Eugene Delgaudio: Southern Poverty Law Center Finds Fewer Militias, Hypes Militia Threat Anyway
A delightful examination of the Southern Poverty Law Center's annual list of "Hate" groups. Jesse Walker explains some of the problems in the methodology used by the SPLC in their counting of various organizations.
The libertarian website mocks SPLC in their report:
"The Southern Poverty Law Center has released its annual report on "The Year in Hate and Extremism," in which the organization estimates the size of the "extremist" threat. Since its count of hate groups has dropped since last year--the number went down from 1,018 to 1,007--the center is hyping a 7 percent increase in another category: what it calls "conspiracy-minded antigovernment 'Patriot' groups."
The SPLC's definition of "Patriot" is pretty broad: The list ranges from the conservative websites WorldNetDaily and FreeRepublic.com to the Moorish Science Temple and its offshoots. The Moors, a black militant movement, are presumably included because they sometimes borrow ideas from the sovereign citizens and other folks often associated with the right."
For SPLC Senior Fellow Mark Potok, that 7 percent surge (of patriotic groups) is a sign that a growing terrorist threat demands the Department of Homeland Security's attention
Read more at: http://reason.com/blog/2013/03/07/southern-poverty-law-center-finds-fewer