I used to be annoyed by people who didn't join my organization, but I see the advantage now. Forget looking for a new generation of leaders. The new leadership is the ideology and the technology itself. There's less of a need for a charismatic leader to propagate the message. There's an alternative route out there.
All hate is local, now.
Levin is particularly worried about the potential impact of Internet- generated hate messages on alienated youth, pointing to the massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., as a graphic example of how the movement's message can shape the hate and anger of teens. It's cool and hip and it gives them a validation for the violence and rage they feel. The ideology they'll pick up later. Meanwhile, there has been a reversal of the trend toward mainstreaming the less overtly racist leaders and issues of the far right fringe of American politics, said Ken Toole, executive director of the Montana Human Rights Network, a civil rights watchdog based in Helena. Part of this trend can be explained by the carnage of the Oklahoma City bombing, which blunted the spread of the militia movement.