Hate Groups Bank on Obama to Swell Their Ranks

Shortly after then Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama clinched the Democratic nomination in June 2008, two of America's oldest and best known hate groups, the KKK and Aryan Nation wasted no time. They endorsed Obama for president. The prospect of him bagging the White House sent them into absolute delirium. The hate bunch hadn't undergone an earth rattling epiphany. Quite the contrary, a black president was their made in heaven meal ticket to jump start their moribund ranks. The hate groups hit their peak in the mid-1990s. With moderate, centrist Democrat Bill Clinton in the White House, the hate mongers had a ready made foil to bounce, spin, weave, and act out their zany race tinged anti-government conspiratorial paranoia.

That changed with the election of W. Bush. A GOP conservative, Christian fundamentalist leaning president just didn't make much of a target for the hate crowd. Government busts, indictments, multimillion dollar lawsuits and judgments, massive defections and disillusionment, internal splits and factional feuds further decimated the hate group's ranks.

By the end of the Bush era their numbers had plunged to historic lows. But Obama has changed that. In its new report on hate groups the Southern Poverty Law Center found that 50 new "anti-government" hate groups have cropped up in the past few months. There has also been a sharp up tick in recruiting, mobilizing, and more worrisome, gun buying by these groups. They are playing hard on the fear and hatred among the radical right of a black man in the White House, the economic downturn and the GOP orchestrated disruptions at health care town halls. The shrill pack of on line blogs and websites, including the popular right wing sounding board WorldNet Daily.com, is read by tens of thousands.

They mask their hate tinged appeals to the mob with the usual wink and nod patriotic sounding code words, slogans, and phrases such as the "second American revolution," "new government," the authority of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence," "threat to religious freedom," and "protect and save free enterprise" and the endless racist characterizations, cartoons, and lampooning of President Obama. Here's a short list of the virulent sites.

AntiObama.net A Clockwork Obama AgainstObama.com AudacityOfHypocrisy.com BlockBarack.com ChicagoAgainstObama.com DiscoverObama.com DontVoteObama.net DrNObama.com ExposeObama.com InvestigateBarackObama.blogspot.com JewsAgainstObama.com JustSayNoDeal.com MeetBarackObama.com No-bama.blogspot.com NobamaNetwork.com NobamaZone.com NoExperienceNoChange.org NoQuarterUSA.net ObamaExposed.blogspot.com ObamaBlog08.com Obama-Wire.com Obamaism.Blogspot.com ObamaNation.com ObamaTruth.org ObamaWho.wordpress.com ObamaWTF.blogspot.com Obamology.blogspot.com SavagePolitics.com SlickBarry.com Stop-Obama.org TheRealBarackObama.wordpress.com TopShelf51.wordpress.com
At the start of August, there were a staggering 22 million references to the anti-Obama websites. The sheer number of anti-Obama sites alarmed Google. It has shut down a half dozen or more of them.

The majority of the hate groups and the conspiracy spinning anti-Obama websites, however, spout hot air talk and are filled with the stock delusional conspiracy stuff about sinister forces taking over the government. Most vehemently deny that they advocate violence, but not all. Some openly scream about taking back the country and arming for an Armageddon type showdown with the government.

Two troubling measures that warn of real danger from the hate mongers is the number of hate crimes, and that's violent crimes. They have edged up to over 7000 in 2007. Experts say the number of hate crimes could be ten times higher than that since most hate crimes go unreported.

This alone might not be cause for worry since most of the hate groups are well known, tracked, and when their members commit crimes they are hit hard with federal prosecutions. But times are hard for many blue collar workers. When jobs and homes are lost, and there's fear and uncertainty that things could get worse, the ruthless search for scapegoats--illegal immigrants, gays, Jews, blacks, and a black president--are on with a vengeance. The murderous rampages by frustrated unemployed, disjointed men against their own families, the killing of police officers, the brandishing of guns or threats to brandish them at town hall meetings, are the glaring signs of the hate malaise.

The angry faces and the fist shaking at the health care town halls today could provide a fertile recruiting ground for new more vocal and visible anti-government groups. Some of whose members could be sorely tempted to do more than just rant and fist shake. Hate group's bank on the volatile mix of frustration, anger and hostility toward a government they feel has betrayed them, and a black president whose message of change spells socialism to them, to swell their ranks. That's a chilling prospect for Obama and all of us.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His weekly radio show, The Hutchinson Report can be heard on weekly in Los Angeles at 9:30 AM Fridays on KTYM Radio 1460 AM and live streamed nationally on ktym.com

Comments

[youknow]

From Nietzsche's Flied in the Market Place:

Little, do the people understand what is great—that is to say, the creating agency. But they have a taste for all representers and actors of great things.

Around the devisers of new values revolveth the world:—invisibly it revolveth. But around the actors revolve the people and the glory: such is the course of things.

Spirit, hath the actor, but little conscience of the spirit. He believeth always in that wherewith he maketh believe most strongly—in himself!

Tomorrow he hath a new belief, and the day after, one still newer. Sharp perceptions hath he, like the people, and changeable humors.

To upset—that meaneth with him to prove. To drive mad—that meaneth with him to convince. And blood is counted by him as the best of all arguments.

A truth which only glideth into fine ears, he calleth falsehood and trumpery. Verily, he believeth only in gods that make a great noise in the world!

Full of clattering buffoons is the market-place,—and the people glory in their great men! These are for them the masters of the hour.

But the hour presseth them; so they press thee. And also from thee they want Yea or Nay. Alas! thou wouldst set thy chair betwixt For and Against?

[been2there]

Hate is a symptom of fear, and hard times lead to perfectly reasonable fear. The flash point of a black man in the White House makes it very easy to scapegoat Obama, especially after the Republican's constant drone of "Bad Government, Bad Government­." This is a worrisome situation and I am worried.

[XME]

Considering death threats to Obama are over 400% higher than Bush's ever were, I'd say just having a non-white leading the country IS infuriating those people in spades.

[Growup22]

Mommy, If it's called the White House, why's a black family in it? Well honey those liberal whites and dem hispanics and blacks put him there, but he doesn't belong. So we gonna start screaming that he's born in Kenya, he's gonna kill grandpa and ma and see how many of us it takes to get him out. Now if that don't work, we have a right to bare arms and we will make sure that he sees our guns everywhere he goes. Dem white people who voted for him don't know what they done did and they will change their minds if we scream loud enough. I heard Glenn and Rush say it so it must be true. We got to give this country back to our own kind no matter how much lying and cheating we gots to do. But mommy you told me that lying was wrong? Only when a democrat does it baby, otherwise it's just fine. Now lets go hang that confederate flag outside, until the White House is ours again and we can start wrapping ourselves in the real American Flag that our Soldiers die for.

[Digeeedad]

Would be a whole lot funnier if it weren't in all liklihood so true!

A Sean Hannity website forum MODERATOR posted this, after President Obama's Inaguratio­n"...
"The Obamas are forever POLLUTING the White House".

And to think that after seeing all the people from all races and cultures celebrating at Obama's DNC acceptance speech and on election night, some of us actually believed the ugliness that we are now seeing was a thing of the past.... Sad!

[Digeeedad]

This YouTube clip (you may have to click on the HQ option) from a Palin campaign rally pretty much shows that nothing has changed, except for these people getting louder and more hysterically panicked now!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRqcfqiXCX0

[newsmaker]

I'm going to cut to the quick. It makes no sense to continue to tell people how they can keep their healthcare if they want it, they want a reason to hate the man and now they have found a way to 'come out'. You can disagree with him all you want. It's not about people who have insurance, it's about people who don't, and the current system is making us bankrupt. If I were president, I'd let the people who didn't want reform not get it, and when their insurance rates continue to skyrocket until they lose everything, then they can blame their representatives. It gets to a point when you just have to quit following the crowd. I would do just want they want, I'd take the governments hand off their medicare, since it is a government run program. Along with Social Security, VA, and every other thing that government does that contribute good things to people. I would not let the 'private schools' get funded with government money. No matter what Obama does, there will be those who do not like him, and it's not because he pulled us from the brink of a great depression( people blame him for the last 8 years and gave him 6 months to fix it.) It's because he is black.

[JayDubs]

Hm... as much as I don't group myself with the people you refer to, I'd like to point out the following. Many of them would probably be perfectly happy to be cut off from government support... so long as you stopped taxing them. But somehow I doubt you are considering that point.

[citizensrus]

Who exactly would be happy to be cut off from government support ..so long as you stopped taxing them.
I challenge this argument.
I want you detail the points we are not considering.

[1088]

Right is wrong
Wrong is right
Hate is love
Love is hate
Christian is evil
Evil is christian
He is she
She is he
up is down
down is up

Getting close to the end!

[unconstitutional]

You know a side is on the run rhetorically when it deals the race card. The race card is divisive, disingenuous and outright dangerous, but its great virtue is that it can slow down the other side’s momentum, and even stop it altogether.

So, in a way, those of us who believe Obama’s health care plans are misguided and hazardous to our national well being can take some comfort in the fact that the President’s supporters are so desperate that they are now crying “racism” in order to stop opposition.

[Digeeedad]

"the President’s supporters are so desperate that they are now crying “racism” in order to stop opposition".

Are you blind AND deaf, purposefully in denial? Your convenient dismissing of fact doesn't make it untrue or go away, it just makes you sound absurd. When nationally prominent mainstream politicians and goodfball TV personalities are openly making racist statements about the President, SOMETHING is going on!

Observing and being outraged by racists and bigots openly and proudly flaunting their beliefs is NOT "playing the race card"!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRqcfqiXCX0

[nirek]

You are just scared that a black man can turn things around.

[Springbirdgirl]

So, ar you saying that racism does not play a role? Comparing the President one of the most vile leaders of the 20th Century (Hitle r)? Men openly wearing guns to town halls? The shootings at the Holocaus t museum? Who is being disingenuous here?

[citizensrus]

To turn this around and make the target of the racist attacks the guilty party is straight out of the devil's handbook.
This is the same kind of distorted thinking that blames the woman for rape:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1526262/posts

[mamababa]

Once ya go Black, ya can't go back.

[Pyrum]

Just remember: people who oppose Obama's policies because they disagree with them are not racist.

[yoli647]

Most are..

[1088]

Yes they are racist!

[COPerez]

Let's take Pyrum at his word - just follow me here...

So they are not racist. Yet they oppose reform that would help them and their fellow citizens; would keep the country from going bankrupt; would bring us into the fold of civilized nations and into the 21st century. They appear to be largely recipients of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, VA health care, and other government programs. They have NO alternate proposals to fix what is wrong, they only shout down those who do.

What does that make them? If they are not racist and the have no alternate plan and the status quo is actual harmful to them; what's the alternative to racist?

[Digeeedad]

EXCELLENT commentary!!!!!

[agb100]

HATE GROUPS?

The writer must mean people opposed to Obamacare whose HATE is wanting to keep their good insurance and wanting government to stay out of their pockets and out of their lives!

Small group of people?

The fact is, the POLLS SHOW...the MAJORITY of Americans don't want

1. Obamacare

2. Cap and Trade

The left tries to delegitimize the LEGITIMATE concerns of AVERAGE Americans who, unlike Obama's employment offers on Craig's List for PAID demonstrators, are NOT paid off by BIG PHARMA, but have taken time off from work at their own will to attend these town hall meetings.

The left does this by calling them extremists, terrorists, Hitlers, anything but concerned American citizens who OBJECT to a bill being passed in the middle of the night by your representatives who, having been paid to represent us all, have not even bothered to read it!

I rest my case.

[Garioch]

Polls have consistently shown for decades that a majority want single payer health care. That's beyond what's on the table at the moment in part because of the loud mouthed minority like yourself who TYPE as you speak.
Just one of the many (to you) inconvenient majorities you choose to ignore so don't start pulling majorities and minorities out now when you show no interest in them the rest of the time.

[COPerez]

But, but... FACTS!!!

Who was it who said the "facts have a liberal bias?"

[Glenn1441]

Correction to headline necessary: Incorrect, possessive "Group's" to correct, plural "Groups."

[charlot]

Thank you. That particular punctuation infraction makes me crazy, and I see it everywhere.

[oafishcad]

One man's hate group is another man's group of friends. Racist southerners in the 50s browbeat anyone into submission if they were't racist, or at least they forced their tolerance into the closet. If you're gay in California, the Mormon Church, the Catholic Church, the Evangelical church, the Republican Party, the majority of the elderly, the majority of the latino community and the majority of the black community are all hate groups. You are correct, many at these townhall meetings are just simmering in their hate, forget logic or reason, or even compassion for the ill in our society, they believe.

[gage]

" A GOP conservative, Christian fundamentalist leaning president just didn't make much of a target for the hate crowd. "

You must be joking. Were you in a coma for the last eight years? Bush couldn't even walk in bis own inauguration parade because people were egging his car. That's how it began, and here's how it ended, with Obama supporters throwing shoes at a giant Bush effigy right in front of the White House, on the eve of Obama's inauguration. Nice way to celebrate, eh?

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/01/19/to-the-bitter-end-bush-haters-throw-shoes-at-effigy-in-dc/

Just a couple more of endless examples:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/12/analysis-press-largely-ignored-incendiary-rhetoric-bush-protest/

http://www.zombietime.com/hall_of_shame/

http://michellemalkin.com/2006/08/31/assassination-chic/

[Gidster]

Your sources are all very anti democrat and very very pro Bush......

Not very credible.

[mandinka]

The reason for the swelling of the ranks is that they now realize that Barak won't enforce any of our laws. Whether its drugs in CA, voter intimation by the Black Panthers, or removing illegals the laws of our land no longer matter. So other extremist groups say what the hell me 2

[DalKimball82]

That is a load of crap to justify this irrational hatred of President Obama.

Voter intimidation by the Black Panthers really! What about voter intimidation by the police stationed and heavily minority precincts? What about voter suppression by Republican precinct personal who try to get those legally registered to vote kicked off of the voter rolls? Specifically what drug laws in CA are not being enforced, and has anyone question the representatives on a state and local level?

Please, extremist don't care about the laws of this land, they only look for excuses to hate and to act/react violently.

[LMPE]

We all saw Palin's campaign rallies on the news. Her lemming-like followers were calling for violence against Obama.

[JulieSA]

No they weren't. Myth. Even the Secret Service says so.

[JeffmChicago]

Stop being in denial or just stop blatantly lying?

[Digeeedad]

You are SO wrong!

http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1143998965&cid=4

http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/1601

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRqcfqiXCX0