[lbo-talk] Leftist "hate": letter to NYT

[David Green]

The article "Neo-Nazi Father Is Killed; Son, 10, Steeped in Beliefs, Is Accused" 
(May 10th) states: "Mr. Hall was a rising force in the party, which has 
capitalized on a tide of anti-immigrant sentiment to attract members — young 
racist skinheads, aging Ku Klux Klan members, and extremists on the left and the 
right."
 
The reporter offers no evidence of anyone involved with neo-Nazis who could be 
construed as a leftist. I fear that the includsion of the word "left" indicates 
a tendency to assume that extremism on the right must be "balanced" with 
references to the left, even in a context which clearly has nothing to do with 
those who identify as liberals, progressives, anarchists, socialists, or even 
Communists.
 
This gratuitous fabrication tells the reader more about the journalist's view of 
the political spectrum than about the politics of those who openly hate.
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/us/11nazi.html