Thread: SPLC Whines Of 'Surge' In Right Wing 'Extremists'

US facing surge in rightwing extremists and militias

• Civil rights report shows 250% rise in 'patriot' groups
• Economy and media conspiracy theories fuel growth

Chris McGreal guardian.co.uk,
Thursday 4 March 2010 17.18 GMT


Glenn Beck of Fox News. A report by the Southern Poverty Law Centre says that the rapid increase in rightwing extremist groups is a partly down to government conspiracy theories in the mass media. Photograph: Mike Mergen/AP

The US is facing a surge in anti-government extremist groups and armed militias, driven by deepening hostility on the right to Barack Obama, anger over the economy, and the increasing propagation of conspiracy theories by parts of the mass media such as Fox News.

The Southern Poverty Law Centre, http://www.splcenter(dot)org/ the US's most prominent civil rights group focused on hate organisations, said in a report http://www.splcenter(dot)org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/spring/rage-on-the-right that extremist "patriot" groups "came roaring back to life" last year as their number jumped nearly 250% to more than 500 with deepening ties to conservative mainstream politics.

The SPLC report, called Rage on the Right, said the rise in extremist groups was "a cause for grave concern" given their propensity to use violence during their heyday in the 90s, most notably with the Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people. It added that the issues driving support for such groups were increasingly populist and that "signs of growing radicalisation are everywhere".

"Patriot groups have been fuelled by anger over the changing demographics of the country, the soaring public debt, the troubled economy and an array of initiatives by President Obama that have been branded "socialist" or even "fascist" by his political opponents," the report said.

"Already there are signs of … violence emanating from the radical right. Since the installation of Barack Obama, rightwing extremists have murdered six law enforcement officers. Racist skinheads and others have been arrested in alleged plots to assassinate the nation's first black president. One man from Brockton, Massachusetts – who told police he had learned on white supremacist websites that a genocide was under way against whites – is charged with murdering two black people and planning to kill as many Jews as possible on the day after Obama's inauguration. Most recently, a rash of individuals with anti-government, survivalist or racist views have been arrested in a series of bomb cases."

The report says the patriot movement has "made significant inroads into the conservative political scene" in part driven by a growing view of the US administration "as part of a plot to impose 'one-world government' on liberty-loving Americans".

"The Tea Parties and similar groups that have sprung up in recent months cannot fairly be considered extremist groups, but they are shot through with rich veins of radical ideas, conspiracy theories and racism," the report says.

The SPLC notes that the rise comes as part of a deepening disillusionment with government in which just one quarter of Americans think government can be trusted. It said that a recent poll found that the anti-tax Tea Party movement is viewed in more positive terms than the Democratic or Republican parties.

"The signs of growing radicalisation are everywhere. Armed men have come to Obama speeches bearing signs suggesting that the 'tree of liberty' needs to be 'watered' with 'the blood of tyrants'. The Conservative Political Action Conference held this February was co-sponsored by groups like the John Birch Society, which believes President Eisenhower was a communist agent, and Oath Keepers, a patriot outfit formed last year that suggests, in thinly veiled language, that the government has secret plans to declare martial law and intern patriotic Americans in concentration camps," the SPLC said.

The report says that, unlike during the 1990s, the patriot movement's core ideas are more widely propagated and accepted by prominent politicians and some in the mass media, such as the Fox News presenter Glenn Beck.

"As the movement has exploded, so has the reach of its ideas, aided and abetted by commentators and politicians in the ostensible mainstream," said the report. "Beck, for instance, reinvigorated a key patriot conspiracy theory – the charge that the federal emergency management agency is secretly running concentration camps – before finally 'debunking' it."

How far such language is now part of the mainstream political discourse was confirmed by Politico today, which reported that it had obtained a Republican national committee document detailing plans to raise election funds with "an aggressive campaign capitalising on 'fear' of President Barack Obama" and a promise to "save the country from trending toward socialism".

In the presentation, the administration is portrayed as "the Evil Empire", and Obama as the Joker in Batman.

Patriot groups and militias are planning a march on Washington next month ostensibly in defence of the right to carry guns.

Armed and angry

The SPLC has identified 512 groups, including "patriots" and militias, which it accuses of pushing extreme anti-government doctrines or promoting political conspiracy theories. It says that many are not directly involved in violence but help feed extremism.

States with several groups include: Texas (52 groups including American Patriots for Freedom Foundation, Central Texas Militia, Texas Well Regulated Militia); Michigan (47 including Northern Michigan Backyard Protection Militia); California (22 including State of California Unorganized Militia, Northern California State Militia, American Armenian Militia, Freedom Force International); Indiana (21 including Indiana Sedentary Militia, Indiana Citizens Volunteer Militia, 3rd Brigade); New York (17 including Empire State Militia); Oregon (14 including Oregon Militia Corps) and Kentucky (13 including Kentucky State Militia – Ohio Valley Command).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/ma ... ist-groups

The Southern Poverty Lie center is little more than a propaganda outlet for the Communists to brow beat any opposition to their agenda...

You know what's so sad about the SPLC? That they qualify for tax exempt status in a country that they don't know was founded by radical extremist revolutionaries with militias and all types of conspiracy theories about tea, taxes, liberty and justice for all. Why it appears that the SPLC doesn't even know that the Republican Party was established by the offspring of these same such Radicals or that they were known for years as the Radical Republicans, those right-wing extremists that dared to sneak slaves out of the South on the Underground Railroad, 2,000,000 who dared to volunteer in the Union Army and State Militias to bear arms and ride horses for hundreds and thousands of miles or march on foot in worn out boots from Pennsylvania to Georgia to free the slaves against the will of their owners.

The SPLC is totally disconnected from the violent extremist radicalism that created the United States and made our citizens, The Americans.

Poor SPLC, it appears to have a bad case of the fleas. And we all know what you do when the dog comes down with a bad case of fleas? That's right. You put it out of the house until winter and the cold kills 'em off, or you take it to the vet for a good dip bath.

SPLC! You've got Fleas! Now get out of the room until you've had a bath.

Originally Posted by Tbow009

The Southern Poverty Lie center is little more than a propaganda outlet for the Communists to brow beat any opposition to their agenda...

Yep and that article calling them "the leading civil rights organization in the United States" just proves the propaganda placement by their PR firm, when the NAACP is the leading civil rights organization in the United States, and even it hasn't done much lately.

How dare those radical elements talk about the Constitution and question their governing authorities, and their unconstitutional policies!

Poor SPLC, it appears to have a bad case of the fleas.

I was thinking syphilis in the latter stages. These people have lost their minds.

Originally Posted by roundabout

How dare those radical elements talk about the Constitution and question their governing authorities, and their unconstitutional policies!

Poor SPLC, it appears to have a bad case of the fleas.

I was thinking syphilis in the latter stages. These people have lost their minds.

Oh! I love that! They have lost their minds. They're psychopaths at this stage. Cornered slime-coated syphillis-infected rats. And I truly believe that's being kind, because a real rat is far superior in all aspects to these blood-sucking traitors destroying our nation.

Judy, I can see why you use the avatar you do!

I personally end up using this method. Not on purpose mind you.