The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) hasn't been worth taking seriously in years. Decades even. Yet, this group still has the nerve to call out mainstream conservative groups for supposed "hate" while it works with the FBI to target Catholics. Even one of its own attorneys faced charges of domestic terrorism at a protest against police officers in Atlanta just a few months ago. The group still has the nerve to lecture the rest of us on "hate" and "extremism," though.
On Tuesday, the SPLC released its latest report, "2022 THE YEAR IN HATE AND EXTREMISM COMES TO MAIN STREET."
Ironically, regarding the organization's mobilization efforts put together in 2022, the report claims, "SPLC has deep expertise in monitoring — and holding to account — the Ku Klux Klan, the neo-Nazi movement, racist skinheads, antigovernment militias and other domestic hate groups and extremists." The report then states the SPLC does "this as part of our work to defend and advance a multiracial, inclusive democracy. The challenges are formidable; we must cast white supremacy out of the mainstream and prevent the violent and racist harms these extremists unleash in our streets, our churches, synagogues and mosques and our schools."
That same paragraph touts its supposed successes, boasting how its "investigative reporting led the national media in exposing extremist activity and influence. Our analysts helped policymakers, including the bipartisan House January 6 Special Committee investigation, hold hate perpetrators accountable." Meanwhile, there are those rightfully calling for the SPLC to no longer be taken seriously.
The SPLC is gaining particular attention after it designated Florida-based Moms for Liberty as an "extremist group," thus equating them with the KKK and neo-Nazis. "At the forefront of this mobilization is Moms for Liberty, a Florida-based group with vast connections to the GOP that this year the SPLC designated as an extremist group," the report states.
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The report slams Moms for Liberty, throws a tantrum about "Locally Driven Right-Wing Mobilization," and smears and maligns parental groups. The report predictably began by referencing January 6 and Donald Trump, and here, too, it seeks to connect such groups with those at the Capitol:
In the aftermath of Trump’s election loss and the insurrection at the Capitol, the right shifted tactics: Without Trump at the helm, activists have made a concerted effort to organize in the local arena, pursuing their agenda in venues where it is easier to gain power.
Schools, especially, have been on the receiving end of ramped-up and coordinated hard-right attacks, frequently through the guise of “parents’ rights” groups. These groups were, in part, spurred by the right-wing backlash to COVID-19 public safety measures in schools. But they have grown into an anti-student inclusion movement that targets any inclusive curriculum that contains discussions of race, discrimination and LGBTQ identities.
At the forefront of this mobilization is Moms for Liberty, a Florida-based group with vast connections to the GOP that this year the SPLC designated as an extremist group. They can be spotted at school board meetings across the country wearing shirts and carrying signs that declare, “We do NOT CO-PARENT with the GOVERNMENT.” The group hijacks meetings, preventing officials and parents from conducting their normal proceedings. “I can be sitting in a meeting minding my own business, and they turn around and scream at me that I am a commie and teachers want to see all kids fail,” a teacher’s union president in Brevard County, Florida, explained to a Washington Post reporter.
The report further smears groups like Moms for Liberty by calling to mind the Civil Rights movement, in a less than flattering way:
Galvanizing supporters around supposed “parental rights” and “family values” is nothing new – similar rallying cries were adopted by those who opposed school desegregation during the civil rights movement and by the Moral Majority of the 1980s. These political slogans have been used repeatedly because they are effective, framing the organizing of far-right activists as something done solely out of real concern for children.
As so many leftists are prone to do, the report doesn't exactly provide all the necessary context about one of the books the SPLC is defending, specifically "Gender Queer," which is described as "a memoir about adolescence by a non-binary author, and others that explore sexuality and gender identity."
The sexually explicit book is pornographic in nature, with graphic depictions of oral sex. When Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) was "exposing the book ban hoax," which included this book, local news stations had to cut their feed due to the explicit nature.
Toward the end of the report is a "Looking Forward" section. Although the report was released on June 6, it contains outdated information, such as how DeSantis is described as a "potential presidential hopeful," even though he officially declared on May 24.
Those responding to the report included the account for Moms for Liberty itself, which brought to mind past concerns about the SPLC, as well as how the Biden administration has been targeting parents who have been bold enough to speak out. The report conveniently leaves out criticism of the Biden administration.
Last year the Biden White House worked with the NSBA to label Parents Domestic Terrorists.
— Moms for Liberty (@Moms4Liberty) June 7, 2023
Today, the SPLC labels our organization - an org full of moms who care about their kids - a Hate Group.
This is a coordinated attempt to silence and suppress us.
We see it and we are…
Guy perhaps put it best in his tweet where he shared reporting from The Daily Signal's Tyler O'Neil, as he called the SPLC "an embarrassing joke" and said it "should not be cited seriously by news organizations."
The SPLC is an embarrassing joke & should not be cited seriously by news organizations. Those who do are telling on themselves. https://t.co/qtKr7hb7y8
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) June 6, 2023
That could very well extend to Congress if the Family Research Council (FRC) gets its way. The group was targeted in 2012 by a shooter who learned about the organization and its opposition to same-sex marriage through the SPLC. An FRC tweet shared President Tony Perkins' call in May for the SPLC to be investigated, urging the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government to investigate the group.
The SPLC has once again included parental rights groups on its "hate list." Urge the @Weaponization committee to investigate the use of this discredited org as a reliable source. https://t.co/Ce83L1HP7d https://t.co/RBiJ985IbS
— Family Research Council (@FRCdc) June 7, 2023
Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), one of the members of the select subcommittee, has tweeted about the SPLC designating Moms for Liberty as one of its "extremist groups."
Any candidate, elected official, or federal agency that cites the SPLC as a legitimate resource should be summarily dismissed and ridiculed.
— Rep. Mike Johnson (@RepMikeJohnson) June 6, 2023
SPLC is an extremist organization aimed at crushing the First Amendment rights of those with whom they disagree.https://t.co/HRlUdt1A4w
Regarding protecting parental rights, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who chairs the House Judiciary Committee and the select subcommittee, sent a letter on Tuesday to White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients.
The letter indicated he is expanding an investigation to find out if there was a coordinated effort by the Biden administration to target parents as domestic terrorists. The letter requests more documents and threatens subpoenas if the request is not complied with by June 20.
🚨 #BREAKING: @Jim_Jordan Expands Investigation into Biden Targeting Parents at School Board Meetings pic.twitter.com/6MzcXsBB3D
— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) June 6, 2023
