SPLC's annual report sees explosive 244% growth in 'Patriot' extremism -- thanks to Tea Parties
It's now a fact: Whatever else the Tea Party movement may or may not have achieved, it can claim credit for at least one real phenomenon -- it has revived the far-right Patriot movement of the '90s.
We've been reporting it for the better part of a year now, and the New York Times recently confirmed it.
Now the annual report on "The Year in Hate" from the Southern Poverty Law Center has the numbers to back it up:
Hate groups stayed at record levels — almost 1,000 — despite the total collapse of the second largest neo-Nazi group in America. Furious anti-immigrant vigilante groups soared by nearly 80%, adding some 136 new groups during 2009. And, most remarkably of all, so-called "Patriot" groups — militias and other organizations that see the federal government as part of a plot to impose “one-world government” on liberty-loving Americans — came roaring back after years out of the limelight.
The anger seething across the American political landscape — over racial changes in the population, soaring public debt and the terrible economy, the bailouts of bankers and other elites, and an array of initiatives by the relatively liberal Obama Administration that are seen as "socialist" or even "fascist" — goes beyond the radical right. 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.
“We are in the midst of one of the most significant right-wing populist rebellions in United States history,” Chip Berlet, a veteran analyst of the American radical right, wrote earlier this year. "We see around us a series of overlapping social and political movements populated by people [who are] angry, resentful, and full of anxiety. They are raging against the machinery of the federal bureaucracy and liberal government programs and policies including health care, reform of immigration and labor laws, abortion, and gay marriage."
Mark Potok, the author of the report, went on the Dylan Ratigan show yesterday on MSNBC to discuss it:
Ratigan: Mark, have you ever seen numbers like this?
Potok: Not in my tenure doing this work. I've been doing this close to 15 years, and I haven't seen anything like this.
I mean, the comparison, of course, is to the '90s, when we saw so much activity from militias and other anti-government 'Patriot' groups. And of course that's the sector of the radical right that we're really saying has exploded over the last year.
Uh, a minor correction to what you said -- the growth in hate groups, real race-based groups, 55 percent, has been over the last decade or so. That's slowed a bit. But when you look at the whole grouping of the various kinds of groups on the radical right -- extremist nativist groups, Patriot groups and hate groups -- it's astounding. We've seen an overall growth of something like 40 percent. All together, those three strands of the radical right are really the most volatile elements out there, and they amount to something like 1500 groups. It's quite amazing.
It's also worth noting what the report itself says about how this explosion has occurred:
As the movement has exploded, so has the reach of its ideas, aided and abetted by commentators and politicians in the ostensible mainstream. While in the 1990s, the movement got good reviews from a few lawmakers and talk-radio hosts, some of its central ideas today are being plugged by people with far larger audiences like FOX News’ Glenn Beck and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn). Beck, for instance, re-popularized a key Patriot conspiracy theory — the charge that FEMA is secretly running concentration camps — before finally “debunking” it.
Yep. As we've been saying ...
Here's Potok discussing the report in more detail:
But only 600 showed up to see sarah palin?
Michael would probably get at least 60,000
Something smells fishy
And I'm not talking sarah's hygiene habits.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
palin..the tab was too high!
We can thank Beckie, limpbow, boneher, mcconnell, kyl for this as well as the media for not correcting their lies!
I think the proper words are
ANTI AMERICAN EXTREMIST!
We are seeing churning of the working class by the Ruling Class and the false meme that Obama is a liberal.
The Ruling Class program of propaganda goes way back.
The hate groups have their indelible core delusions and fomenting them is the provence of powerful people who would use the conflict to their own advantage of purpose.
The vast transfer of private debt to the public purse aka the Bank bailouts is one such purpose.
It is the greatest transfer of wealth in history.
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
If Obama a TRULY been a liberal, and had still won the White House without being killed.
!!
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
How many elections have to be fixed before...never mind. I just remembered the SCOTUS ruling. Elections will just be bought now. Outright. No further need for subterfuge.
Obama was ideal for the Corporate powers because he LOOKED like he would fight THE MAN.
And he talked a good talk.
But, he wouldn't have gotten even remotely close to where he did if he HAD been the real deal.
My hunch is that for most part, the powerful people KNOW the real deal when they see it, they will begin their campaign to cut that person out immediately.
They won't let Kucinich on the stage to debate, he likely would show the others up as the venal sock puppets they are.
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
This is pretty much true. This situation kind of snuck up on us. That pivotal moment was the Supreme Court clearing the way for W. to take office. Bush then cleared the way for Corporate America to hold the public hostage. Now that it has happened it is pretty hard to turn it around. They have killed the goose that lays the golden eggs.
It is really hard to get a grasp of the entrenchment big business has within government now. Corporate America has such a hold on government it would be hard for any politician to make real change. The last time the U.S. had real change was probably FDR. But that was a different time and corporate power had nowhere near the power they have now.
The day democracy died.
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
After what that dipshit in Austin did at the IRS building, I am without a shadow of a doubt convinced that the extremists in our nation are a greater threat to our national security than any overseas threat. The main reason being that Osama bin Laden doesn't have a high-profile personality on the national airwaves or in Congress supporting, enabling, and defending him. These rugged individuals who are so tough they'll shoot unarmed women and children attending church services, however, are hailed by politicians and indicated by their Tea-per Tantrum personalities that they aren't extremists, but "real Americans."
.
T.he
E.xtremist
A.genda
P
A
R
T
Y
.
Starve the WAR Beast...
... Feed Americans.
Poltroons
Against
Reason and
Truth
You Betcha'
"In theory theory and practice are alike. In practice they are very different."
The "You Betcha" at the end cracked me up.
"Poltroons" is good as well.
"To me, truth is not some vague, foggy notion. Truth is real. And,
at the same time, unreal. Fiction and fact and everything in between,
plus some things I can't remember, all rolled into one big "thing."
This is truth, to me. "
-Jack Handy
And we still don't know who sent the Anthrax before the Bill of Rights crushing Patriot Act got passed.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274...
"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
I had the good fortune to have lived most of my life in the states when they were more civilized (although that's also a relative term). If most of my life was ahead of me at this point, I would definitely emigrate to Europe, South America, or Asia.
The fears, hatred, and greed of the far right will keep America on a downward trend for the foreseeable future.
And by the way, the day after I retired, I moved to a different country. Couldn't be happier.
I'm working on emigrating myself. I can't live with so much hate
If people don't think this is serious they should look at the documentray: "The Nazis a warning from history" When the culture turns to hate and anger and it appears it is heading down that road it never ends well.
I am always amazed that giant corporations and their Republican enablers are able to convince so many that the term "liberty" to them means every ones personal freedom from a repressive government. When in reality it means to the giant corporations the ability to lie, cheat, steal, and maximize profits on the backs of working men and women. Their freedom is the freedom to move huge amounts of money and power from the lower and middle classes to the extreme upper classes.
The twentieth century was the century of the self.
Advertising, which is the fundamental propaganda, in the 1920s became an effort to focus on the emotional state of the potential purchasers of products, rather than information that might reveal if someone actually NEEDED the product.
The appeal is made to be an individual, this has multiple components.
One component is that as an individual one is incomplete unless of course one purchases one of the many (possibly worthless and even harmful) products available.
Another component is the illogical converse that as an individual one is complete and fulfilled. There is no need for collective purpose or action.
The fallacious extension of this is that one can go toe to toe with corporations as they seek to crush the individual.
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
Was feeling closer to 250% to me, but I'm often accused of being too negative. Glad all IS well with the world...
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
. . . at one of their "national" rallies?
They're getting plenty of coverage, but it seems like the coverage is merely shining a light in a dark corner of this country that has always been there and always will be.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
Last night a collection of Liberal trolls cried a fucking river because MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan was mean to to racist creep Mark Williams, not allowing that violence galvanizer to go on one of his hate diatribes.
Race hate(anarchy originating from bigotry), instigation for violence, unreal hypocrisy and sheer ignorance is all the Teabaggers ever had.
Perhaps that n***er in the White House?
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
from Native Americans from all the white Xtian fucks who stole it in the first place...
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
their country back, I want to **** them. Boy, how I want to debate this with them.
It is hard to 'debate' anything with someone who's opnion is set in concrete and refuses to listen.
Since Obama became president, very little has changed, the MIC still gets everything it wants, the banksters were allowed to continue the biggest heist ever, Gitmo continues, Military Tribunals still exist, the invasions were escalated, the Repukes still control Congress, the middle class is still attacked by the rich, the only thing to have changed is a black Democrat (and I use the term Democrat VERY loosely)in the WH.
Couldn't agree more.
Someone claiming to be liberal was defending that piece of crap?
You know it really gets old watching you throw "anarchy" in with your diatribes. I truly wish that you would get a clue as to what anarchy really is.
...illegitimate by these people. They want their Country back. They call him a socialist. "He doesn't love his Country" etc. Even a portion of Congress is completely against anything Obama wants to do. Please define the amazing spike in the membership of these hate groups. Correct me if I'm mistaken, but a newly elected U.S.President has never been put through so much "internal resistance". Explain that instead of wasting my time with your selective outrages.
If you do not believe that these people aren't searching for any reason/excuse/rationale to overthrow this man's Presidency, you're the one who needs a clue.
before the Bill of Rights crushing Patriot Act got passed."
I wouldn't be surprised if Darth Cheney had a hand in it.....maybe pressuring the military chemist to do it....then the chemist commits suicide under suspicious circumstances? Not entirely impossible.
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
republicanism/conservatism is a mental illness it has almost killed the ecomony the morals and the country!
sure seem blind to how all sorts of white powders--anthrax, cocaine--end up where they're not supposed to be. Almost as if it's by design...
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
!
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
I just find it funny how few people care. You'd think independent journalists and patriots would raise the flag on this stuff much more than they do.
"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
!!
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
the tanking of the good ship america is and has been very palpable for years and years--especially those who are not as financially well-off. the stress around this, the pressure, the distrust, the pain, the anger should have been channeled into progressive policies that would have worked to counter the deteriorating economic chances of the non-rich. but, instead, the populist surge was, for the most part, channeled into a very hypocritical and corporate-funded movement that sought not to address the rampant economic inequality, but instead fought the govt--the one institution capable of righting the good ship america.
and this failure belongs to the dems and the left. the dems for being weak-kneed hypocrites, more concerned with corporate interests than that of their base. and the left for failing to organize more effectively (with some exceptions)
..
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
point. Doesn't say much for their intelligence, but at least they kept their eyes on the prize. The Dems, et al., have never even defined what their prize is. This lack of organization and a common goal is why they are so far behind. Perhaps terminally so.
I have to say immediately that:
1 - organization requires money. A leftist will NOT receive ANY corporate funding, count on it.
2 - the electronic media, ie TV is the means of communication. It is controlled by the Corporations.
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
very true about corporate-funding and the means of communication.
i participated in many'a protest and march here in philly over bush, iraq, the PATRIOT ACT, etc. none of which were covered by the news more than a brief mention.
and b/c of that fact, and that the rightwing populists are given wide coverage it is much harder for the left to organize.
all true.
but, with the internet, other social media outlets, community outreach, etc. i still think the left (whatever is left of it) and liberals (not sure what that even means anymore) need to do a better job of pushing issues, pushing candidates, etc
and, most importantly...
they need not be afraid of voting AGAINST corporate-dems/neolibs. the short term pain is better than long term suffering.
... is already in jeopardy. The 'traditional' media are desperately trying to carve a niche on the web.
And access to the internet is tightly controlled by the corporations. Despite being in the SF Bay Area, our neighborhood has only the lowest tier of AT&T broadband service, and nary a sign of its new U-verse offering.
It's all governed by profit. The corporations won't invest in running cable or fiber to areas that won't support high-end/high-cost services.
It's not going to be us that pay the ultimate price, however - it will be a generation or two down the line, when their access to information is not only compromised by the 'fair and balanced' trope, but by corporations deciding which flavor of 'fair and balanced' you get.
In the end, it will be like cult programming. The corporations control the outlook of their viewers and have replaced critical thinking with easy-to-use talking points.
and, on a similar subject, i was just having a chat with a friend about 'hotspots' in metro-areas. in philly the city attempted to make the entire city a hotspot, providing everyone with free, wireless internet. but, eating into telecom profit, this was challenged and brought down by verizon about 6 years ago (if my hazy memory serves)
To a condo where Cox Cable basic is built into the condo fees, we had the U-Verse bundle, cable, internet and phone. It was $170 odd p/m and we didn't have ALL the channels. We now have Cox again, for about $90, cable, internet and phone, but we don't have Starz or HBO, not that that's any loss, except I liked Bill Maher's show, I'll try not to cry...
Conservatives have been working for years to get the country back to the days of the Robber Barons. In fact a book was published in the late 60s called "The End of Liberalism". The book was about government contracting work out and how that would lead to government serving private industry more than citizens.
However the turn to the right really began with Reagan with the change in policies that favored the economic elite. Reagan did a lot of things behind the scenes that led to democracy corroding and the nation becoming more like a Corporate American company rather than a society or community. Yet Reagan is well liked and thought highly of by many people. I hope he is burning in Hell myself.
I started reading a Garry Trudeau book again yesterday, "That's Doctor Sinatra, You Little Bimbo," published in 1985. It is interesting to see Reagan through his eyes then.
slovenly lookin' and very unkempt.
Next time he does an interview...(someone tell him to shower)
audit-prosecute-incarcerate
your little mind?
bother me.
(dude needs a shower)
audit-prosecute-incarcerate
.
the first time I ever saw him on a talking head show, I was shocked. SPLC is a worthy cause, but they have to realize their face to the world has to look a little more mainstream. None of that "dirty hippie" stuff.
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
if he wore a $2,000 suit. and $150 tie and had a $300 hair cut and beard trim, you would have paid more attention to his message?
(I'm far more likely to get struck by lightening than be a victim of a terrorist act)
so no, this guy doesn't scare me. (freshly showered or not)
audit-prosecute-incarcerate
Just ask my inlaws. Them furiners will be slitting your throat while you sleep if your not carefull. My father in law says so, and he knows EVRERYYYYYYYYYYYYYYTHINGAAAAAAAAAAA.
How else do nonthinkers make a decision?
republicanism/conservatism is a mental illness it has almost killed the ecomony the morals and the country!
is proof of how shallow the American mind can be.
mainstream. Rethugs always go on and on about those "dirty liberal hippies." Let's not give them any more ammunition. And, BTW, send a few bucks to SPLC (I do)....they're doing good work.
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
his character, but you do not agree with his fashion sense?
and the other side always looks for the slightest deviations from middle America to crow about the radical leftist agenda. No harm in trying to win over the other side with simple things. Sometimes it works.
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
Due to Fox , the tea party , the Repugs and a passive , spineless , inept Democratic party .
terror threat level is red again?
audit-prosecute-incarcerate
West Coast Blue!
It's Terror Twister, the brand new party game from BushCo!
Please , not the terror alert color code bit again !
All of these republican think tanks. Everyone of them has been designed to put the corporate propaganda line front and center.
places like the cato institute, I am drawing a blank on some of the other names but you know the ones I am talking about. All the ususal nut jobs like kristol, and bennett.
The christian right with falwell and robertson and all the people that followed whatever they said because they said they were christians.
The corporate owned and operated media. The blue dogs are just as bad as the republicans.
We have got a real mess we let the republican make now we have to figure out how to fix everything they have fucked up!
republicanism/conservatism is a mental illness it has almost killed the ecomony the morals and the country!
The neocons are behind this big time , they created this chaos and madness by design .
at how they define these groups as extremists. Do administrations choose definitions, because if so then many of these groups could already have existed under Bush but weren't listed because Bushies didn't think they were 'extremists.'
The same groups existed, but as long as they targeted immigrants, they were tolerated. They're only extreme now that they target the President.
Give these people enough rope to hang themselves. Give them all the airtime you possibly can. The more they spout out stupid shit; the more people will be creeped out by them.
!!
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
recently I was talking to a very religous person and he stated that he wondered if we did not need a bloody revolution.
I thought this interesting since the person he most admired is often called the prince of peace.
americans are angry and they dont know where to take out their anger on.
their love affair with capitalism which as become synonyms with freedom and patroitism has not be challenged.
until they understand or at least have knowledge of the influnece of systems on human behaviour little will change.
few in the world have knowledge of this profound influence of systems on human behaviour. very few.
I have discovered no one on any blog that has knowledge of this influence.
instead we blame and judge and blame some more which does not change the outcome.
the capitalist now have control of the supreme court, congress, white house and soon most of the reelection process.
of course the media with their ads and lobbyists.
by the time americans come to realize the evil of capitalism and how it plays on human greed and need for power we will be a second world nation and in time I suspect on our way to third world status.
all the indicators are there and americans dont know what to do about it other than blame and judge others and not look into a mirror and see that politicans are only a reflection of us.
The Manifesto here
Recent comments here and here
Excellent takedown of Neoliberalism by Marxist Thinker Thomas Riggins here
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
Our system is closer to fuedalism than capitalism. Those in power do not want capitalism.
As John D Rockefeller said: "competition is a sin"
"... policies including health care, reform of immigration and labor laws, abortion, and gay marriage."
Issues that are totally unrelated on the surface, that have somehow been brought together under a banner of "liberalism." Issues that have nothing to do with the people who protest them, or changes that would in fact benefit them. The only thing that connects these things and defines them as something dangerous to oppose is the common thread of authoritarian opposition.
where to take out their anger on."
Oh, don't worry.........the Rethugs are very good at telling us what's wrong with America and who's to blame for it. They're just not very good at fixing it. Let's hope SOMEONE comes along who knows how.
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
I thought liberals were the "blame America first" crowd.
?
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
Up until a couple of years ago these people were happily shopping at walmart and charging their credit cards with everything they wanted. Then all hell broke loose financially and all that spending and charging came back to bite them. Life styles had to change as did spending styles and all that went with that.
A lot of people don't want to take responsibility for what they had been doing and they resent the changes that have taken place. I wonder if they are looking for someone other than themselves to blame and it became so easy to blame everything on the new president who happened to walk into the oval office in the midst of the financial hell. His being a black skinned man seems to have given them some sort of inherited excuse based on old and ugly thinking.
Some people saw these angry folks and decided not to let an opportunity pass them by so they went about organizing them to use them for their own purposes. I'm talking about Dick Armey, Beck and others.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
on its pointy head!
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
The media has helped with this increase in extremism. How many small Tea Party rallies have CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News publicized/covered? Rallies in which a few hundred to a thousand people show up?
The lochs of Scotland, where they do off-shore drilling, are less oily than his locks.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Dave, as you are well aware, in the Pacific NW some of these people -- who can be very nice as individuals, but seem to feel quite threatened by larger social changes -- can be potentially dangerous.
Appreciate your keeping this topic visible.
On the rise in activity of right wing extremist groups? Clusterfox and Rush Limbaugh went ape crap over it. Unfortunately, Napolitano retracted the report which was largely researched and completed under Chimpy's administration. I hope next time DHS produces a report that Obama and Napolitano don't back off. There's a saying that hit dogs will holler, let them holler.
You have to realize that the entire country is furious, not just the rightwingers. I am a liberal Democrat and I am enraged by the banksters, the politicians, the religious nuts, illegal aliens, and corporate control of government. In fact, I probably have some things in common with the teabaggers, but they are far too crazy and too led by Fox News and Dick Armey for me to join them. But that doesn't mean I don't yearn for the revolution.
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