NBC finally runs the interview, with a big dollop up front of the "Narrative of 1995."

What? You didn't know McVeigh was representative of "militia thinking"? You're right. He wasn't. But that fact doesn't stop NBC-13 from being SPLC's megaphone.

Go here.

Mike
III

LATER: OK, I was exhausted last night when I put this up but with a rocky night of interrupted sleep behind me, here's some of my thoughts.

The bias of the reporter, who I never met, by the way, is obvious. I was interviewed by the producer. She asked some of the obligatory questions (such as "Are you a racist?") but she was also far more fair minded. I was amazed that they let me fully answer some questions and the final interview ran to about 50 minutes. The result was better than I anticipated, For no reasons other than there is a built-in bias based on the received wisdom of the press (almost all of whom believe the Narrative of 1995 as if it were religion -- "What SPLC says MUST be true. They're in my Rolodex."), and the fact that ALL reporters are essentially intellectually lazy and have an attention span of 2.4 nanoseconds, this piece was destined to turn out the way it did. However, it could have been worse.

The contrived statistic -- "244% rise in militia groups" -- which Potok pulled out of his ass is typical of the Southern Preposterous Lie Center's modus operandi. From year to year there's ALWAYS a "244% rise" because SPLC desperately needs to be needed if the cash is to continue flowing. The truth is that there has been a far greater rise in both numbers of Constitutional Militia participation (individuals and groups) as well as neighborhood defense organizations here in Alabama. The actual number of groups listed by SPLC is laughable, including as it does Oath Keepers and the John Birch Society. It is not even logically consistent, given the JBS' long-time allergy to citizens' militias. But whenever SPLC says ANYTHING you must remember to ask the Bard's question: "Who hath measured the ground?"

Unfortunately, none of my comments on their lack of veracity made it into the piece (are we really surprised?) and although at the moment I have only a ten-minute segment that does cover that subject which Zoe took on our camera before the memory chip ran out, I will try to download it and post it here later today (if I can figure out how to work the damn thing). -- MBV

ADDENDUM from Irregular JT

Hey Mike,

Just FYI. I broke down the interview in regard to time given to you vs. SPLC. Raw data attached.

General Summary

Pro Patriot or III’per: 34%
Pro SPLC/right wing nut talk: 57%
Neutral: 9%
Total: 100%