There's an interesting reference to Berlet in this article by Alexander Cockburn, an effective writer. He seems to be making an argument that runs parallel to the critiques of Berlet here at the Review.

Parallel, my ass. He has simply noticed the same obvious stuff that we did (and yes, I did) a LOOOONG time ago.

The article doesn't mention the ADL, which has also been accused of exaggerating, or even fomenting, hate crimes in order to gear up fundraising.

As for Morris Dees, I am proud to say that an acquaintance of mine, a black preacher in Montgomery who ran for office in 1992, had his picture in the Montgomery Advertiser, marching up and down in front of the SPLC office, holding a sign that read "Morris Dees is a Sheet-Head."

What gets me: I had forgotten that Chip was enough of a pest on WP
to earn him a subforum.

Just be glad that Dees isn't editing WP articles dealing with racist groups.
(Or is he?.......)

Well, of course they don't. Criticize the ADL and you'll immediately have the antisemitism card played against you. Even if you're Jewish they won't hesitate to call you a self-hating Jew and maybe even closet holocaust-denier Jew. They're completely shameless about use of that weapon. So people generally just don't want to go there, or confuse things with that.

The Berlets of this world play the ADL game right along in parallel with them. The way to raise any money from anybody in world, is basically the same, from religion to advertising:

1) Convince them there's a horrible problem, just down the road.
2) Convince them you have the answer to his horrible problem, and
3) Of course you can't do it without support.

If a group isn't paranoid, make them paranoid. Convince them their neighbors will think less of them if they see underarm wetness or spots on their drinking glasses. And (even better) if you can identify a group of already paranoid people with money, it's just a matter of finding out which paranoid buttons you have to push, in order to part them from it. Thus, if the entire South needs to be full of skinheads and crackers just waiting to launch a second holocaust, why then let it be so. Subscribe to our newsletter, and we'll tell you all about it. A nest of Hilter Youth right here, under your own noses, and you'd never have guessed. The local sheriff (think Rod Steiger) is their leader, by night. Go very far from Brooklyn, and that's what you find in any small town.....

And here's the irony: The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street, all right. But some of the monsters are people from the big city who who spend all their time warning about how witchhunts are about to break out on every little Maple Street. Indeed, almost any place other than the Big City, is going to be Salem. See The Crucible. Quick! We need to send some Liberals down there to save the rednecks from themselves!

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