetheart, Twitter troll and rightwing irritant Brittany Pettibone, a resident of Post Falls. What? A white nationalist in northern Idaho? How novel! You know how it is with love -- sometimes the Coeur just won't stay in its d'Alene.

Pettibone and her BFF, Martin Sellner, had hoped to marry in June in Idaho, but US authorities cancelled Sellner's "Electronic System for Travel Authorization," the customs doodad that allows brief visits by some filthy foreigns to the US without a visa.

Sellner leads an Austrian anti-immigrant hate group called "Generation Identity" (and will say with a straight face, like every other white nationalist, that he doesn't hate anyone -- he just loves European Europeans). His home was raided in March and computers belonging to him and Pettibone, who was visiting, were seized after Austrian authorities learned Brenton Tarrant, the New Zealand mosque shooter, had made a large donation to Sellner's group.

Last month, Sellner told the Associated Press he had exchanged emails with Tarrant after the donation and pointed him to his English-language YouTube channel, but denied having any involvement in the attack or inspiring Tarrant with his anti-Islam ideology.

PURE COINCIDENCE! Sellner is quite the charmer, and we can't imagine why a mass murderer would have sent Generation Identity group money, apart from the fact that Sellner spouts exactly the same racist "replacement" rhetoric the shooter used in his own shitposting manifesto, and which has been a staple of online white supremacy and Fox News. Here's Sellner in a 2016 CNN piece:  

  "My generation was never asked if we want this mass immigration, this Islamization and population replacement in this country," he explains over several cups of Viennese coffee. "We were born into a society that  believes we are racist for simply saying that we are becoming a minority in our own country."

In a series of posts on YouTube, Sellner suggests white Christians are on the verge of "extinction," increasingly marginalized by growing numbers of migrants in what he calls the "Great Replacement."

It is of course a COMPLETE COINCIDENCE that "The Great Replacement" happened to be the title the Christchurch murderer gave his manifesto. They're only words, man.

Sellner and Pettibone also managed to get themselves barred from entry into the United Kingdom last year, what with the racism making their presence "not for the public good." They were also among the brave crew of the rented Naziboat that attempted to block refugees in the Mediterranean in 2017, but who themselves had to be rescued after Boaty McHitlerface broke down. Fortunately, a ship owned by a refugee rescue group was able to help.

Ms. Pettibone won over the Kootenai County GOP by presenting herself and Sellner as victims of Political Correctness, of course. She presented the goals of Generation Identity as nothing less than noble: "Mainly they  oppose the Islamization of Europe and mass migration into Europe, but a core tenet of their movement is campaigning for political change through peaceful protest."

She also mentioned the 2017 Hitlerboat escapade, framing it as an effort to "defend Europe," because isn't that what America is all about? Further, Pettibone insisted, Sellner had "been to the U.S. four times with no issue and never caused any kind of disturbance, so it really was politically motivated."

The Kootenai GOP sure was impressed by the young lady, passing a unanimous resolution condemning the revocation of Sellner's travel permit for "political reasons" and decrying the mean old US government for having "interfered with the wedding plans of these two young people." The party even posted two videos of the meeting to YouTube: one showed Pettibone's testimony, and another showed the party members discussing how they could help the poor oppressed folks.

Funny thing, both videos were taken down immediately after a reporter for the Spokane Spokesman-Review called the Kootenai GOP for comment. And then county GOP officials started spinning the resolution as nothing worth making a fuss about, because the specifics of the couple's white nationalist politics just plain don't enter into it:

In an email, Kootenai County GOP chairman Brent Regan said the party took up the resolution to help Pettibone because she is a constituent. He said the resolution had nothing to do with her ideology. Rather, he said, the party was concerned about freedom of political speech.

Duane Rasmussen, a former vice chairman who remains active in the Kootenai County GOP, defended the resolution, contendingfederal authorities have no good reason to prevent Sellner from entering the United States.

"It's not a resolution in support of his cause," Rasmussen said. "It's a resolution in support of him getting married."

Asked about Pettibone's comments about Islam, Rasmussen said: "I can't be held accountable for any of her comments on Islam, and neither can anybody else on the committee."

Yep, the Kootenai County GOP is totally the fucking ACLU here, that's what it is.

 Spokesman-Review reporter Chad Sokol also managed to catch a staffer for US congressman Russ Fulcher making an ass of himself trying to help the poor sad Aryan couple. Tim Kastning, from Fulcher's Coeur d'Alene office, stood up during the party meeting and declared,

"I just wanted to let the committee know that I have reached out to (Pettibone) and given her my card, and Congressman Fulcher's office will be doing what we can to give whatever help and assistance that we can."

The announcement elicited a round of applause from the party.

Later though, when Sokol called for comment, Kastning said nah, he hadn't talked to the congressman, and no, Fulcher won't be getting involved. An email from Fulcher spokesperson Alexah Rogge explained it was only "the natural inclination of our staff to listen and attempt to provide assistance" when a constituent might need help dealing with the government, but in this particular case, "there is no appeals process through (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) and no avenue for a congressional office to intervene."

And gosh, we're just certain poor Brittany Pettibone's far-right politics didn't cause anyone in Fulcher's office to ask Kastning, Y ou said you'd help a neo-Nazi get married? Cripes! 

In any case, the happy couple now plans to be married in Austria this summer, and then we suppose they'll honeymoon anywhere they haven't yet been declared pariahs.

[ Spokesman-Review / KHQ-TV ]

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