The two men share many common beliefs, most certainly.

They are both white Christian veterans who consider themselves staunch conservatives and proud defenders of the Second Amendment.

They also happen to believe that the media should take most of the blame for any negative image the rest of America might have of North Idaho – though they softened that argument just a bit in the presence of a reporter.

Why?

Well, at the moment, they actually could use a little help from what most conservatives routinely call the “leftist liberal media.”

The people who are stuck with that label, myself included, reject a lot of these right-wing assumptions (and similar accusations from liberals, by the way).

It’s just all too easy to shoot the messenger when things go sideways, but that’s an argument for another day.

The issue on the table at the moment is creating a sequel to the column that ran in this space exactly one week ago.

The headline on that one said: “Aryan ghost haunts us still.”

My point last week was that many Americans, most of whom had never even visited North Idaho, were carrying a vague image of this gorgeous country as a place populated by a lot of “fringe” fanatics — most especially a gang of racists that, beginning in the 1970s, created an atmosphere of hate and hostility.

I suggested in that first column that the ghost of Aryan Nation founder Richard Butler still haunted this entire area, and the result was confusion over the current migration of survivalists, preppers and others to the “American Redoubt.”

That premise was bolstered by stories in two publications — The Economist magazine and the Washington Post – that examined the Redoubt phenomenon, and still didn’t quite make a proper distinction between the last stragglers remaining from the Aryan Nation and folks who have moved to the wide-open spaces of North Idaho because they believe in a lifestyle that might best be characterized as: “You live your way, I’ll live mine, and let’s not hassle each other.”

AND THAT, basically, is how I found myself sitting with Don Bradway and Tim Kastning.

I’d been invited for a chat by the outspoken Bradway, a California transplant who was quoted extensively in the Washington Post article. Kastning joined the conversation because he’s Bradway’s friend, but mostly because he wanted to emphasize a similar point.

We’ll get to the differences between these two gentlemen in a minute, but first you need to know what they were so keen to say.

My column on the lingering smell of Butler and his neo-Nazis, claimed Bradway and Kastning, was not exactly wrong — but they believed strongly that it did not hammer home one critical truth.

At least not powerfully enough.

“People who have come to the area to live as individuals, some of whom fear the collapse of society or some other breakdown for which they want to be prepared,” Bradway said, “are NOT related to the Aryan Nation in any way.

“America needs to know that there isn’t any connection. If you want to use terms like ‘preppers,’ or ‘the American Redoubt,’ fine. But we are not racists, and we have no use for that kind of ugliness.

“The whole concept of individual rights, the entire meaning of our belief system, rejects racism and anything like it.”

EARLY ON, I mentioned that Bradway and Kastning had quite a few things in common.

But they are different, as well.

Kastning, a Coeur d’Alene businessman, has lived in the Northwest all his life and didn’t come to this area to escape anything.

Idaho was his home.

Tim is as curious about this migration to the American Redoubt as most of the local population.

By the way, that term American Redoubt comes from the country’s best-known “survivalist,” James Wesley, Rawles (yes, that comma is part of his signature).

Rawles has written several books, all based on the premise that society as we know it will collapse, and what is likely to happen in the aftermath.

Bradway, who has a terrific sense of humor and seems like the good ol’ boy next door, nevertheless is a true believer, a disciple who takes Rawles’ warnings to heart.

“I hope we don’t see a complete breakdown where it’s every man and woman for themselves,” Bradway said. “But there are a lot of scenarios under which it could happen, and if it does, our family will be prepared.”

Bradway uses phrases like “Free America” to describe North Idaho, and refers to California as the “Occupied Zone” — a reference to governmental interference in daily life that he believes has gone over the top.

Even though he can joke about his beliefs (Bradway laughed and wondered if he should be called a “Redoubtian”), he is serious to the point that he routinely has to say: “I’m not paranoid. I’m really not.”

Nonetheless, Bradway has created a self-sufficient life and can quickly tick off a half-dozen things that might result in “…the end of the world as we know it.”

KASTNING, on the other hand, is neither fleeing anything nor particularly fascinated by California’s problems.

He’s far more concerned about this place that he loves, and believes that human rights campaigners drove out the neo-Nazis after years of hard work.

“I was here during the Richard Butler/Aryan Nation era, when they gave Hayden, Coeur d’Alene and northern Idaho a tarnished reputation due to extreme racist views,” Kastning said.

“When the opportunity presented itself, our community came together to defeat the hate and racism that came from just a handful of goofy people. Racism was defeated in our community and will continue to be defeated.

“It is totally wrong to make any connection to people and families who want to move to a less-populated Western state — referred to as the Redoubt — for a simpler and more independent lifestyle.”

Kastning feels that a complete open-door policy fits with the personality of Idaho, and the state’s northern counties in particular — but with just a couple of exceptions.

“All people, regardless of their race, gender or religion, are welcome in North Idaho,” he said. “(But) personally, I would not welcome gangs, crime, illegal drugs or other things that will diminish our quality of life.”

They are different, these two men, and yet they are united and outspoken on a single issue.

Richard Butler is dead, they say, and even though there may be an individual racist here and there (much like anyplace else), the concept of an organized hate group here was buried with Butler.

“You can’t say that strongly enough,” Bradway said. “Tell America what I told the Washington Post.

“We are not the Aryan Nation. We have completely opposite views. And just as Tim said, we hope that people everywhere else will get that old view of North Idaho out of their heads.

“This is a fantastic place to live, and part of the reason is that hate has no place here.”

• • •

Steve Cameron is a special assignment reporter for The Press. Reach Steve at [email protected].