Gorka in Erie

Sebastian Gorka is scheduled to speak at Jefferson Educational Society on Nov. 7. Many have expressed their disappointment or disgust, and there is a petition drive and a protest outside JES (two separate organizations).
It is predictably problematic that demanding that an organization that was set up to communicate a variety of ideas should shut down a purveyor of dangerous ideas.
For myself, if I had had the energy to respond to it, I probably would have tried to do an alternative to what he represents: an event that addressed the normalization of his extreme right ideas, or pointing out that he is something of an imposter and fraud as regards being qualified to speak at the Global Summit, or the idea that his "expert" opinion on Trump be balanced with someone as unqualified as he from the other side (say, Omarosa ).

Anyway, some actions:
* KEYSTONE PROGRESS PETITION  The statewide progressive organization has an online petition demanding that Gorka's appearance be banned. The petition made the front page of the Erie Times-News. Go to petition here
~~~
*  ERIE ANTIFASCISM has called for a protest outside the event. The profile photo for the group shows two masked persons with a hammer and sickle behind them. I have seen this image associated with Red Guards. The Erie group--if it is actually a group--is affiliated with Antifascist Pittsburgh, and their page encourages participation in this Erie event. I'm not spending any time discussing their movement or tactics here, just letting you know who is organizing it and that the tone of the event has the possibility of aggressive confrontation.
~~~
* SHARE INFORMATION ABOUT GORKA Some examples what a poor choice of speaker he is:

• "Sebastian Gorka May Be a Far-Right Nativist, but for Sure He’s a Terrible Scholar" (Foreign Policy March 17, 2017)
• "Stop Calling Him Dr.: The Academic Fraud of Sebastion Gorka, Trump's 'Terrorism' Expert" (Haaretz, April 27, 2017)
• "Why Is Alt-right Favorite and Academic Fraud Seb Gorka Starring in an Israeli Counter-terror Conference?" (Haaretz Sept. 10, 2017)
• "Sebastian Gorka's PhD adviser: "I would not call him an expert in terrorism" (CNN August 2017)
• "White House official Gorka claims right wing attacks are 'fake,' but data show they are something different" (Newsweek 8/9/17) 
• "FBI Fired Gorka for Anti-Muslim Diatribes" (Daily Beast 6/21/17)
• "America's big issue is 'Black Africans' killing each other, Sebastian Gorka says" (The Washington Post Oct 24, 2017)
• "Gorka's Dubious Past Includes Failing Hungary's National Security Test" (Southern Poverty Law Center March 24, 2017)  

Image: Clark Stanley - https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/ephemera/medshow.html, attributed to: Clark Stanley's Snake Oil Liniment, True Life in the Far West, 200 page pamphlet, illus., Worcester, Massachusetts, c. 1905, 23 x 14.8 cm. Public domain