For many years, the Southern Poverty Law Center <http://www.splcenter.org/>has labeled groups with values it doesn’t tolerate as “hate groups” --- while also behaving like a hate group.
On Thursday, May 1, 2014 10:55:17 AM UTC-5, Travis wrote: > > > > > > > > > http://www.wnd.com/2014/04/amazon-now-urged-to-blacklist-haters/ > > > Amazon now urged to blacklist 'haters' 'Far left group uses its hate > listings to demonize conservatives' > > Bob Unruh > > > > For many years, the Southern Poverty Law Center<http://www.splcenter.org/>has > labeled groups with values it doesn’t tolerate as “hate groups” – but > now the organization is taking its attacks a step further, demanding Amazon > and PayPal blacklist bloggers and websites that don’t fall in line with its > leftist agenda. > > Headlined “Financing Hate” in the group’s Intelligence Report publication, > the Southern Poverty Law Center, or SPLC, listed 91 “hate groups” ranging > from those clearly on the fringe to mainstream bloggers and websites such > as Catholic Family News, Atlas Shrugs, Jihad Watch, WND and the Americans > for Legal Immigration PAC. <http://www.alipac.us/> > > Clearly stating its opposition, it describes how some of those > organizations utilize Amazon, PayPal and other online services to sell > products. > > SPLC said the Intelligence Report contacted Amazon in September about the > participation of “hate groups” and “hate sites” in Amazon programs that > earn the groups commissions. > > Amazon, according to the report, said it would assign “appropriate teams > to investigate, review applicable policies, and take appropriate action.” > > But the SPLC lamented that some of its targets “were still earning > commissions through Amazon.” > > Several of the targeted organizations have criticized the “thuggish” > behavior of SPLC, charging the organization is “somewhere to the left of > Karl Marx.” > > Renowned Islam expert Robert Spencer, whose Jihad Watch monitor on > Islamic radicalism was targeted <http://www.jihadwatch.org/>, said it > shows “the desperate insecurity of the left: even at a time when they > control the government, the media, and the entertainment industry, they > have to strike out against the small, under-financed voices of truth that > challenge their hegemony.” > > “It also demonstrates their true totalitarian colors, in their absolute > unwillingness to tolerate the smallest dissent. This is Goliath striking > out against David. But we all know who wins,” Spencer said. > > William Gheen, whose organization, Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, or > ALIPAC, opposes illegal immigration and amnesty, said it was all too much. > > In an open letter to SPLC posted > online<http://www.alipac.us/f8/open-letter-southern-poverty-law-center-william-gheen-301890/#post1408950>and > to be “delivered to your offices by certified mail and then turned over > to our attorney for further action,” Gheen said SPLC’s claims are > “demonstrably false.” > > “This letter is to inform you that we have Internet posts and emails > containing threats and death threats against my life and the lives of my > family members in reaction to your false claims that we are a hate group,” > he said. “The threats we have received specifically cite SPLC claims that > suggest we are somehow motivated by racism and advocating violence against > minorities, both of which are demonstrably false.” > > The issue of “hate,” “hate crimes” and “hate speech” has moved back into > the headlines <http://wnd.com/?p=798951>now because of a proposal in > Congress to evaluate online speech for “hate” and then take action based on > that assessment. > > As WND reported <http://wnd.com/?p=793921>, if two Democratic lawmakers > have their way, Barack Obama’s Justice Department soon will submit a report > for action against any Internet sites, broadcast, cable television or radio > shows determined to be advocating or encouraging “violent acts.” > > That’s from the text of a new bill from Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. > Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. > > The Hate Crime Reporting Act of 2014 “would create an updated > comprehensive report examining the role of the Internet and other > telecommunications in encouraging hate crimes based on gender, race, > religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation and create recommendations to > address such crimes,” stated a news release from Markey’s > office<http://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/-sen-markey-and-rep-jeffries-introduce-legislation-to-examine-and-prevent-the-promotion-of-hate-crimes-and-hate-speech-in-media> > . > > Gheen said SPLC is “fully aware” that ALIPAC is “racially inclusive … and > that a substantial percentage of our supporters are minorities.” > > “The SPLC is fully aware that ALIPAC has openly and eagerly worked with > minority organizations and leaders,” he said. “The SPLC is fully aware that > I have a background in registering and transporting minority and student > voters and working to elect women and minorities to public office in the > ’90s. The SPLC is fully aware that we never intentionally work with any > racist or violent groups or individuals, and you are aware that we have > publicly spoken out against racism and racist groups and individuals on > numerous occasions.” > > The letter, he wrote, is to “serve as your official notice of all of the > factors I’ve listed here including your official notice that your > designation of ALIPAC as a hate group, while no evidence exists that anyone > in our organization has ever engaged in racism, hate, or violence against > minorities, has crossed the line of civil discourse and is now directly > encouraging people to threaten violence against me and my family.” > > He charged that SPLC was “attempting to mislead our donations company, > PayPal, by telling them that we are one of the 91 ‘hate groups’ using their > services in the hopes they will stop allowing us to accept donations which > pale in comparison to your multimillion dollar yearly budget.” > > “Let this letter serve as notice to each of you at the Southern Poverty > Law Center including Morris Dees, Mark Potok, and Heidi Beirich that I > personally intend to hold you each legally responsible and personally > responsible for any physical harm that befalls me, my organization, or my > family due to your intentional lies and distortions.” > > Gheen said the organization’s “false characterization of groups has led to > violence such as the D.C. shooter Floyd Corkins, who tried to kill as many > people as possible at the Family Research Council.” > > “I believe it is time we put to the test in the courts your false claims > and attempts to stir people and companies up against us by > mischaracterizing a peaceful multiracial organization such as ALIPAC as > similar to Neo-Nazis and the KKK,” he said. > > Corkins, a homosexual activist, told investigators he had obtained his > information about the Family Research Council from the Southern Poverty Law > Center, which publicly had labeled FRC a “hate group” because of its > biblical position on homosexuality. > > SPLC lists <http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-files> the > American > Family > Association,<http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-files/groups/american-family-association>a > traditional Christian ministry focusing on helping families, and the Family > Research > Council,<http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-files/groups/family-research-council>in > the same category as groups like the “Aryan Nations,” because of their > biblically based opposition to homosexuality. > > “White nationalist” and “racist skinhead” groups are posted in a warning > list alongside the family organizations. It was the SPLC’s “Hate Map” that > apparently was used by Corkins to identify Christians to kill in 2012. > > Spencer told WND the listing of his group by SPLC was “bitterly ironic.” > > “The SPLC has a multimillion-dollar budget, gathered by frightening > leftists with smear propaganda about right-wing ‘hate groups,’” he said. > “They have artificially inflated their list of such groups by including > mainstream and reputable conservative groups and groups fighting for the > defense of constitutional freedoms and human rights (like Jihad Watch), > while largely turning a blind eye to genuine hate groups on the left, as > well as Islamic jihad groups.” > > Spencer noted that SPLC has “a huge endowment and massively inflated > salaries – and now, in their authoritarian quest to stamp out all dissent, > they’re targeting tiny organizations that rely on small ($25, $50) > donations from PayPal and Amazon to finance their small > blades-of-grass-through-the-concrete challenges to the stifling leftist > political orthodoxy that currently dominates the public discourse, and of > which the SPLC is a thuggish defender.” > > Author Pamela Geller, who writes at Atlas Shrugs, told WND the SPLC is a > “far left group that uses its hate group listings to demonize conservatives > and anyone who dissents from its statist, authoritarian agenda.” > > “Its hate group list is so tendentious and politically motivated that they > were recently removed from a government website’s listing of resources on > hate > groups,<http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-files/profiles/pamela-geller>” > > she said. > > “The ill-gotten wealth of the SPLC amounts to tens of millions of dollars, > while those whom they target, the supporters of freedom, are meagerly > financed by average Americans who want freedom preserved in this country. > The SPLC is highlighting Amazon and PayPal because they are the online > means for Average Joes to send money to pro-freedom groups. These > subversive destroyers mean to shut us down.” > > Judson Phillips, whose Tea Party Nation also was listed, said SPLC is “the > ultimate left-wing hate group. This is a group that is somewhere to the > left of Karl Marx, and they hate real Americans.” > > WND Editor and CEO Joseph Farah, who long as been personally targeted by > SPLC, along with the news site he founded, said, “The Southern Poverty Law > Center is hardly a credible watchdog on so-called ‘hate groups.’ In fact, > it *is* a hate group. But, sadly, with its budget of hundreds of millions > of dollars and its cozy relationship with government and the media elite, > it has more power and influence than most Americans realize. Its hateful > finger-pointing at companies and organizations has actually resulted in > real acts of violence, as is the case of the Family Research Council > shooting attack. I actually consider it a badge of honor to be targeted by > the SPLC. But their attacks do come at a price, because they actually do > place real targets on the backs of their enemies.” > > WND previously reported <http://wnd.com/?p=798951>on the wide range of > groups the SPLC labels as “hate groups,” including the World Congress of > Families. > > SPLC even has attacked the Drudge Report and Breitbart Editor Ben Shapiro. > > The looming “hate crimes” reporting plan has been supported by the > National Hispanic Media Coalition, as well as the SPLC. > > WND reported that the new one-page bill <http://wnd.com/?p=793921> calls > for the Justice Department and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to > “analyze information on the use of telecommunications, including the > Internet, broadcast television and radio, cable television, public access > television, commercial mobile services, and other electronic media, to > advocate and encourage violent acts and the commission of crimes of hate.” > > The bill does not define which actions by broadcasters would be considered > to have encouraged violence, seemingly leaving that open to interpretation. > > Once the report is compiled, the bill calls for “any recommendations” for > action “consistent with the First Amendment to the Constitution of the > United States” that is determined to be an “appropriate and necessary” way > to address the purported encouragement of violent acts. > > The Boston Herald took issue with the bill, calling it “frankly > chilling”<http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/opinion/editorials/2014/04/editorial_markey_s_mission_creep>that > Markey is seeking to “empower an obscure federal agency to begin > scouring the Internet, TV and radio for speech it finds threatening.” > > “Perhaps he could crack a briefing book on the crisis in Ukraine rather > than looking for his own extra-constitutional methods of punishing speech > he finds unacceptable,” added the Herald editorial > > > Read more at > http://www.wnd.com/2014/04/amazon-now-urged-to-blacklist-haters/#mQPYXoIVF8Bh7z6c.99 > > > > > __._,_.___ > > > Visit Your > Group<https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/grendelreport/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJmZmpyZWpqBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzEzOTg5NTY0MTg-> > > > > [image: Yahoo! > Groups]<https://groups.yahoo.com/neo;_ylc=X3oDMTJlZms3dmVqBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNnZnAEc3RpbWUDMTM5ODk1NjQxOA--> > > • Privacy <https://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/groups/details.html> • > Unsubscribe <javascript:> • Terms of > Use<https://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/terms/> > > __,_._,___ > > > -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. 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