Mark Potok

The radical right was more successful in entering the political mainstream last year than in half a century. How did it happen?

The radical right was more successful in entering the political mainstream last year than in half a century. How did it happen?

This is a report about junk science and some of the people who propagate it. It is not about silly, perhaps amusing theories about ESP or life on the moon or even purported miracle cures for cancer. The “science” examined here actively harms people, leading with grim regularity to suicide, depression and an array of self-destructive behaviors. It demeans, defames and defrauds human beings, typically at their most vulnerable moments. And, as if that weren’t enough, it regularly lays the blame for the alleged malady of homosexuality at the feet of gay people’s parents, despite the fact that they are wholly innocent.

The number of hate and antigovernment ‘Patriot’ groups grew last year, and terrorist attacks and radical plots proliferated.

The so-called “Patriot” or militia movement, which hit the United States in two waves cresting in the 1994-2000 period and again beginning in 2009, is animated by conspiracy theories about the federal government and its alleged intentions to merge the country into a global government ruled by dictatorial, socialistic elites.

The new issue of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Report, released today, details 10 conspiracy theories that originated on the radical right but have made their way into the political mainstream. Enabled in many cases by leading politicians, these theories have the effect of distorting the democratic process.

The new issue of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Report, released today, details 10 conspiracy theories that originated on the radical right but have made their way into the political mainstream. Enabled in many cases by leading politicians, these theories have the effect of distorting the democratic process.

SPLC and Bill O'Reilly: More Dishonesty From the Fox Anchor - Southern Poverty Law Center

Derek Black, son of the former Alabama Klan leader who now runs the largest racist Web forum in the world, has renounced white nationalism, saying that he has been through “a gradual awakening process” and apologizing for his past activism.

Derek Black, son of the former Alabama Klan leader who now runs the largest racist Web forum in the world, has renounced white nationalism, saying that he has been through “a gradual awakening process” and apologizing for his past activism.