Why Is the Southern Poverty Law Center Targeting Liberals?

[Valin]

NY Times

AYAAN HIRSI ALI

AUG. 24, 2017

 

Since the violence in Charlottesville 10 days ago, when white supremacists left one young woman dead and 19 others injured, the Southern Poverty Law Center has hit the jackpot. The Alabama-based nonprofit is set to receive millions of dollars in donations from some of the nation’s deepest of pockets. Apple pledged $1 million. JP Morgan Chase & Co.: half a million. George and Amal Clooney even got in on the action, promising to donate another $1 million.

Like every other decent American, I was outraged that the president of the United States equivocated in condemning neo-Nazi activity in this country. Nazism — not to mention white supremacy and racial bigotry — has no place in a civilized society.

 

But is donating money to the S.P.L.C. the best way to combat this poison? I think not. If Tim Cook and Jamie Dimon had done their due diligence, they would know that the S.P.L.C. is an organization that has lost its way, smearing people who are fighting for liberty and turning a blind eye to an ideology and political movement that has much in common with Nazism.

I am a black woman, a feminist and a former Muslim who has consistently opposed political violence. The price for expressing my beliefs has been high: I must travel with armed security at all times. My friend and collaborator Theo van Gogh was murdered in broad daylight.

Yet the S.P.L.C. has the audacity to label me an “extremist,” including my name in a “Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Extremists” that it published on its website last October.

In that guide, the S.P.L.C. claims that I am a “propagandist far outside the political mainstream” and warns journalists to avoid my “damaging misinformation.” These groundless smears are deeply offensive, as I have dedicated much of my adult life to calling out the true extremists: organizations such as Al Qaeda and ISIS. Yet you will look in vain for the S.P.L.C.’s “Field Guide to Muslim Extremists.” No such list exists.

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

Hate group hits jackpot

Scott Johnson

August 26 2017

 

The ludicrously misnamed Southern Poverty Law Center has become a scam operating as a left-wing hate cult. The SPLC specializes in directing something far beyond the Orwellian Two Minutes Hate to the likes of Charles Murray and Ayaan Hirsi Ali and others it designates for opprobrium as “extremists” or a “hate group.” Where once was Emmanuel Goldstein and his followers is now Murray, Ali and a host of others guilty of thoughtcrime.

Earlier this year Charles Murray responded to the SPLC’s libel of him in “Charles Murray’s SPLC page as edited by Charles Murray.” This week Ms. Ali took to the New York Times to ask why the SPLC is hating on her and her friends.

If there is such a thing as a “hate group,” the SPLC is it. Indeed, I think it can safely be declared “Our leading hate group.”

Among recent columns that have nailed this outfit are Mark Pulliam’s “A demagogic bully” and “Provocateur journalism.”. Going back to 2014, a good 2014 Washington Times editorial adds to the picture.

In the column linked above Ms. Ali notes that the SPLC has hit the jackpot in the aftermath of the violence in Charlottesville that left one woman dead and 19 injured. It “is set to receive millions of dollars in donations” from Apple, JPMorgan Chase and others. John noted Apple’s $1 million pledge to the SPLC; Apple will also match employee donations to the SPLC on a two-for-one basis. John wrote about Apple’s pledge last week here.

 

(Snip)