This was the first direct PUBLIC interaction between BUGers and the movement as represented by, say, Stormfront and the groups who held earlier national conventions.

It is very hard to get ANYBODY to a meeting where you have to keep the location secret. But Derek was dealing with the fact that the last attempted national meeting, that of AR, was canceled by a fake bomb threat. Oddly enough, the Bureau of Homeland Security has not located the felons who made this call, nor does it show any tendency to.

All they have to do to use this tactic is know where we are.

If you have even put things like this together, you would have told Derek it was impossible. And he conceived it and he carried it out.

The annual conventions were in New Orleans sponsored by the National Alliance. When New Orleans blew away we were instructed by Dave and others leaders to go to the AR convention as our annual meeting.

I dropped out of convention going then, but not because it was AR.

Just the opposite. I was impressed by the willingness of the National Alliance to support AR in that way.

VERY impressed.

A bane of my life is when promising fledgling movements start to get a little recognition and the nobodies who were in at the start get some recognition, get some money or recognition and then tear the whole thing apart trying to remain dominant.

I have no idea who the nobodies were, but that has clearly happened to the National Alliance since.

So the first morning and the afternoon of this meeting was made up of the Big Guys, those who were willing to speak for the cause even though it was a small gathering.

It was four o’clock before we got our show.

Instead of one eloquent speaker in a coat and tie, I did what a good seminar leader SHOULD do. I spoke for a few minutes to introduce the concept, stayed at the front long enough to let Truck Roy and White Rabbit take it up, and then went over and sat at the front table.

They won’t admit it, but it was unfair, cruel, and they did a terrific job. I am one hell of a teacher.

After the parade of orators, exhausted as they were, most of the crowd woke up and tried to figure what the hell was going on. As always in such a case, White Rabbit, Derek, and Truck Roy wowed ‘em, but the only one who didn’t think he had goofed was Derek, who’s been up there before. The other two were worried that they had fluffed it.

The audience thought they were terrific. White Rabbit nearly got overrun selling tee shirts after his speech. Derek, the real expert in this, is normally reserved, but he was effusive — for him — about their performance.

I will be writing lots more about this now because I think you want to hear it. At least those in the Swarm do, and they are the ones I listen to.