Mr. Potok has no legal or law enforcement background and admits that all of his data are second hand, at best, and that his infamous Hate Map “does not include original reporting by SPLC staff.” The SPLC is a private fundraising group run by white millionaires. It has no mandate, receives no outside oversight and has no authority, legal or moral, to designate anything.
You can imagine where things might go from there, given that sort of heretically straightforward language, and they do.
I'll vet it some more, but this may well be a very valuable resource for calmly answering the questions of those who continue to suffer under the impression that the SPLC is anything other than what it claims to stand against. Based on the "about" article, I'm hopeful in this regard.
We'll see; it would certainly be good to have such a resource to look to, since--sadly--the need is there.
Deep tip of the hat to perennial SPLC target Mike Vanderboegh.
1 comment:
Kevin, I just wanted to thank you for your kind comments on my Watching the Watchdogs blog.
Your words of encouragement are greatly appreciated and there is no greater feeling than knowing that somebody else out there "gets it."
I study communication, focusing on persuasion in particular, including advertising, public relations and propaganda. For someone in my line, you cannot find a better example of all of the above than the SPLC. It's one-stop-shopping at its best.
Persuasion works in one of two basic ways, the theory goes. The first appeals to logic: "Brand X is superior to Brand Y because of Factors A, B and C."
The SPLC relies on the second approach, that of emotion: "Brand Y = Hitler." It's completely illogical, but the SPLC has the hundreds of millions of dollars in cash on hand to prove that it works.
My work focuses on the logical side of the SPLC's business model and how their numbers just don't add up. You don't have to dig very deeply to find the evidence as 99% of it comes right from the SPLC's own web site and publications.
I cite all of my sources and encourage everyone to examine the primary sources for themselves and come to their own conclusions.
Fortunately for the SPLC, cognitive dissonance ensures that no matter how many facts you lay before some people's feet they are always going to opt for the emotional tripe and continue to reach for that almighty checkbook.
Anyhow, I don't represent any group or ideology than my own, and I'm certainly not making any money from this. The SPLC, on the other hand, is a very successful, very lucrative business. Period.
Thank you again for your comments. If you found the post on the all-white executive suite useful you may find the previous post on the SPLC's "hate map" fundraising tool equally as informative.
Best regards,
Richard Keefe
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