Judicial Nominee Brett Talley Loves Ghosts So Much He Apparently Thinks The KKK Were Kind Of Cool

Remember when praising the KKK was a deal-breaker for a federal judgeship?

(Photo by William Thomas Cain/Getty Images)

Trump judicial nominee Brett Talley is cruising through the Senate confirmation process to sit on the bench in the Middle District of Alabama. He’ll get this lifetime appointment despite being 36 and having such a paucity of legal experience that the ABA rated him “not qualified.” He’ll get this job despite failing to disclose that his wife presents a significant potential conflict (it’s not like he could have been on notice about the perils of failing to provide full disclosure on these forms!). He’ll be confirmed even though he’s a ghost hunter, rendering him either incompetent or a charlatan and it’s not quite clear which is worse.

Can he get this job even if he’s spoken glowingly of the “first KKK”? OF COURSE HE CAN!

Mark Joseph Stern has the latest story that would constitute a bombshell if anyone in a position to stop this careening freight train of a judicial nomination had enough shame left to care. As it stands, a federal judicial nominee writing nice things about the KKK in 2017 wouldn’t even be the biggest scandal in ALABAMA this week.

According to Stern’s report, Talley — like any red-blooded American in Alabama who didn’t go to Auburn — seems to like to mouth off online about the Tide. Based on some referential posts he made, we suspect Talley masqueraded as BamainBoston. If you didn’t think this story was going to take a racism turn, we now have Alabama and Boston pride in the same handle, so buckle up. BamainBoston shared a number of opinions over the years, but Stern zeroed in on this little history lesson:

That morning at 9:17 a.m., a user with the handle Bamaro posted a story about a Mississippi proposal “to honor Nathan Bedford Forrest” by placing his image on a license plate. “Who comes up with these ideas?” the user asked. “Honor someone who served as the first KKK Grand Wizard.”

BamainBoston responded an hour later:

Heaven forbid we let the facts get in the way of your righteous indignation, but Forrest, when he decommissioned his men, told them to make peace with the men they had fought and live as good citizens of the United States. It was only after the perceived depredations of the Union army during reconstruction that Forrest joined (it is highly unlikely that he founded or acted as the Grand Wizard) the first KKK, which was entirely different than the KKK of the early 19th Century. When the Klan turned to racial violence, he distanced himself from the organization as he had long supported the reconciliation of the races. In fact, he often spoke to black organizations.

Entirely different.

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As the Slate article points out, this history mostly false — likely the result of the same period of revisionist lionizing that led to Confederate monuments pockmarking the South. The “distancing” claims about Forrest’s late-in-life turn toward becoming a “friend” to African-Americans almost certainly means less of a “I support your humanity and equal rights” friend and more of a “I won’t actively try to murder you if you pay rent” friend. But maybe Forrest told Talley during a seance that he has black friends or appreciates the “I Have A Dream” speech or really digs rap (only the “early” stuff though) or some other stereotypical “I may seem racist, but hear me out…” line.

In fact, the “first KKK” differed from its 20th century incarnations mostly in the prevalence of sideburns under the hoods. It was a violent terrorist organization committed to white supremacy.

By the way, you can tell BamainBoston-who-is-probably-Talley-but-we’re-not-positive wrote this in 2011 because every good Heritage Foundation stooge knows the proper 2017 talking point is to denounce the KKK as a tool of the DEMOCRATS, because nothing has realigned in 150 years (or, for that matter, the past 50 years).

Do you remember when a 30-something saying nice things about the Klan was a deal-breaker for a federal judgeship? Because Jeff Sessions does.

Stern writes:

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At the time that BamainBoston wrote this post about Forrest and the KKK, Talley was clerking for Judge Joel Dubina of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. Assuming he wrote the post, which seems exceedingly likely, Talley does not seem to have a basic grasp on the history of Reconstruction, which is fundamentally intertwined with the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments’ expansion of equal rights and suffrage.

Yeah… I don’t think this is the peppercorn I needed to know a Heritage Foundation nominee doesn’t understand the Reconstruction amendments.

Trump Judicial Nominee Brett Talley Appears to Have Defended “the First KKK” in Message Board Post [Slate]

Earlier: Trump Judicial Nominee Is A Ghost Hunter, Proving The Bar Can Always Go A Little Lower


HeadshotJoe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.