Feds say militia groups aren't huge threat but there is still a lot of hate

Some  good news, sort of.  Authorities have managed to get indictments against nine of the so-called “Hutaree” militia group in Michigan for various charges  including seditious conspiracy and attempted use of weapons of mass destruction. But the FBI does not believe that the recent arrests against the group, which allegedly conspired to attack police, does not signal an increase in anti-government and hate groups.

A federal intelligence report obtained by The Associated Press indicated the likelihood of violence from  the Michigan or other groups is low. That no violence erupted upon the arrests of the Christian militia members or something similar to the 1993 Branch Davidian standoff near Waco also lowered  the chances for such conflict, say federal authorities.

Still, a lot of animus exists out there against the government in general and the fact we have a black president specifically. The latter has to be particularly galling to the many hate groups that have littered the landscape for many years.

The Southern Poverty Law Center’s “Hate Map” shows 66 such groups alone in the Lone Star State, where I live. Several of these, mostly comprised of Klan members, are rooted in my community. The scope of such groups as defined by the SPLC, which monitors domestic hate groups, are somewhat wide-ranging. Included in the SPLC definition of hate groups along with Klans are anti-immigration, the black separatist Nation of Islam and the controversial Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints which live in a compound in Eldorado, Texas.

Government can sometimes placate anger while other pissed-off people might eventually mellow, especially in times of national unity. But there seems to be no one easy fix for hate. It’s the latter we need to keep in our minds and on our radar screens.