When Searching for Extremists, Don't Forget South Carolina

Attempting to draw the line between those who engage in passionate political discourse and extremist incitement is one fraught with risk for American terrorism analysts. After partisan talk radio and the blogosphere went ballistic over some awkward wording in an overall excellent prescient report on right-wing extremism, DHS apparently disconnected the printers in their Homeland Environment Threat Analysis Division. There hasn’t been much output from them since.  Pundit Michelle Malkin, nominated for a Pulitzer in bigotry for her magnum opus  book  “In Defense of Internment: The Case for ‘Racial Profiling’ in World War II and the War on Terror” was highly critical. She called the report an embarrassingly “shoddy” piece of “propaganda.” 

Following complaints about their report on Islamic radicalism the NYPD quietly issued a clarification two years after its release and right before the city’s most recent plot, that rightly said: “NYPD's focus on al-Qaeda inspired terrorism should not be mistaken for any implicit or explicit justification for racial, religious or ethnic profiling.” The FBI and certain Muslim groups are trying to resolve disputes about the extent of FBI monitoring of mosques. And after a January 2009 government report on eco-extremism that movement retaliated by exporting valuable arsons and explosive producing crimes to pipelines in Canada and drug companies and banks in Mexico.

Monitoring for potentially dangerous folks based on wide ranging political affiliations, as well as geographic origins, or religious belief for that matter can ensnare innocent folks and alienate potential allies when it is overbroad.

Intense political jousts like the raucous one over healthcare mostly involve peaceful mainstream folks, but the presence of real extremists should not be ignored either. Several key, though non conclusive, indicators of extremist philosophy to look for include an embrace of violence, opting out of preexisting communal social and political bonds, a distinct historical narrative, and a rigid embrace of falsehoods and conspiracy theories.

Danger Lurks South of The Border

While overbroad and inaccurate analysis of the extremist risk is often faulty and bigoted, it can sometimes be equally humorous. Though some broadly look to annoyed conservatives, and others to animal lovers, pro-life advocates or those who fast during Ramadan in their wide-net search for dangerous extremists, I narrow my focus on the state of South Carolina. For centuries these aloof rebel folks can’t seem to get along with anybody—even each other.

While much has been made of South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson’s recent  “you lie” outburst toward President Obama, the guffaw barely moves the needle on the national historical political conflict scale. At times political differences and personal enmity can grow so intense that it is the politicians themselves, rather than disenfranchised fringe dwellers who resort to incivility, or even violence.

While the Wilson event is barely a “dishonorable mention” on the Palmetto State’s longstanding varsity roster for no holds barred political conflict and division, it does offer a starting point for analysis—at least from a humor standpoint. First off, for the record I am not even one of those people who are a bit wary of folks who come from places with a crescent moon on their flag. Most people outside of South Carolina don’t even know what the flag looks like because the Confederate battle flag still flies prominently over the state capitol grounds-prompting some economic boycotts.

Let’s look at the numbers: The Southern Poverty Law Center counts 45 hate groups in the state—the highest per capita of any state in the union, if it still in fact is in the Union. Mississippi and Louisiana have a combined total of only 44 hate groups. There are so many hate groups in the state that a store—The Redneck Shop--had to open to supply these folks with all their bumper stickers and apparel. These sales hopefully will make up for losses due to the socialist boycotts over the rebel flag. And don't forget that Al Qaeda aider Jose Padilla called a South Carolina military brig home, albeit against his will, for five years.

The state reported a whopping 156 hate crimes in 2007 compared to 0 in Mississippi, 6 in Alabama , and 14 in Georgia. Of course 55 agencies in South Carolina actually submitted completed crime reports, while only 8 departments in all those other states combined bothered to, but that kind of accuracy ruins my headline point about the state’s dangers.

Next let’s look at the turbulent history and angry political orientation of the state. When they couldn’t get along the rest of Carolina, they split in 1719.  Then in March 1776 they skirmished with the British and became the first state to declare independence. The state was also where a disgraced Aaron Burr sought refuge in 1804 after killing Alexander Hamilton in a New Jersey duel.

 Author Robert Maxwell Brown explained, “Among all Southern states before the Civil War South Carolina was the leader in sectional extremism.” South Carolina born Andrew Jackson couldn’t get along with his own Vice President, another South Carolinian named John Calhoun. Shortly thereafter, the state spawned the Nullification Doctrine—the contention that if states find a federal law to be unconstitutional, they can just ignore it—kind of like Congressman Wilson’s stance on manners.  “Turncoat” Jackson, who since claimed to be a Tennessean, obtained Congressional authorization to use military force against his birth state, if necessary, forcing the South Carolina legislature to make a temporary reversal on Nullification.  Calhoun was even falsely suspected by conspiracists, and by the President, of being behind a failed assassination attempt on Jackson by an insane house painter. South Carolina later took Nullification to the extreme when it became the first state to secede in 1860 and the place where the first shots of the Civil War were fired in 1861.

By historic standards Congressman Wilson is downright genteel. In 1857 South Carolina Congressman Preston Brooks severely beat Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner over the head with a thick gold tipped cane in the Senate chambers after the Massachusetts senator insulted South Carolina’s senator (and Brooks’ uncle) over slavery. While Wilson got his reelection coffers filled as a result of his outburst, South Carolinians sent Brooks dozens of canes to replace the one he split over Sumner’s head. Despite the foregoing I am not quite ready to put checkpoints up on interstate 95 at the state lines.

The point of this tongue in cheek exercise is that a dose of judgment is needed when sifting for dangerous extremists out of a larger peaceful group. Extremism is often a contorted carnival mirror reflection of actual controversies in the mainstream.  The key for analysts of right-wing and other extremism is to be able to differentiate dissenters from destroyers. Extremists have opted out—they seek to destroy and exploit the processes, diversity and institutions of our pluralistic democracy beyond winning on an issue or particular set of issues. The risk of wildfires doesn’t mean we should ban blowing grass from the landscape. However, it is also important to be aware that in troubled times when atmospherics change, sparks, even unintentional ones, pose a greater risk as the dry grass of extremism spreads.