the number of extremist or right-wing patriot groups surged from 149 in 2008 to 512 in 2009. In a population of over 300 million, that is still a tiny minority. The study has received little press in America -- The Times did not cover it, and the The Washington Post ran wire copy, in all likelihood because the phenomenon of the rise in extremist groups has already been well covered by both papers.
The report is actually interesting not in how it documents the explosion in extremist groups, unhelpfully defined as "common-law courts, publishers, ministries and citizens' groups" and espousing any number of ideologies. Rather, the report is instructive in its breakdown of the geographic distribution of these groups. Here's their map:
Click to Zoom In
Blue state New Jersey has 44 groups, more than any other Southern red state in the south except Texas and Florida. Swing states Ohio and Pennsylvania have more than Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana. The flavors of these extremist groups will vary by region, but the map points to a phenomenon of anti- government/immigrant/tax sentiment divided equally among red and blue states and across political boundaries. We can see this reflected in the demographics of the two individuals who recently attacked the IRS and the Pentagon: the former was a failed businessman who grew up in Harrisburg and lived in Austin, the latter grew up in California and studied physics.
It is certainly troubling that more of these groups are emerging -- and emerging all over-- even if their overall numbers remain small. From the European perspective, though, taking the broad strokes painted by the Center's study at face value will only serve to reinforce cliches that a majority of Americans somehow demonstrate a propensity toward wingnutism.
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