XPost: alt.gossip.celebrities, alt.politics.democrats.d, sac.general   
   XPost: alt.rush-limbaugh   
   From: jane.fonda.socialist.report@cnn.com   
      
   The Southern Poverty Law Center’s often cited map of hate groups   
   is a deceptive promotion meant to raise funds, according to a   
   politically progressive news editor.   
      
   Current Affairs editor Nathan J. Robinson wrote an opinion piece   
   published Tuesday titled “The Southern Poverty Law Center is   
   Everything That’s Wrong with Liberalism.”   
      
   In his editorial, Robinson critiqued the SPLC and its “hate   
   group” map, which purports to chart the many hate groups in the   
   United States. According to a widely referenced report by the   
   SPLC, the number of hate groups in the country is on the rise.   
      
   Robinson took issue with the hate group map, labeling it “an   
   outright fraud” that sought to “scare older liberals into   
   writing checks to the SPLC.”   
      
   “The SPLC consistently declines to identify how many members   
   these hate groups have. It just notes the number of groups.   
   Without knowing how large they are, what does it mean that they   
   exist? Are they one person? 1,000?” wrote Robinson.   
      
   “The number of hate groups could be increasing because the neo-   
   Nazis were becoming weak and fragmented and splitting into   
   tinier and tinier units.”   
      
   Robinson cited several examples of so-called hate groups on the   
   map that are ultimately just a single individual, or a couple of   
   people, or have yet to engage in anything resembling hateful   
   activity.   
      
   “A 'Holocaust denial' group in Kerrville, Texas, called   
   'carolynyeager.net' appears to just be a woman called Carolyn   
   Yeager,” continued Robinson.   
      
   “A ‘male supremacy’ group called Return of Kings is apparently   
   just a blog published by pick-up artist Roosh V and a couple of   
   his friends, and the most recent post is an announcement from   
   six months ago that the project was on indefinite hiatus.”   
      
   While commending the SPLC for some of the work it has done   
   against groups like the Ku Klux Klan, Robinson critiqued other   
   aspects of the liberal group, including its reported   
   mistreatment of minority employees and spending little of its   
   donated resources on fighting bigotry.   
      
   “Many of the SPLC’s donors surely think they’re donating to a   
   public interest law firm. In fact, they’re mostly donating to an   
   ever-growing giant pile of money, a portion of which is used to   
   finance some progressive legal work,” added Robinson.   
      
   The SPLC was founded in 1971 to help with legal battles against   
   groups like the Ku Klux Klan. More recently, the far-left group   
   has garnered controversy for labeling many conservative groups   
   and individuals as hateful.   
      
   Critics have accused the SPLC of inciting violence against   
   conservatives. For example, in 2012 a gay rights activist named   
   Floyd Lee Corkins attempted to murder members of the Family   
   Research Center. Corkins cited SPLC’s designation of the FRC as   
   a “hate group” as a reason for why he committed the crime.   
      
   Last June, the SPLC issued an apology to ex-Muslim activist   
   Maajid Nawaz and paid him $3.3 million as part of a settlement   
   after wrongfully including him and his organization the Quilliam   
   Foundation in a report on anti-Muslim activity.   
      
   "Although we may have our differences with some of the positions   
   that Mr. Nawaz and Quilliam have taken, we recognize that they   
   have made important contributions to efforts to promote   
   pluralism and that they are most certainly not anti-Muslim   
   extremists," the SPLC said in 2018.   
      
   "In addition to apologizing to Mr. Nawaz and Quilliam, we offer   
   our sincerest apology to our supporters and all those who depend   
   on our work. We pride ourselves on the accuracy of our reports   
   and, although we know we are not perfect, it pains us greatly   
   whenever we make a mistake."   
      
   Earlier this month, the SPLC fired its co-founder Morris Dees   
   over what SPLC President Richard Cohen referred to as concerns   
   over “workplace practices.”   
      
   “Morris has made incredible contributions to the fight against   
   racial injustice in our country. But our work is about the   
   cause, not the person. We’re committed to ensuring that our   
   workplace embodies the values we espouse — truth, justice,   
   equity, and inclusion,” stated Cohen.   
      
   “When one of our own fails to meet those standards, no matter   
   his or her role in the organization, we take it seriously and   
   must take appropriate action.”   
      
   Days later, Cohen himself resigned, explaining in a statement   
   that he believed the SPLC should transition “to a new generation   
   of leaders.”   
      
   “We've heard from our staff that we need to do a better job of   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)