Post by twayne on Nov 26, 2004 11:35:11 GMT -5
The "News" Media, Terrorism, and "Hate Groups"
By Al Benson Jr.
I recently read with interest the article in USA Today by Larry Copeland on domestic terrorism. To say that Copeland's slant is against "right-wing" terrorism would be to put it mildly, but then he, like most other contemporary media communicators cannot quite manage to cover his biases with the cloak of objectivity.
Even though his biases are showing he is forced to admit that the FBI has said that "eco-terrorism--acts of violence, sabotage or property damage motivated by a concern for animals and the environment--was the nation's top dometic terrorism threat." The FBI said that eco-terrorists had committed more than 1100 criminal acts since 1976 and caused property damage totaling $110 million. And let's face it, most of your eco-terrorists can hardly be classified as right-wing nuts.
After being forced to admit that the most prominent domestic terrorists seem to reside on the Left he just has to drag out that hackneyed old hate group the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama in a sad attempt to buttress his failed arguments against the Right. Supposedly the SPLC has "tracked hate groups since 1971."
Mark Potok, director of the SPLC's Intelligence Report, which, we are told, keeps tabs on all the hate groups in the country has told us that the SPLC identified 751 hate groups last year, which is supposed to be a 6% increase in hate groups since 2002. And naturally the SPLC would like all concerned Americans to open their wallets and provide them with ample donations so they can labor vigorously to combat all these proliferating hate groups spreading across the nation like a cancer. It's a familiar line and most of your have heard it before. We are all supposed to be able to envision the legions of hooded Klansmen marching down the streets of our cities intent upon lynching any and all blacks and Jews they encounter while the valiant SPLC bravely fights them off with our cash contributions clutched in its hot little hand!
But, is the real number of these "hate groups" the SPLC informs us about anything near accurate? Greg Hanson, a native of Minnesota, is a keen observer of the heritage violation situation across the country. He recently wrote an excellent article entitled "How Pathetic Is The SPLC?" Mr. Hanson, as I said has made a point of keeping track of what we in the Southern Heritage Movement call the "heritage wars." He notes that, according to the SPLC, his home state of Minnesota, one of the "blue" states that voted for Kerry, has seven "hate groups" residing therein and that one "hate crime" that was reported was two teenagers spray-painting graffiti--which incident was then listed as two separate "hate crimes." Sounds like in Minnesota the "hate crimes" multiply like the number of dead people that vote in Chicago elections. Mr. Hanson then comments: Of course none of these 'hate crimes' are actually attributed to any particular 'hate group.' It is interesting to notice that they list the distribution of fliers or literature as a 'hate crime.' I've always been under the impression that the distribution of fliers and literature was protected under the First Amendment, even if we don't agree with it." What the SPLC would really like to see is literature they agree with protected, and anything they disagree with labeled as "hate literature."
And, as for the ever-multiplying "hate groups" across the country, Mr. Hanson has noted that "They also list all the chapters of the League of the South operating in a particular state as separate groups. Of the 42 'hate groups' listed for South Carolina, 33 or LoS chapters...It's indeed surprising that in the seething cauldron of hate that South Carolina is that we find 0 'hate crimes' not even a literature distribution. You would think that with this whole range of 'hate groups' that there would be bodies all over the place."
Mr. Hanson's article and his research proves the total inaccuracy of the SPLC's list of "hate groups." The League of the South, the Confederate Society of America, and the Sons of Confederate Veterans and a host of other groups that have had negative comment and innuendo made about them are NOT hate groups. They have never been hate groups except in the befuddled minds of those who are the recepients of the SPLC's constant pleas for donations so it can "fight" the paper tigers it has set up to keep the cash flowing.
It's really too bad that those in the media that so cavalierly quote this organization's literture wouldn't do a little homework to find out where this group is really coming from. But then, in the final analysis, those in the "news" media are, for the most part, not too far away in their thinking from the pundits of the Poverty Palace in Montgomery.
Back in late October, the SPLC headquarters in Montgomery was picketed by over 50 people who were in town for the League of the South's annual convention. Robert Hayes, South Carolina Director for the League of the South said, at the picketing: "They (the SPLC) hate everything that has to do with the South and with Southern culture. They hate Christianity." That statement just about sums up where the SPLC and the vast majority of the "news" media are really at.
Copyright 2004 The Sierra Times
Al Benson's Newsletter
The name of the newsletter is The Copperhead Chronicle. I publish it four times a year for a subscription price of $8.00 per year. Each issue is eight pages in length. I deal a lot with historical issues concerning the War Between the States, but also with some contemporary issues.
Writer's Note: For those that may be interested, the new mailing address for my newsletter, The Copperhead Chronicle is now P O Box 55, Sterlington, Louisiana 71280.
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Permission to reprint/republish granted, as long as you include the name of our site, the author, and our URL. www.SierraTimes.com All Sierra Times news reports, and all editorials are © 2003 SierraTimes.com (unless otherwise noted)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SierraTimes.com™ A Subsidiary of J.J. Johnson Enterprises, Inc.
www.sierratimes.com/04/11/17/albenson.htm
By Al Benson Jr.
I recently read with interest the article in USA Today by Larry Copeland on domestic terrorism. To say that Copeland's slant is against "right-wing" terrorism would be to put it mildly, but then he, like most other contemporary media communicators cannot quite manage to cover his biases with the cloak of objectivity.
Even though his biases are showing he is forced to admit that the FBI has said that "eco-terrorism--acts of violence, sabotage or property damage motivated by a concern for animals and the environment--was the nation's top dometic terrorism threat." The FBI said that eco-terrorists had committed more than 1100 criminal acts since 1976 and caused property damage totaling $110 million. And let's face it, most of your eco-terrorists can hardly be classified as right-wing nuts.
After being forced to admit that the most prominent domestic terrorists seem to reside on the Left he just has to drag out that hackneyed old hate group the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama in a sad attempt to buttress his failed arguments against the Right. Supposedly the SPLC has "tracked hate groups since 1971."
Mark Potok, director of the SPLC's Intelligence Report, which, we are told, keeps tabs on all the hate groups in the country has told us that the SPLC identified 751 hate groups last year, which is supposed to be a 6% increase in hate groups since 2002. And naturally the SPLC would like all concerned Americans to open their wallets and provide them with ample donations so they can labor vigorously to combat all these proliferating hate groups spreading across the nation like a cancer. It's a familiar line and most of your have heard it before. We are all supposed to be able to envision the legions of hooded Klansmen marching down the streets of our cities intent upon lynching any and all blacks and Jews they encounter while the valiant SPLC bravely fights them off with our cash contributions clutched in its hot little hand!
But, is the real number of these "hate groups" the SPLC informs us about anything near accurate? Greg Hanson, a native of Minnesota, is a keen observer of the heritage violation situation across the country. He recently wrote an excellent article entitled "How Pathetic Is The SPLC?" Mr. Hanson, as I said has made a point of keeping track of what we in the Southern Heritage Movement call the "heritage wars." He notes that, according to the SPLC, his home state of Minnesota, one of the "blue" states that voted for Kerry, has seven "hate groups" residing therein and that one "hate crime" that was reported was two teenagers spray-painting graffiti--which incident was then listed as two separate "hate crimes." Sounds like in Minnesota the "hate crimes" multiply like the number of dead people that vote in Chicago elections. Mr. Hanson then comments: Of course none of these 'hate crimes' are actually attributed to any particular 'hate group.' It is interesting to notice that they list the distribution of fliers or literature as a 'hate crime.' I've always been under the impression that the distribution of fliers and literature was protected under the First Amendment, even if we don't agree with it." What the SPLC would really like to see is literature they agree with protected, and anything they disagree with labeled as "hate literature."
And, as for the ever-multiplying "hate groups" across the country, Mr. Hanson has noted that "They also list all the chapters of the League of the South operating in a particular state as separate groups. Of the 42 'hate groups' listed for South Carolina, 33 or LoS chapters...It's indeed surprising that in the seething cauldron of hate that South Carolina is that we find 0 'hate crimes' not even a literature distribution. You would think that with this whole range of 'hate groups' that there would be bodies all over the place."
Mr. Hanson's article and his research proves the total inaccuracy of the SPLC's list of "hate groups." The League of the South, the Confederate Society of America, and the Sons of Confederate Veterans and a host of other groups that have had negative comment and innuendo made about them are NOT hate groups. They have never been hate groups except in the befuddled minds of those who are the recepients of the SPLC's constant pleas for donations so it can "fight" the paper tigers it has set up to keep the cash flowing.
It's really too bad that those in the media that so cavalierly quote this organization's literture wouldn't do a little homework to find out where this group is really coming from. But then, in the final analysis, those in the "news" media are, for the most part, not too far away in their thinking from the pundits of the Poverty Palace in Montgomery.
Back in late October, the SPLC headquarters in Montgomery was picketed by over 50 people who were in town for the League of the South's annual convention. Robert Hayes, South Carolina Director for the League of the South said, at the picketing: "They (the SPLC) hate everything that has to do with the South and with Southern culture. They hate Christianity." That statement just about sums up where the SPLC and the vast majority of the "news" media are really at.
Copyright 2004 The Sierra Times
Al Benson's Newsletter
The name of the newsletter is The Copperhead Chronicle. I publish it four times a year for a subscription price of $8.00 per year. Each issue is eight pages in length. I deal a lot with historical issues concerning the War Between the States, but also with some contemporary issues.
Writer's Note: For those that may be interested, the new mailing address for my newsletter, The Copperhead Chronicle is now P O Box 55, Sterlington, Louisiana 71280.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Permission to reprint/republish granted, as long as you include the name of our site, the author, and our URL. www.SierraTimes.com All Sierra Times news reports, and all editorials are © 2003 SierraTimes.com (unless otherwise noted)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SierraTimes.com™ A Subsidiary of J.J. Johnson Enterprises, Inc.
www.sierratimes.com/04/11/17/albenson.htm
