Major Le Monde Article Suggests that Tea Partiers and Members of Hate Groups Are of the Same Irrational Stock

Corine Lesnes has a full two-page spread in Le Monde on the hunters of hate, as she admiringly calls the leftists in charge of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Needless to say, the Le Monde articles are all about the valiant efforts of the generous and avant-garde militants of the SPLC against the hate groups and, more generally, the racist and/or the clueless neanderthals of middle America, as she compares today's climate to that in place when a federal building in Oklahoma City was bombed, managing in the process to send a barb against Thomas Jefferson as well (by quoting a phrase of his out of context) and thus against the very founding of the nation (a nation of barbarians).

Lors de son arrestation, Timothy McVeigh portait un tee-shirt marqué d'une phrase de Thomas Jefferson qui figure sur la page Facebook de tous les extrémistes d'aujourd'hui : "L'arbre de la liberté doit être arrosé de temps à autre du sang des patriotes et des tyrans"...

Joseph Roy est le responsable des investigations au Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), une fondation qui traque depuis 1971 tout ce que l'Amérique compte comme extrémistes de droite, "suprémacistes" blancs, skinheads, milices et restes du Ku Klux Klan. Les enquêteurs du SPLC surveillent plusieurs dizaines de milliers de militants d'extrême droite. …

Dans la catégorie "hate groups", le SPLC range le Ku Klux Klan (221 groupes), les néonazis (170 groupes), les nationalistes blancs, les skinheads racistes, les séparatistes blacks, les néoconfédérés, et une nébuleuse de groupes antigays, anti-immigrants, antimusulmans, négationnistes, l'Eglise baptiste de Westboro, qui manifeste lors des funérailles des soldats tués au combat pour dénoncer l'homosexualité, ou les antiavortement qui traquent les médecins, tel Justin Carl Moose, 26 ans, qui s'est décrit comme "l'homologue chrétien d'Oussama Ben Laden". Tous sont obsédés par une cause unique. "C'est une culture, dit Joseph Roy. Ils ne veulent pas vivre avec nous."

What follows in Le Monde is one horror story after another concerning the United Klans of America, the Christian Knights of the KKK, the Aryan Nations, the Imperial Klans of America, etc, etc, etc, as well as other groups that — as we all are aware of — are incessant and ubiquitous in America's daily news cycle and that — as we all cower in our homes — cast a web of fear over America's heartland.

You see where we're getting at, dont'cha? Corine Lesnes is going to cast a wider net, don't you know it…

She goes on to include in the category of "obsessed" people, the anti-immigration "nativists" and the anti-government "patriots" who "like to put on uniforms and play with their guns in the woods". Well, right: basically, it's just about everyone in the United States, not withstanding a few leftists in government and academe whom, if only we would realize our luck, we would all be so grateful for. Just to make sure, Corine Lesnes does not mention that the Tea Party is part of the hate group — although that is clearly where we're headed — and, indeed, her wording of the "denial" is done in a very oblique manner: "The Tea Party is not on the SPLC's listings."

In one sentence alone — out of two full pages — does Corine Lesnes allow for a slight amount of the criticism that conservatives have bestowed on leftist organizations like the SPLC. Which… she immediately proceeds to dismiss with a single sweep.

Les adversaires du Centre lui reprochent de monter la menace en épingle, notamment dans leurs appels à contributions financières. Mais le SPLC est inquiet du climat actuel.