Sunday, January 27, 2013

Another study to ignore

The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point has a new study.
Is it worth the paper it's printed on?
At 148 pages, probably not. Unless you like recaps of the history of the KKK.
They look at "far-right terrorism" over the past 20 years. With the help of the Southern Poverty Law Center, they claim 350 attacks by "far-right groups" in 2011.
We haven't heard much about such attacks, and in our media environment I'm sure victims and their families would be featured prominently - if the attacks were a major concern.
From the study, the most dangerous places - California and New York.
When I think far right, I don't think of those two states.
After talking about the history of the KKK most of the study, they talk about states where the KKK is strongest now. And it's not where the "far-right" attacks have been recently.
Most attacks were by single people, and 35 percent were under age of 20.
Most of the attacks were classified as "vandalism."
When some see "far right attacks," it's easy to see just juvenile delinquent behavior.
If you think conservatives ideas spark violent behavior - or wish to tie them to violence - the study pushes your agenda.
If you think some political groups want to lump conservatives with "far-right" for their advantage, you can easily dismiss this study. We've seen these claims before and slapped them down.

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