What the Iowa Cubs Knew That Steve Scalise Claims He Didn't Know

So, news broke out over the last week about Congressman Steve Scalise's address at a white supremacist meeting in 2002. Scalise and his allies have gone in full-denial mode. Scalise, for his part, isn't denying addressing the David Duke lead European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO). Instead he is saying that he didn't know that EURO was a white supremacist organization. That turns out to be a very interesting claim.


To hear Scalise tell it, EURO was a relatively unknown organization that his gentle neighbor invited him to speak with. As an ambitious state representative anxious to get his anti-tax message out, Scalise accepted the invite as a chance to "speak to anyone who would listen." He had no idea that the European-American Unity and Rights Organization had anything to do with white supremacy. This MIGHT be plausible if it weren't for the fact that his gentle neighbor, Kenny Knight, wasn't a well known political advisor for one of Louisiana's most notorious Klansmen, David Duke, and if Scalise wasn't a state representative from the same district that David Duke represented the previous decade.

There's another problem with Scalise's story, and it is tied to America's passtime: the sport of baseball. About ten days before the 2002 Euro Conference, New Orleans' AAA baseball team, the New Orleans Zephyrs was set to play a series with the Iowa Cubs. Whenever the Cubs came to town they stayed in the Best Western Landmark Hotel in Metairie, Louisiana -- the same hotel where David Duke was holding his EURO Conference when he appeared via video to discuss white nationalist ideas including the theory that  Jews were behind the infamous 9-11 terrorists attacks.

It turns out that the Iowa Cubs got wind of the EURO Conference and changed their lodging arrangements to avoid any association with the white supremacist organization. That's interesting. How did the Iowa Cubs know about the group and its agenda, but Steve Scalise didn't know? As I already mentioned: Scalise represents David Duke's district. Scalise is Kenny Knight's neighbor. Scalise is a long time Louisiana politician. How could he not know? Either he's the least informed politician in Louisiana, or he's a bald-faced liar.

But it gets more interesting. You see, the Iowa Cubs weren't the only one who changed their plans that week. It turns out -- EURO changed their plans as well. Why? Because protesters were organizing to protest the convention. In order to avoid the possibilty of protesters interrupting their white supremacist meeting, EURO changed the conference plans to limit access to the meeting in an effort to ward off protesters. The local newpaper The Gambit reprorted on the controversy in the weeks leading up to the event. It seems the only person clueless about EURO's agenda was Steve Scalise.