query: does anyone know the DEFINITIVE % of us population that is KKK or

[Lerkfish]

other racist groups? I can find links to the number of groups (which is amazing in and of itself), but so far havent' seen any statistical numbers vs. US population.

I'm wondering if it is anywhere close to the backwash 29% of bush loyalists.

[bluerum]

1. Ok, everyone with a white hood on raise your hand up high. nt

[Lerkfish]

2. LOL! valid point.

but hopefully SOMEONE has an estimate.

[LiberalArkie]

3. I would think it a very small percentage, however

those that believe that the top down economics is the best way, would probably come close to 25% of the population. By this I mean those that really think that "if the very top of the ladder get economic breaks, that they will create new jobs and reinvest the money.

However I believe that if you give money to people at the bottom, they almost immediately have to spend it on food, clothes housing etc. If you look back when things were good, that is what the feds were doing with welfare, aid to dependant children, etc.
If someone under welfare got their check and decided to spended it on booze (OMG we need to stop welfare). The liquor store owner might hire someone to help in the store. The new employee might need a new car. The car dealer might hire a new salesman. etc.

I look back at when (in Clinton's term) all that was brought to a screeching halt. And for some reason a little bit later our economy started hurting.

[Lerkfish]

4. RUN! ITS THE CLENIS!

funny how everything is clinton's fault.

:crazy:

[LiberalArkie]

6. Not saying it was Clinton's fault, just that the move to get people

off welfare and into jobs occured during his term. It was probably the best thing for the people, but the worst for the economy from my point of view.. I am so liberal that Bill Clinton is an ultra right winger. <G>

[bobbolink]

11. Looking at reality is now RW??

Amazing the thought processes here.

[bobbolink]

12. Thanks for bringing up what happened to people because of Welfare

Deform!

I'm so tired of Clinton cheerleading wiping out what happened to people who were abandoned!

Thank you! :hi:

[gulliver]

5. All the Bush backwash isn't KKK, but all the KKK is Bush backwash.

There are probably a significant number of Bush die-hards who are not in the klan. But you can bet just about every klan member is a Bush die-hard. Karl Rove probably has the best numbers on it. You notice you will never, ever hear Bush denounce racism in any forceful way.

[LiberalArkie]

7. Do you remember back when Clinton took office and then Waco occured,

that Clinton was going to bring in the "One World Government", take away all the guns, set up U.S. concentration camps etc. I wonder where those people are now. What do they think of what's happening now?

[gulliver]

8. I remember.

Those folks ought to be really worried about what Bush has done by increasing government surveillance, detention, and interrogation powers. I doubt they are bright enough to pick up on it, though. Karl Rove's assumption about their intelligence is probably solid.

Registered Republican Timothy McVeigh was undeniably a terrorist. He committed the second worst act of terrorism ever on U.S. soil. He had all that contact with all those "militias." That part of the Bush base is directly threatened by Bush's politically motivated, gratuitous expansion of government powers. Maybe they have gotten a clue; maybe not. It's an interesting question, though.

[Infomaniac]

9. KKK Membership

Wikipedia's article on hate groups is a good start. It has some links to external resources that may get you some numbers. I would also check the website for the Southern Poverty Law Center, which I know monitors hate groups. My guess is somewhere between 2% to 5% of the population subscribe to the belief system promoted by the ultra-right. People sympathetic to the whackos are a somewhat higher number. These wingnuts definitely form part of the Right's base.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_groups

Hmmm. Did some further checking. This somewhat dated article reports Klan and hate group active membership to be much lower than I thought.

"After its peak membership in the 1920s, the Klan became a smaller, more fragmented group with a dwindling membership. "They don't dominate the nativist movement today," says Flint. The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that today there are only 5,000 Klan members nationwide, while 17,000 people belong to almost 500 other hate groups."

http://www.rps.psu.edu/0105/patterns.html

[treestar]

10. Actual KKK membership would be only the most active extremists

but people who think that way or silently agree with them might consist of the backwash.

[Lerkfish]

13. good point!

[Donald Ian Rankin]

14. Somewhere around 0.0012%, I think

Wikipedia estimates 3000 members stateswide.