David Duke urges GOP to oppose 'Obama junior'

Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke is not happy with the Republican Party these days.

Duke, the founder of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and of the National Association for the Advancement of White People, says the GOP has forgotten its roots by electing a "radical Black racist" as chairman of the party.

In a blog piece posted on his Web site, Duke attacks former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele, the newly elected RNC chairman, as a "passionate supporter of affirmative action programs that racially discriminate against tens of millions of White Americans."

Duke argues that Steele "supports increased discrimination against White owned businesses in the awarding of non-merit and non-bid minority contracts" and is "opposed to the death penalty and thinks that it is disproportionately applied to Blacks even though it is applied to White murderers at 500 percent higher than it is to Black murderers." 

The 57-year-old former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan also predicts the Steele election will divide the party and "will lead to a huge revolt among the Republican base."

"As a former Republican official," writes Duke, "I can tell you that millions of rank-and-file Republicans are mad as hell and aren't going to take it anymore! We will either take the Republican Party back over the next four years or we will say, 'To Hell With the Republican Party!' And we will take 90 percent of Republicans with us into a New Party that will take its current place!"

A former Louisiana State Representative who ran several times unsuccessfully for higher office, Duke spent time in prison for tax-related issues. He denies that he is a white supremacist and instead calls himself a "White civil rights advocate."

Duke also takes a swipe at the new president in his Web message, accusing the GOP leadership of mimicking the Democratic approach to governance. "Obama is bad enough as President, we will not stand for Obama junior to be head of the Republican Party," Duke writes.

"The time has come for the Republican Party to stand up to Obama and defend American heritage, rights, and freedom," Duke continues. He ends his blog post with a call to arms for white Republicans: "Let's make this abomination in the Republican Party the last major party of White redoubt, as a rallying cry of resistance!"

Duke has also been criticized for his comments about Barack Obama, but he denies charges that he hopes for Obama to be assassinated. "I have always condemned violence and illegality by anyone," he writes in a separate blog posting.

He expressed concern that an assault on Obama would cause a backlash against his movement. "I have made it clear for all awakened White people who read my articles and hear my voice that any physical attack on Obama would be an evil act that would also have catastrophic results for the rights and heritage of White Americans," Duke writes.