# Anonymous outs pols as KKK members **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 2, 2015, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-outs-pols-as-kkk-members/736447 "2015-11-02T18:23:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-outs-pols-as-kkk-members/736447/1 "2015-11-02T18:23:53Z")
This seems a little far-fetched, pandering to the Klan being pretty much useless politically these days (or so one would think). But [Anonymous has issued their list of members](http://usuncut.com/politics/anonymous-unhoods-kkk-prominent-politicians/), from somewhere: > [@](#): > > In a new post on document-dumping site pastebin, Anonymous names US Senators Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), John Cornyn (R-Tx.), Dan Coats (R-In.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) as members of the KKK. Anonymous also outed several mayors of major US cities, including Madeline Rogero of Knoxville, Tennessee; Jim Gray of Lexington, Kentucky; Paul D. Fraim of Norfolk, Virginia; Kent Guinn of Ocala, Florida; and Tom Henry of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Is this credible? And if so, what effect will it have on Republican re-branding efforts, and on any of the individuals named? ETA: Added link ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-outs-pols-as-kkk-members/736447/2 "2015-11-02T18:27:15Z")
Everyone from North Carolina who is shocked at Tom Tillis’s alleged association, raise your hands. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-outs-pols-as-kkk-members/736447/3 "2015-11-02T18:28:55Z")
I’d have to see some corroborating evidence. A list of names doesn’t prove anything, or even point to anything. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-outs-pols-as-kkk-members/736447/4 "2015-11-02T18:42:46Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I’d have to see some corroborating evidence. A list of names doesn’t prove anything, or even point to anything. Agreed. But I still hope this is true! ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-outs-pols-as-kkk-members/736447/5 "2015-11-02T18:43:55Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Is this credible? And if so, what effect will it have on Republican re-branding efforts, and on any of the individuals named? My guess: not credible. And therefore, no effect. If corroborating evidence were to surface, this could actually have a medium-level impact, as the Republicans try to reach out to minorities and trip over their own clown shoes again. But since they’re already tripping over their Donald Trump sized shoes, it’s not clear how much more the brand can really be damaged. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-outs-pols-as-kkk-members/736447/6 "2015-11-02T18:46:11Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Agreed. But I still hope this is true! All of those people, at least the ones in public life, are going to have to make public statements of some kind now. If it’s true for any of them, that’s going to come out somehow. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-outs-pols-as-kkk-members/736447/7 "2015-11-02T18:48:24Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > All of those people, at least the ones in public life, are going to have to make public statements of some kind now. If it’s true for any of them, that’s going to come out somehow. Chatter on Daily Kos says this isn’t even from Anonymous, but rather some other random internet dude – if this is all it is, I doubt it gets any further than chatter (that’s mostly shut down or ignored) on liberal blogs. If it shows up on Talking Points Memo’s Livewire, then it’s gotten to the smallest level of national visibility, I think. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-outs-pols-as-kkk-members/736447/8 "2015-11-02T18:51:12Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > And if so, what effect will it have on Republican re-branding efforts, and on any of the individuals named? _cough_ they aren’t all Republicans _cough_ For the mayors, 4 out of 5 are Democrats. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-outs-pols-as-kkk-members/736447/9 "2015-11-02T18:52:43Z")
This could backfire if it’s not credible. As it is the GOP tends to ignore anything but their official news sources (FOX, Limbaugh, etc.). Give them a false report and they’ll run with it forever. I’m not going to turn to FOX to find out, but I’ll bet they’re all over it right now. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-outs-pols-as-kkk-members/736447/10 "2015-11-02T18:58:59Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Chatter on Daily Kos says this isn’t even from Anonymous, but rather some other random internet dude – if this is all it is, I doubt it gets any further than chatter (that’s mostly shut down or ignored) on liberal blogs. If it shows up on Talking Points Memo’s Livewire, then it’s gotten to the smallest level of national visibility, I think. That makes sense. There is a specific Anonymous Twitter account, but I believe anyone can say that they are part of Anonymous and do whatever, it’s not exactly a fully coordinated group. I haven’t read the Pastebin document, so I don’t know exactly where it says all the info is from. I’m doubting that it’s true that the list of people are members of the KKK. If anything, I’d guess that maybe the listed people are “associated with” the KKK, something like where John Cornyn made a speech at the ABC Club, and the ABC Club has a lot of members who are in the KKK and sprout white supremacist things. But that’s just a guess, it is also very possible it’s just someone making up stuff. I don’t think it will have much of an impact unless some actual proof comes out. ---
**Author:** ![davida03801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@davida03801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davida03801)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-outs-pols-as-kkk-members/736447/11 "2015-11-02T19:26:36Z")
Any Democrat US Senator on the list, like in days of old ? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-outs-pols-as-kkk-members/736447/12 "2015-11-02T19:35:37Z")
> [@davida03801](#): > > Any Democrat US Senator on the list, like in days of old ? No, all the old racist Democrats switched parties in the 60s and 70s. Do try to keep up. I hope it’s true but not holding my breath for proof of it. I think the effect will be minimal, people who vote Republican are less likely to be bothered by a politician’s racism. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-outs-pols-as-kkk-members/736447/13 "2015-11-02T19:48:24Z")
The Pastebin doesn’t seem to be offering any evidence other than the say-so of “@sgtbilko420”. This is a non-story at this point. ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-outs-pols-as-kkk-members/736447/14 "2015-11-02T19:51:17Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > No, all the old racist Democrats switched parties in the 60s and 70s. Do try to keep up. > > I hope it’s true but not holding my breath for proof of it. I think the effect will be minimal, people who vote Republican are less likely to be bothered by a politician’s racism. I imagine that quite a lot of people that vote Republican will regard membership in the KKK as a feature, not a bug. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-outs-pols-as-kkk-members/736447/15 "2015-11-02T19:53:08Z")
Aw, you got my hopes up. They were promising to do something like this, but the implication was that it would include proof. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-outs-pols-as-kkk-members/736447/16 "2015-11-02T20:02:07Z")
The Knoxville mayor ha offered a [flat denial](http://www.wbir.com/story/news/2015/11/02/mayor-rogero-scoffs-claims-kkk-ties-calls-them-defamatory/75040018/) saying the claims are ridiculous, and with bio that seems most likely - kind of doubt someone with that background would be accepted in the KKK. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-outs-pols-as-kkk-members/736447/17 "2015-11-02T20:02:18Z")
This is beyond fucking stupid. Madeline Rogero, the mayor of Knoxville is a Catholic woman of Mexican descent. She is considered to be a Progressive Democrat. [http://www.wbir.com/story/news/2015/11/02/mayor-rogero-scoffs-claims-kkk-ties-calls-them-defamatory/75040018/](http://www.wbir.com/story/news/2015/11/02/mayor-rogero-scoffs-claims-kkk-ties-calls-them-defamatory/75040018/) ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-outs-pols-as-kkk-members/736447/18 "2015-11-02T20:11:08Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > This is beyond fucking stupid. > > Madeline Rogero, the mayor of Knoxville is a Catholic woman of Mexican descent. She is considered to be a Progressive Democrat. > > [http://www.wbir.com/story/news/2015/11/02/mayor-rogero-scoffs-claims-kkk-ties-calls-them-defamatory/75040018/](http://www.wbir.com/story/news/2015/11/02/mayor-rogero-scoffs-claims-kkk-ties-calls-them-defamatory/75040018/) Yeah, but the OP saw it online. Hell there’s even a link! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-outs-pols-as-kkk-members/736447/19 "2015-11-02T20:15:17Z")
I saw this story today this morning too. I agree that it deserves as much attention as any other story sourced from the always-reliable “some guy on the internet”. Even if the guy making the claims did actually breach some KKK sites and get these emails from a user database, that probably doesn’t mean much. In the Ashley Madison hack, it was revealed that AM let people register with any email address they wanted. There was no confirmation that the user actually controlled the email they were supplying. It’s a good bet that some of the KKK sites were the same. So, if I’m going to register on the KKK, why not use some random politician’s email address? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-outs-pols-as-kkk-members/736447/20 "2015-11-02T20:20:32Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > I agree that it deserves as much attention as any other story sourced from the always-reliable “some guy on the internet”. If it weren’t for “Anonymous” having some (small) level of credibility built up from previous adventures, you’d be right. This is a little more than “some guy on the internet”, even if not by much. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anonymous-outs-pols-as-kkk-members/736447.md?page=2)