The Big Bad ADL? Pfft...

I don't get it.

You know what my reaction was to seeing the thread about the ADL issuing some report about finding some "hate speech" on the internet?

Pfft!

Know what my reaction is to the ADL issuing a press release about whatever bogeyman they are going after this week?

Pfft!

Know what my reaction was to the ADL issuing a press release that they are happy with Obama's statements that there is still support for Israel?

Pfft!

Seriously people, other than violating some copyright rules (hence the DMCA notice sent out) how is what they did any different than someone coming into a thread and disagreeing with you with a different opinion?

They're going to influence governments?
They're going to influence police or military?

They're going to influence... anybody?

Do a google news search on "ADL" or worse, use the report title with it: "ADL Anti-Government Extremism"... go ahead type that into google.

WOW!!! look at all three pages of returned links and who is reporting on the story

Then just type "ADL" into google and take a good look around.

Know what?

I don't think anybody cares nor does anybody seem to be paying attention. Giant Yawn. As it should be.

Except of course the people foaming at the mouth (the usuals suspects by the way) about how evil they are and how they somehow run the world or something.

The big bad ADL?

They are a fringe group. Just like Stormfront or the Klan are fringe groups on the other end of the spectrum.

I give them no more credence nor do I pay them any more attention than I would to what I had for breakfast three years ago on the second Saturday of February (and it looks like I'm not alone according to the above news search.)

The only groups who have any kind of power over you are those YOU give power to by how you react to them. This is classic "rope a dope" tactics and I see people falling for it.

In the grand scheme of things they just don't count.

So, quit playing victim and quit playing into their hands by "declaring war" on them. Without an enemy they have no reason to exist.

Besides they are just as free to see bogymen everywhere they look just like any other mentally challenged and psychotic individual we pay no attention to.

Or am I missing something?
.

[edit on 26 Apr 10 by Gools]

So you think the only purpose of the report is baiting?

It might be, but why involve ATS?

pffft..
and second pfft.. i agree with both pfft's and i agree with this part the most.

"The only groups who have any kind of power over you are those YOU give power to by how you react to them. This is classic "rope a dope" tactics and I see people falling for it. "


[edit on 26-4-2010 by baddmove]

Here is a reply on SO's thread. It seems the ADL is not so innocuous as one would assume.

post by 1SawSomeThings

A snippet-

ADL Trains Over 2,000 Law Enforcement Officers in October Posted: November 17, 2009 Experts with the Anti-Defamation League provided a series of trainings on extremism to over 2,000 law enforcement professionals nationwide during the month of October 2009. Experts presented information on hate crimes, right-wing extremism and the threat posed by those motivated by radical interpretations of Islam.

So, my question is, if the ADL is training LEO's in extremism, maybe their reports and their rhetoric is not so innocent.

Thanks 1SawSomeThings for the info.

Originally posted by Grey Magic
It might be, but why involve ATS?

Easy pickings?

Originally posted by endisnighe
... if the ADL is training LEO's in extremism,...

Interesting.

Why do LEOs need training from a .org group?

Who approves such things and what is being done to put a stop to it?

Again, by acquiescing to this fringe group's activities they are being allowed to flourish.

They have no power unless you concede it to them.
.

[edit on 26 Apr 10 by Gools]

While you may consider them a fringe organization, a quick read here shows that they are heavily embedded within the law and policy makers of the US:

law.jrank.org

...The ADL is divided into numerous groups and departments. The Civil Rights Division is the most prominent wing of the organization, as it has investigated and exposed anti-Semitism and bigotry. The division's research department has become a central source of information on organized bigotry, collecting and analyzing racist, anti-Semitic, terrorist, and extremist literature. The department issues an annual Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents that serves as a reliable measurement tool of anti-Semitic trends. The Civil Rights Division's fact-finding department uses investigative journalists to track the activities of extremist groups. For example, this department tracked neo-Nazi skinhead activity in 33 countries and issued the first major survey on this movement.

The Civil Rights Division's legal affairs department serves as the ADL's advocate in court and before legislatures. The department's attorneys file briefs, analyze proposed bills and regulations, draft model laws, and prepare testimony and legal reports for ADL staff. The department's model HATE CRIMES law has been adopted by almost four-fifths of the states and has been upheld as constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in State v. Mitchell, 508 U.S. 476, 113 S.Ct. 2194, 124 L.Ed.2d 436 (1993). In addition, the department works with local attorneys in the ADL's thirty regional offices.

The ADL's Braun Holocaust Institute, established in 1977, serves as a centralized information center on the Holocaust. The institute encourages public and religious schools to teach about the Holocaust by providing curricula for elementary and high school students. It has also organized teacher-training workshops and seminars to help teachers incorporate Holocaust studies into mainstream disciplines. The institute's collection of Holocaust-related materials is recognized as one of the best in the world. In addition, the institute publishes Dimensions: A Journal of Holocaust Studies, a general interest magazine on the Holocaust, and resource guides, catalogs, and background primers.

The Government and National Affairs Office in Washington, D.C., serves as the ADL's lobbyist, promoting the legislative agenda of the organization. The office worked with Congress to establish a congressional task force against anti-Semitism. The ADL has also led a broad coalition of civil rights, religious, and law enforcement groups in support of federal hate crime initiatives. In addition, the ADL has fought against federal school voucher programs and has sought to increase workplace protection for employees who wish to observe their religious duties...

Not quite fringe in my opinion, and begs the question...

Who is running the show at the ADL these days?


I downloaded the 2008 annual report to see what their report looked like, it offers some explanations of the efforts of the ADL , some financial numbers, and found this snippet from the final page:

2008 PDF file

The Internet, while a tremendous boon, offers dissemination and recruiting
tools to extremists and terrorists that must be mitigated. That’s why ADL monitors the Internet and pioneered the counteraction of online hate. But, with your help, ADL will develop new, practical methods that respect the First Amendment. We have already created a model law to prevent cyberbullying — a form of online harassment now epidemic among young people.

On face value the above seems reasonable, but the revelations of their recent efforts has to give one pause as to what their actual motive and desires are under the guise of protecting the First Amendment..

So we should fear them or take them seriously?

They have legitimacy?

I guess I should watch what I say now?
.

people can have whatever opinion of the ADL want and apparently, for many, it's not a good one (though it seems this is chiefly because of this report fiasco).

but why wouldn't law enforcement utilize the ADL for information on "extremism?" it is part of their raison d'etre. because they issued a report that many of us don't like and because some of us feel like their attacking our friends doesn't mean they are incapable of carrying out their mission.

of course, you may determine this report is evidence for why they suck so bad and can be trusted to do nothing right ... and that's your prerogative. but who else shall we turn to for this kind of training? law enforcement, itself? ha, we know that's a joke. the government?

i personally don't really like any private group, particularly one with clear and stated bias having jurisdiction over training law enforcement. but it happens.

but the ADL did not break any laws (in this particular report incident) that i am aware of. so i don't find they are suddenly incapable of any sort of credence in any possible subject.

again, i think the reaction to this report has been way overblown, even though i agree with many of the criticisms of the actual report.

also, i could be wrong, but i don't believe the ADL is accountable to us. we had our feeling hurt and want revenge, but they're not necessarily going to find that significant ... unless there's a overlap between ADL financial supporters and the membership of ATS ... and, of course, that seems unlikely.

yes, the ADL exists and it has influence. but one can give them power that they don't really deserve. sometimes i've wondered if that's not their modus operandi anyhow.

also, i'm probably canceling out the power by offensively asking for it, but no one has ever called me a "shill" or "disinfo agent" on ats, yet. i was imagining that the hullaballoo over this report and my anti-popular opinion of it would surely herald that status. so, bring it on.

removing post.

[edit on 26-4-2010 by Crimson_King]

Originally posted by Gools
They're going to influence... anybody?

Perhaps.

Attorney General Eric Holder JR. to Address ADL Conference in Washington, DC

ADL leaders from across the country will gather for briefings from key government leaders, policymakers, ambassadors and opinion-makers during the ADL Shana Amy Glass National Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. Among the issues on the agenda are anti-Semitism, incivility in America, the Iranian nuclear threat, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and more.

The timing of this "hit-piece" on Internet users who express passionate political opinions online appears to be such that it may be bound-and-printed as hand outs at the event. "Studies" such as this are very typical of the material one would find at a table full of similar stuff that attendees may take for later consumption.

In addition, we have these sessions, "open to the media," at the event:
Monday, 10:30 AM - Wired World: Federal Action Against 21st Century Hate
Monday, 1:00 PM - Restoring Civility to Passionate, Partisan, Political Debate
Monday, 2:30 PM - Tea Parties and America's Changing Political Landscape

The first is organized by the ADL Internet Task Force and most-certainly will include the "findings" in this "report." The session also includes a key speaker, Mark Kappelhoff, Chief, Criminal Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice. The other two sessions are also prime topics for the "report."

Imagine, in this context with Washington policy-makers (or their aids) in attendance, the misconstrued and out-of-context words of ATS members being used on a Power Point slide to demonize our members and web site.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


Thanks for the respone.

Clearly the ADL may have more influence than I was aware of. Why this is so is beyond me.

Call me naive, but I still don't understand where they get their legitimacy on these issues.

It seems that their agenda and biases are crystal clear to anybody with two brain cells sparking together so why would they carry so much weight with the general public, Washington and the police?

Oh.

Wait.

Ok.

I'm still left perplexed though as to why the mainstream press hasn't picked-up this "report"? I don't watch television so maybe I missed it.
.

reply to post by Gools


I brought it up in OS thread in regards to this issue.

Let us say you are a politician (sorry for the analogy, you can imagine taking a shower after that can't you:lol and you want to vilify your opponent. Will you do it directly? Of course not, you will use one of your subordinates.

The government of the US does the same thing. They have learned that when the DHS memos came out that it makes them look bad.

The ADL and other entities are government, they are just kept subordinate or separate from themselves so that the monkey crap throwing does not rub off on them.

You can actually find statements such as this in other intelligence information.

Of course I could give a # less about what they think of me or what THEY think THEY can do to me. I would be proved innocent if not angry if they ever took me to court.

This has nothing to do with that though. This has to do with vilifying anyone against the agenda of their future control parameters.

If it is as obvious as it is, they are doing it to provide sustenance to their agenda by trying to focus their base, and people that do not know any better.

I still think though that the crazier they become, the more people they lose.