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Anti-Government Militia Groups on the Rise, (Southern Poverty) Law Center Says
Politics Daily ^ | 08/12/09 | David Knowles

Posted on 08/12/2009 11:17:45 AM PDT by SolidWood

Depending on your perspective, the rise of private, anti-government militias represents either the very best of American patriotism or is an ominous sign of a violent future. Last week, the Southern Poverty Law Center released a report showing that the militia movement is returning to levels not seen since the 1990s, when a series of high-profile stand-offs with federal agents culminated in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, which killed 168 people. According to the SPLC, the number of people who have joined what it terms "hate groups" has increased by 54 percent since the year 2000.

The SPLC identified 926 hate groups active in 2008, up more than 4 percent from the 888 groups in 2007 and far above the 602 groups documented in 2000. A list and interactive state-by-state map of these groups can be viewed here.

So why the rise in modern-day militia activity (be it termed "hateful" or not)?

"Barack Obama's election has inflamed racist extremists who see it as another sign that they are under siege by non-whites," said Mark Potok, editor of Intelligence Report, a quarterly investigative journal that monitors the radical right. "The idea of a black man in the White House, combined with the deepening economic crisis and continuing high levels of Latino immigration, has given white supremacists a real platform on which to recruit."

(Excerpt) Read more at politicsdaily.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: fascists; liberalfascism; liberallies; racism; splc
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To: SolidWood

Lawyers sniffing for cash.


21 posted on 08/12/2009 11:30:38 AM PDT by taxtruth (STAND UP OR BE STOOD ON!)
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To: SolidWood

I saw the Spokesman for this Southern Poverty Law Center on TV today. Looking at him i think he has been the victim of a shotgun blast in the face that may or may not have affected his judgement. Tell me if I am imagining this.


22 posted on 08/12/2009 11:32:04 AM PDT by Old Retired Army Guy (tHE)
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To: SolidWood

The SPLC must be running low on funds. They need to create boogeymen to scare liberals again to send $$$.


23 posted on 08/12/2009 11:32:27 AM PDT by Darren McCarty (We do what we have to do.)
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To: SolidWood

A communist front group.


24 posted on 08/12/2009 11:33:30 AM PDT by screaminsunshine (!!)
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To: Tublecane
"I hasten to remind America that Oklahoma city was not bombed by a militia group. It was bombed by Tim McVeigh and John Doe #2. I’m not saying it’s not possible these fellas were ordered to do so by a shadow right-wing military cabal, but this sort of reporting is akin to stating as simple fact that Kennedy was killed by the International Communist Conspiracy."

There's probably as much, if not more, evidence that islamofascists had their fingers in OKC. Google "Ramzi Yousef Oklahoma City" and you'll find plenty of interesting reading.

25 posted on 08/12/2009 11:37:54 AM PDT by Joe 6-pack (Que me amat, amet et canem meum)
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To: SolidWood
Isn't the Southern Poverty Law Center a racist hate-group?

No, it is a fund raising group that pumps up the appearance of danger to get more donations. The numbers killed by racist groups and militia, including Tim McVeigh, pale in comparison to the number killed by minorities themselves.

26 posted on 08/12/2009 11:38:50 AM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
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To: oyez

I don’t recall saying anything bad about the milita.


27 posted on 08/12/2009 11:40:27 AM PDT by freekitty (Give me back my conservative vote; then find me a real conservative to vote for)
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To: Joe 6-pack

Jose Padilla (muslim) is a dead ringer for the “John Doe #2” police drawing from OKC.


28 posted on 08/12/2009 11:41:04 AM PDT by MrB (Go Galt now, save Bowman for later)
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To: SolidWood
"'Til the Cash Comes Flowing Like a River..."

Full Name: Morris Seligman Dees, Jr.
Born: 16 December, 1936 in Shorter, Macon County, Alabama
Education:
- Graduated from Sidney Lanier High School in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955
- Received B.A. & J.D. Law degree [1960] from University of Alabama
In an article titled Poverty Palace, Morris Dees told journalist John Edgerton that "I had a traditional white
Southerner's feeling for segregation." [The Progressive, July 1988 - Edgerton, John. Poverty Palace, How the
SPLC Got Rich Fighting the Klan]

Dees made a fortune selling cookbooks by mail in partnership with Millard Fuller [who later founded Habitat
for Humanity.] [Fuller, Millard. Bokotola. New Century Press: 1977]

Fuller has this to say about his 8 year association with Dees:
Dees and Fuller formed the law firm of Dees & Fuller in Montgomery, Alabama in 1960.
"Morris Dees and I, from the first day of our partnership, shared one overriding purpose: to make a pile of
money. We were not particular about how we did it; we just wanted to be independently rich. During the
eight years we worked together we never wavered in that resolve."
"But everything has a price. And I paid for our success in several ways. One price I paid was estrangement
from the church."

Dees served in 1958 as state campaign manager for segregationist attorney general candidate McDonald
Gallion and also worked for George C. Wallace. Fuller stated: "We wanted to be sure of having friends in
high places."

In 1961 when Freedom Riders were beaten by a white mob at a Montgomery bus station, Dees [and Fuller]
expressed openly his sympathies and support for what had happened at the bus station.
When one of the men charged with beating the Freedom Riders came to their office for legal representation,
Dees and Fuller took the case. The legal fee was paid by the Ku Klux Klan and the White Citizen's Council.
[Fuller, Millard. Love in the Mortar Joints. New Century Press: 1980 and The Progressive, July 1988]

Dees founded the Southern Poverty Law Center in 1971 with Joseph Levin [who left the SPLC in 1976] and
Julian Bond [resigned late 1970's.] [Articles of Incorporation. Southern Poverty Law Center, Inc.]

Acted as Chief fundraiser for George McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign in return for the campaign's
mailing list. Raised $20 million for McGovern. [Burlington Times, July 30, 1975. The Progressive, July
1988.]

Arrested and removed from court in 1975 for attempting to suborn perjury [bribing a witness] in the Joan
Little murder trial in North Carolina. Little, a black convict, was accused of killing a prison guard with an ice-
pick . The felony charge against Dees was subsequently dropped, but the presiding judge, Hamilton
Hobgood, refused to re-admit Dees to the case. The refusal was upheld on appeal after the Supreme Court of
the United States refused to hear Dees appeal. [Ibid.]

"The great untold story of the JoAnn Little trial was the role of the Communist Party, through its National
Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, in controlling the entire political movement surrounding the
case. Angela Davis, a leading figure in both organizations became the most frequently quoted movement
figure and constant companion of JoAnn Little... Party members were visible and influential on the defense
committee, and the party frequently set up rallies of support around the country." [Columbia Journalism
Review. Pirsky, Mark. March/April, 1976.]

Fund-raised for Jimmy Carter in 1976 hoping to be named Attorney-General, but was unenthused by the
campaign for its middle of the road appeal " You've got to have a candidate who is way out on the extremes!"
[The Progressive, July 1988.]

Acted as a fundraiser for both Ted Kennedy's 1980 and Gary Hart's 1984 presidential campaigns and received
their mailing lists as reward. [Ibid.]

Perhaps explaining the SPLC's 'Gay' rights activism, Dees was cited in 1979 by his ex-wife with a
homosexual encounter during their marriage. She also cited numerous affairs with women including his
daughter-in-law and underage stepdaughter. [Alabama Court of Civil Appeals CIV 2114, 1979]

The SPLC's fundraising practices have provoked the disapproval of watchdog groups that monitor charities:
In 1993, the American Institute of Philanthropy assigned the SPLC a 'D' grade on a scale of A to F.
[American Institute of Philanthropy xxxx 1993 Charity Watchdog Report]

"By frequently mailing out such persuasive appeals, Dees and his associates have drawn financial support
from about half a million Americans [by 1988.] The number of contributors and the amount they have given
are probably greater than any left-of-center group has recorded in a comparable period in the history of
American philanthropy." [The Progressive>, July 1988.]

Randall Williams who formed Klanwatch in 1981 as part of the SPLC's said in 1988: "We were sharing
information with the FBI, the police, undercover agents. Instead of defending clients and victims we were
more of a super snoop outfit, an arm of law enforcement. Randall and four staff attorney's resigned from the
Center in 1986. [Ibid.]

In 1994 the Montgomery Advertiser won a journalism award for a series of incisive and penetrating
investigative articles exposing the unethical fundraising practices of Dees and the Southern Poverty Law
Center including:

Since August 1, 1984, the Law Center has taken in about $62 million in contributions and yet only spent
about $21 million on actual programs, according to federal tax records.

In a series of fund-raising letters the Law Center implied it forced the United Klan's of American to pay $7
million to the mother of lynching victim Michael Donald in 1987. Beulah Mae Donald actually received only
$51,874.70 from the Klansmen. The Law Center collected millions as the result of fund-raising letters about
the case.

The Montgomery Advertiser conducted a "random sampling of donors - people who receive a steady stream
of fund-raising letters and newsletters - showed they had no idea the Law Center was so wealthy."
"They're drowning in their own affluence," Pamela Summers, a former SPLC legal fellow told The
Montgomery Advertiser. "What they are doing in the legal department is not done for the best interest of
everybody [but] is done as though the sole, overriding goal is to make money.""I think people associate the
SPLC with going to court. And that's why they get the money. And they don't go to court." There have only
been a handful of court cases over the years, many of which remain unresolved.

The SPLC which has crusaded for the rights of blacks for 23 years, is controlled by whites. It has hired only
two black staff attorneys in its history, both of whom left unhappy. 12 of 13 former Black employees
interviewed by the Montgomery Advertiser complained they experienced or observed racial problems during
their employment. Several said the SPLC was "more like a plantation." [The Montgomery Advertiser. Feb. 13-
14, 1994.]

In 1986 the entire SPLC legal staff resigned in protest of Dees refusal to address issues such as poverty,
homelessness, voter registration and other issues they considered more pertinent to poor minorities rather
than to get rich fighting a Klan chimera. [Harpers Magazine. Silverstein, Ken. The Church of Morris Dees.
November 2000.]

The Birmingham News has also investigated Dees and the SPLC in 1994 and found the following:
Christine Lee, a Harvard Law School alumnus who interned at the Center in 1989, "I would definitely say
that there was not a single black employee with whom I spoke who was happy to be working there." "As I
was told [at the SPLC,] they don't need Black people telling them how to handle Black issues," Lee said.
Dees responded by saying, "We don't have black slots and white slots. Probably the most discriminated
people in American today are white men when it comes to jobs because there are more of those who had
more education opportunities and who the test scores show are scoring better and on paper look more
qualified. That's why you have so many reverse discrimination cases around." [Birmingham News. Feb. 17,
1994.]

USA Today reported in 1996 that Dees' Southern Poverty Law Center was the "nations richest civil rights
organization" with $68 million in assets. [USA Today. Aug. 3, 1996] Today it is closer to its stated goal of a
$100 million endowment.

In the same article Stephen Bright, one of Dees numerous former associates told a reporter that Dees is "a
fraud who has milked a lot of very wonderful, well intentioned people." [Ibid.]

At a news conference in Washington in April 1996, Dees announced that "Those [black] churches that have
been burned in the South were certainly burned by racists." After subsequent investigation revealed there was
no rash of black church burnings, many newspapers, including The Charlotte Observer, concluded that Dees
"misinformed" the press. [Charlotte Observer. October 10, 1996.]

Dees has actively campaigned for for laws in which "associations of two or more persons" who train in the
use of firearms for defensive purposes are declared "illegal militias." [Selected Speeches and Writings of
Morris Dees.]

Dees is well known for putting 'Hate on Trial' in the 1990 Portland. Oregon civil trial of extremist Tom
Metzger. One of the witnesses in that trial, Greg Withrow, now accuses Dees of suborning perjury by paying
witnesses [and then hush money for another 5 years] for their testimony. [San Diego Times Union. August
25, 2002.]

Dees & the SPLC defames the entire Southern Heritage Community by labeling them 'Neo-Confederates.'
[SPLC Intelligence Update. Summer 2000]

Dees assaulted an elderly journalist at a symposium sponsored by the University of West Florida, Pensacola,
Florida on January 12, 2002. The journalist had asked Dees a 'bad question.' Dees then had the journalist
physically hauled out of the building by two policemen. [The First Freedom. February, 2002.]


29 posted on 08/12/2009 11:41:22 AM PDT by Harrius Magnus (LIBERALS: We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.)
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To: SolidWood
I am not anti-government. I am, however, anti-socialist, anti-communist, anti-fascist, and anti-nannyist.

Bring back the Constitutional form of government we had, with strict interpretation of the Constitution to mean today what it meant to those who wrote it over 200 years ago and we will get along just fine.

30 posted on 08/12/2009 11:41:22 AM PDT by IYAS9YAS
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To: SolidWood

“Depending on your perspective, the rise of private, anti-government militias represents either the very best of American patriotism or is an ominous sign of a violent future.” false dilemma


31 posted on 08/12/2009 11:42:58 AM PDT by tumblindice
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To: theDentist

But they have long since just become another mouthpiece for the DNC.

Because the original target, the Klan, got reduced to insignificance. Not being satisfied with defeating a genuine hate group, the SPLC had to scramble to justify its further existence. So they invented, or labeled other groups as bogeymen. Much like the leeches in the civil rights movement. Mission accomplished, now what do we do? Perpetuate the problem, as predicted by Booker T Washington.


32 posted on 08/12/2009 11:44:11 AM PDT by Fred Hayek (From this point forward the Democratic Party will be referred to as the Communist Party)
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To: SolidWood

What have the SPLC’s remarks been regarding Jeremiah Wright and his Black Liberation theology? (Rhetorical question)


33 posted on 08/12/2009 11:51:43 AM PDT by mrsmel (Put the Gitmo terrorists near Capitol Hill.)
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To: SolidWood

The Southern Poverty Law Center must be hurting for donations and are trying to frighten their donors into giving them more largesse. Gotta continue to get those big salaries.


34 posted on 08/12/2009 11:53:01 AM PDT by tiki (True Christians will not deliberately slander or misrepresent others or their beliefs)
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To: mrsmel

54% eh, that’s a pretty exact number. Where are the membership lists to back up the claim and how come no one ever asks me to join?


35 posted on 08/12/2009 11:55:28 AM PDT by massgopguy (I owe everything to George Bailey)
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To: Harrius Magnus

Very interesting and enlightening. I am cynical about all these kinds of groups and their phoney “fights against discrimination” from the get-go, thanks for confirming my instincts in this case.


36 posted on 08/12/2009 11:58:20 AM PDT by mrsmel (Put the Gitmo terrorists near Capitol Hill.)
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To: SolidWood
The SPLC identified 926 hate groups active in 2008...

So, what do they all "hate" exactly?

37 posted on 08/12/2009 12:01:59 PM PDT by DTogo (High time to bring back the Sons of Liberty !!)
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To: SolidWood

Anti-government militia groups ...

Shouldn’t that be “non-government militia” groups, which I’m sure scares them even more?


38 posted on 08/12/2009 12:02:20 PM PDT by DNME (A monarch's neck should always have a noose around it. It keeps him upright. - Robert Heinlein)
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To: massgopguy; Harrius Magnus

Post #29 from Harrius Magnus seems to outline the bottom line of these kinds of groups very well-money. No different from the shakedowns by Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and their ilk-strictly about the money. Justice is the last thing on their minds, it’s all about extorting money or ginning up hatred against whites for money. They are quite cynical about it too. Fomenting racial discord all so they can make a quick buck, or a few millions.


39 posted on 08/12/2009 12:02:47 PM PDT by mrsmel (Put the Gitmo terrorists near Capitol Hill.)
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To: SolidWood

I’m joining the militia!


40 posted on 08/12/2009 12:04:57 PM PDT by devistate one four (Back by popular demand: America love or leave it (GTFOOMC) TET68)
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