Remember or old friend John Casteel? You know, the Council of Conservative Citizens (formerly the White Citizen’s Council) point man who also served as chair of the Jackson Country Republicans that finally resigned his position in the GOP after his connection to the racist group was uncovered (by us) only to be welcomed back to the GOP with a new gig in the first district? Well, a reader managed to nab find a photograph of Casteel, apparently at the Lawrence County Republican dinner: 
But wait, guess who he was seen hobnobbing with! Why it’s our other favorite Arkansas bigot, Jonesboro Republican Representative John Hubbard! 
You would think folks in the GOP wouldn’t want to be seen hanging around with a guy connected with a white supremacist group like the CCC. Then again, Hubbard’s politics are particularly nasty, covering the spectrum of anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, anti-gay, bigotry with a touch of birtherism as well, so maybe we shouldn’t be surprised…
Update: Oh it just gets better! The dinner took place February 19th. I posted our Casteel story January 31. He resigned his position February 2nd. So this is right after all that blew up and Hubbard and company had to know that this guy was tied to some nasty stuff they might not want to be associated with. Didn’t matter. Oh and it turns out, this chummy dinner is where the election was held that landed Casteel in his new position. Wonder what Hubbard’s thoughts on that were…
Just goes to show you how much love the Arkansas GOP was willing to throw Casteel’s way, and how so many prominent members of the party aren’t turned off in the least by what he represents.
