How Racist Extremists Are Hijacking the GOP

I have maintained for some time now that the GOP is be coming a racist party and that the increased racial animosity is being derived from "pro-family" groups which are not only anti-gay, but also anti-black, anti-Hispanic, anti-immigrant. The list goes on and on. The toxic racist attitude of the pro-family crowd and the professional Christians is really nothing new and can be traced back to well before the 2000 election. However, the combination of the election of Barack Obama as president and increases in the recognition of gay rights seems to have pushed some of the haters over the edge. Hence the Department of Homeland Security's release of a report showing that right wing extremists groups are increasing in numbers. There are some interesting points on this whole issue on a blog called The Loop. Here are some highlights:

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In the past several years, the line between the far right and the racist fringe has blurred. These days, it is hard to distinguish between the two. Cultural conservatives are not just welcoming the wing nuts into their camp, they are making obvious overtures to mobilize them. They are intentionally alienating moderate Republicans. And they are shamelessly regurgitating hateful and dangerous propaganda, most of which originated on the fringe.

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Last week, the Department of Homeland Security released a 10-page report warning the nation’s law enforcement community about fringe groups and attempts they have made to recruit returning U.S. veterans. The report indicates that more than 200 veterans are also a member of various racist groups. DHS, along with the Southern Poverty Law Center, a progressive, nonprofit group that has monitored racist, fringe groups since 1981, say the fringe movement is growing. The number of them crept up to 926 in 2008, compared with 888 in 2007.

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“(Cultural conservatives) are injecting poison into the national dialogue, whether they mean it or not is completely besides the point,” Potok said. “This is not a debate we are having. These are just nuts on the far right, and they are being given an incredibly huge platform. And they are doing a lot to buddy up to the radical fringe.” This radical fringe has not been this active since the militia movement of the '80s and '90s. The last time there was a cultural flare-up like this, we ended up with Waco, the Oklahoma City bombing and Timothy McVeigh and Eric Rudolph.

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“There were folks like David Duke around back then. The difference between (people like him) and people like Glenn Beck or Bachmann is that (the latter) don’t normally make explicit appeals on a racist basis,” Potok said. “Are they worse? One can definitely make the argument they are worse. With someone like David Duke, no one takes him seriously. But there are a lot of people out there taking Glenn Beck seriously.”

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A few weeks ago, it became very apparent exactly who is taking Beck seriously. In early April, 23-year-old Richard Poplawski, a huge fan of Beck and someone who had been associated with various white supremacy groups, wore a bulletproof vest as he waited for Pittsburgh police officers to enter his home. When they did, he opened fire, killing three of them.

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The conservative movement has grown so far to the right right, they are now kissing cousins with the racist fringe," [Steve] Rendall [of Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting] said. Both Sean Hannity and Beck have routinely had guests who were overtly anti-Semitic and racist. And the fact that the media and the Republican Party are both in shambles right now has exacerbated the affiliation.