Fear for Obama's Safety Grows as Hate Groups Thrive

ABC news ^ | August 14, 2009 | BRIAN ROSS, ANNA SCHECTER and MEGAN CHUCHMACH

[reader25]

Experts who track hate groups across the U.S. are growing increasingly concerned over violent rhetoric targeted at President Obama, especially as the debate over health care intensifies and a pattern of threats emerges.

[absalom01]

ABCbs references the SPLC in the second paragraph. So, same old same old. Some libtard group publishes a “study” MSM then validates that story with made-up nonsense from open activist groups and their own “experts”. Works for the VPC and the Brady Bunch, too.

[MindBender26]

Let's review the last 100 years or so.

McKinnley, 1901, Shot by a leftist anarchist
Truman, 1950, Puerto Rican leftists tried to shoot him. Police officer killed in the process.
John Kennedy, 1963, Shot and killed by an avowed communist
Robert Kennedy, 1968. Shot and killed by Islamic
Ford, 1975, two attempts, one by a Charles Manson socialist crazy and the other by a woman deeply tied to Black socialists.
Reagan, 1981, Shot by a crazy
George H.W. Bush, Multiple attempts by assassins tied to Saddam and radical Islam.
World Trade Center, 2001, Radical Islam
Pentagon, 2001, Radical Islam
more and more and more.

Yeah, we really have to watch out for those Conservatives.

[OldMissileer]

“When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.” - Thomas Jefferson

The only good bureaucrat is one with a pistol at his head. Put it in his hand and it's goodbye to the Bill of Rights. [H.L. Mencken]

[woollyone]

I’m waiting for someone to stand up at one of the town halls and scream from the depths of their diaphram:

“I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and you disagree with this administration somehow you’re not patriotic. We should stand up and say we are Americans and we have a right to debate and disagree with any administration”

May it happen soon and may it happen often and be recorded by the MSM!

[piasa]

The liberal press and the lib backers would rather have a martyr than a failed liberal. Once his poll numbers drop to a certain level, if the leftists think they have no choice, he might be in danger of getting whacked by the left just so they can ride the sympathy to get their agenda through. As a side benefit, they would get to attack gun rights.

For our side it would be a disaster, no good could come from it.

[patriot08]

At least Biden is not a Muslim.

[woollyone]

As a matter of courtesy and a bait and switch, the person who does do it should preface the screeching by stating that they’d like to quote Hillary Clinton and then proceed...

[popdonnelly]

The potential assassins, who are very few in number, would be out there regardless of what the issues are.

[elpinta]

“The liberal press and the lib backers would rather have a martyr than a failed liberal.”

Winning entry so far today.

[patriot08]

I don’t want Obama assasinated. That’s too easy.
I want him frog-marched out of the White House in chains to spend the rest of his sorry life in prison for high treason.
I want his and the America hating/white hating First Beast’s sh*t thrown out into the street!

[a fool in paradise]

ABC-Disney is rabidly attacking conservatives again.

And yet the media PERSISTS in the myth that the “Red Scare” of the 1950s was overblown.

Damned communists.

Walt Disney is rolling in his grave.

[vaudine]

Puh-leesse. I haven't seen or heard ANYTHING to compare with the vitriolic attacks on George Bush.

vaudine

[norraad]

"What is these reds I keep hearin' 'bout anyway?"

Tom Joad

[Parley Baer]

This just proves Brian Ross is nothing but a parrot for the dnc. He is the furthest thing from being a reporter.

[RebelTXRose]

I pray that NONE of our SECRET SERVICE AGENTS are asked to take a bullet for this POS!

[SuperLuminal]

" sharp growth in so-called militia groups that helped spawn a wave of domestic terrorism in the 1990s "

Hmmmm! Did I miss something during the 90's?

"wave"???

Let's see:

1. Oh yeah! Ramzi Yousef was a member-in-good-standing of one of the state militias.......Yeah sure!;
2. Oh yeah! Janet Reno was a member-in-good-standing of one of the state militias.......Yeah sure!;
3. Oh yeah! Timothy McVeigh was a member-in-good-standing of one of the state militias.....Yeah sure!; and,
4. Oh yeah! Those dozens of tree-huggers who burned and booby trapped their way across the Pacific northwest were all members-in-good-standing of one of the state militias.....Yeah sure!

Dang memory gets flaky when you get to be my age. Oh well, by this time next year, under the new deathcare bill, I won't have to be concerned anymore about that...

[Pietro]

Especially since the only recorded violence at any Townhall was initated by the SEIU.

But that deosn't fit the template so it can't be used.

[Domandred]

Southern Poverty Law Center

Yea there is a credible source....NOT

[Girlene]

Steve Gilbert, Sweetness and Light, does a great job debunking Mark Potok's (Southern Poverty Law Center) claims. Mark Potok Still Sees Hate Groups Rise. Maybe ABC/Brian Ross should read a bit more about those they are quoting before making a mountain out of a molehill.


Mark Potok

[Harrius Magnus]

Must be fundraising time for Morris Dees and the girls at the Southern Poverty Law Center.

 

Is it ever not?

 

"'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.]

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.]