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Opinions/Editorials Title: Politico: Has the SPLC lost its way? I do think there is a desperate need for more objective research on hate crimes and domestic extremismespecially now, says J.M. Berger, a researcher on extremism and a fellow with the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism at The Hague. But like many observers, he worries that the SPLC has gone too far in some of its hate group characterizations. The problem partly stems from the fact that the organization wears two hats, as both an activist group and a source of information, he says. In October, the SPLC faced explosive blowback when it included British Muslim activist Maajid Nawaz on a list of anti-Muslim extremists. The targeting of Nawaza former Islamist turned anti-extremism campaigner who is considered a human rights leader by many in the mainstreameven sparked critical coverage in the Atlantic, creating the unusual spectacle of a publication founded by abolitionists going after a group founded to fight the KKK. The same list also included Ayaan Hirsi Ali, citing a handful of statements she has made over nearly 10 years. As Politico points out, the SPLCs list of extremists even includes libertarian Senators: In 2012 a man named Floyd Corkins went to the lobby of the Family Research Council (FRC) with the intent of killing the groups staff. He later revealed he had gotten information on the group from the SPLC, which lists FRC as a hate group. More recently, James Hodgkinson, the Alexandria shooter who tried to assassinate GOP members of Congress also liked the SPLC on his anti-Republican Facebook page. If either incident this has given the group any pause, they arent showing it. Ken Silverstein, who Politico identifies as a liberal journalists, wrote a critical piece on the SPLC for Harpers magazine in 2000. Heres a sample: Morris Dees doesnt need your financial support. The SPLC is already the wealthiest civil rights group in America, though this letter quite naturally omits that fact. Other solicitations have been more flagrantly misleading. One pitch, sent out in 1995-when the Center had more than $60 million in reserves-informed would-be donors that the strain on our current operating budget is the greatest in our 25-year history. Back in 1978, when the Center had less than $10 million, Dees promised that his organization would quit fund-raising and live off interest as soon as its endowment hit $55 million. But as it approached that figure, the SPLC upped the bar to $100 million, a sum that, one 1989 newsletter promised, would allow the Center to cease the costly and often unreliable task of fund raising. Today, the SPLCs treasury bulges with $120 million, and it spends twice as much on fund-raising-$5.76 million last year-as it does on legal services for victims of civil rights abuses. The American Institute of Philanthropy gives the Center one of the worst ratings of any group it monitors, estimating that the SPLC could operate for 4.6 years without making another tax-exempt nickel from its investments or raising another tax-deductible cent from well-meaning people like you. The author of that piece, Silverstein, tells Politico, The organization has always tried to find ways to milk money out of the public by finding whatever threat they can most credibly promote. Politico reports the SPLCs endowment is now more than $200 million. Dees and the SPLCs President, Richard Cohen, each earn well over $300,000 a year running the organization. Poster Comment: If SPLC has lost Politico, they are badly damaged goods. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top Page Up Full Thread Page Down Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Tooconservative (#0)
(Edited)
Holding up a mirror to their behavior is an effective way to expose them. They are the "hate group."
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