Summary: The number of extremist groups in the United States exploded in 2009 as militias and other groups steeped in wild, anti-government conspiracy theories exploited populist anger across the country and infiltrated the mainstream, according to a report issued today by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on March 3, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that according to some economists, a Depression doesn’t have to be Great, with bread lines, rampant unemployment, and a wipeout in the stock market; the economy can sink into a milder depression — the kind spelled with a lowercase “d” — and it may be happening now.
Summary: The Southern Poverty Law Center released its annual hate group report, titled “The Year in Hate.” The study found the number of hate groups has grown by 54 percent since 2000. The SPLC identified 926 hate groups — defined as groups with beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people — active in 2008.