Eyes wide shut: American-born terrorist groups should raise eyebrows

Comments(7)

1. It’s unfortunate that your article relies on SPLC fund-raising propaganda, which you obviously have not bothered to verify.

   Of the 926 “hate groups” the SPLC claims to be tracking on their “Hate Map”, 127 of them are not affiliated with any location. In California, for example, the first 14 groups the SPLC attributes to that state simply float out in space, padding the numbers. (http://wp.me/pCLYZ-K)

   In states like Wyoming, New Mexico and Maine, 100% of their alleged groups are homeless phantoms. Nearly another hundred “groups” on that list are alleged chapters of “The League of the South,” whom the SPLC labels as “Neo-Confederates,” a meaningless term entirely of their own concoction.

   I don’t know about you, but most people aren’t entirely convinced that Jeff Davis and Bobby Lee are due for a comeback. It’s just more padding.

   As for the SPLC’s spurious report on the “militias,” if you actually read the report, you’ll see that the bulk of its sources are anonymous “government agents”, etc., meaning that these claims are entirely unsubstantiated.

   The “report” is also rife with meaningless threats of “would,” “could,” “might,” and “has the potential to.” Not a single hard fact in the entire thing.

   Of the “50 new militias” the SPLC claims to be tracking, they don’t name a single one or provide a single shred of evidence of the groups’ existence. We know they are out there, just like the 927 unverified “hate groups”, because the SPLC TELLS us they are out there in their fund-raising materials.

   So far, not one single journalist has bothered to simply look into these empty claims. Trust, but verify.

   A few facts that may interest your readers: There is NO legal definition for the term “hate group,” which is why even the FBI doesn’t use it. So what exactly is the SPLC “tracking”?

   Basically, they label anyone who disagrees with SPLC founder Morris Dees’ ideology as a “hate group”

   Morris Dees was a very successful Klan lawyer back in the 60s, earning thousands of dollars from the Montgomery KKK for keeping one of their thugs out of federal prison, as Mr. Dees admits in his autobiography. LIFE magazine even published photos of Mr. Dees’ that thug, Claude Henley, in the middle of his attack on a busload of Freedom Riders, as seen here (http://wp.me/pCLYZ-F)

   And finally, despite all of the carefully polished public relations spin put forth by the SPLC, claiming that they are champions of civil rights, doesn’t it seem strange that NONE of their top ten, highest paid officers is a minority? (http://wp.me/pCLYZ-3r)

   Apparently, some things never change in Montgomery.

   The SPLC is a private fund-raising organization. They have no authority, legal, moral or otherwise, to designate anyone as anything, which is why they hide behind meaningless terms like “hate group.” They know that if they accuse any of these groups of committing actual crimes they would find themselves in very hot water.

   The SPLC has over $150 MILLION donor dollars on hand, and they want more. Of the $30 million donor dollars they took in in 2008, they spent $1.3 million on “legal case expenses”, but spent $1.4 million on office supplies, $1.8 million on fund-raising postage, and $2.4 million on fund-raising printing costs. These are your experts? (http://wp.me/pCLYZ-34)

   All of the above information is freely available from the SPLC’s website and public records found on Google. A little basic research would go a long way toward making you and a thousand other journalists and their editors look a lot less unprofessional for mindlessly parroting SPLC fund-raising propaganda.

   The journalist’s first obligation to his readers is fact-checking. Do your job, sir.

   Posted by Richard Keefe on January 17th, 2010 at 5:44 pm

2. Whoa Richard. Sounds like you have an axe to grind with SPLC. That’s fine, but we should just stick our heads in the sand and disregard the reality of hate groups because you say so? Or was a nerve hit? I’d classify many if not all of the groups on their list as hate groups even though I don’t get money from them – that’s called common sense. Oh and by the way if you go to the FBI site and type in “hate group” guess what you find. That’s right, info on hate groups. Knucklehead.

   Posted by EMGuy on January 17th, 2010 at 10:45 pm

3. It is sad that the SPLC hate watch list, which amounts to hearsay, is now used as the standard to define ‘terrorist’ groups. Too often the press and law enforcement use such lists to arrive at wrong conclusions. They use the list without thinking or considering its origins. They assume guilt before they find the evidence. The jump you make from ‘hate groups’ to terrorist threats is alarming.

   What few people know is what the SPLC’s definition of a hate group is. It seems that any group that wants the border protected or defends traditional values such as a marriage between a man and a woman is enough to be considered for their list. Any exercise of ‘freedom of speech’ that is not in keeping with the latest Politically Correct agenda earns groups a place on the SPLC hate group list. It is truly sad that law enforcement professionals such as yourself accept such reports without questioning their validity and condemn many groups which have done nothing against the law. Perhaps profiling people based on their associations has become the standard method of law enforcement these days. Rather than focus on laws being broken, the emphasis is on now on enforcing ideology. Your article conveys the idea that law enforcement is now more about being thought police rather than on enforcing laws or keeping the peace.

   The title of your article is appropriate. In many cases, the real threats are ignored, while the non-threats become the straw man that is condemned. Take for instance in Texas. The SPLC lists many groups, yet the groups such as CAIR which have known connections with terrorists groups that blow things and people up are not mentioned on the SPLC’s list. How is it that such groups and their supporters are not on the list, yet other groups which do not hold to Morris Dees (head of SPLC) ideas of what is acceptable? The SPLC knew about the danger of Oklahoma City but that did not prevent it from occurring. Trusting reports from that group (SPLC) is a dangerous precedent for someone in your position of influence. It is even more dangerous to assume that those identified as ‘hate groups’ are now considered ‘terrorists’ based on your assumptions.

   Posted by J Murrah on January 18th, 2010 at 10:00 am

4. [...] recent article in The Klaxon is a clear example of how law enforcement is no longer focused on keeping the peace, or enforcing [...]

   Posted by Thought Police! at Texas League of the South on January 18th, 2010 at 11:02 am

5. EMGay, the FBI does NOT prosecute “hate groups” because there is no legal definition of that term. Once a group commits a “hate crime” the FBI is more than welcome to step in and put them in jail or execute them. I’ll even pay for the rope.

   The SPLC hides behind the “hate group” smear because they know that if those groups actually committed any crimes they would be arrested and prosecuted.

   According to the the SPLC’s public relations guru, Mark Potok, “…a “hate group” has nothing to do with criminality… [or] potential for violence…” Rather, as Potok put it, “It’s all about ideology.” (http://www.splcenter.org/news/item.jsp?aid=301)

   Nothing to do with criminality, nothing to do with violence… it’s all about ideology… i.e. “wrong thinking”.

   THAT doesn’t scare you? A group of White millionaire lawyers, with no mandate, no external oversight, no authority whatsoever to designate anyone as anything can smear people, destroy their careers and personal lives, simply because they don’t agree with Klan lawyer Morris Dees’ worldview?

   What are you going to do when they decide that YOUR group isn’t quite left-wing enough?

   J Murrah has hit the nail squarely on the head. I’ve cited all my claims while the best you can come up with is ad hominem attacks. I suggest you wipe the self-righteous spittle off your chin and actually look at the SPLC website and READ their financial disclosures, their spurious “reports” and take a good long look at their “hate map”. Odds are that you or someone you know is already on their “hate” list.

   Posted by Richard Keefe on January 18th, 2010 at 2:56 pm

6. Nice. You have a couple of great points. When it’s all said and done the police do a good job. The problem with the law system is that it sometimes doesn’t work to the advantage of the victim. It is a failed system and needs to be fixed.

   Posted by Speeding Tickets on May 2nd, 2010 at 11:15 pm

7. Nice post. You’ll have to come out with a conclusion. Keep up the excellent posts!

   Posted by Traffic Ticket Defense Toronto on May 5th, 2010 at 10:06 am