You wonder what took so long. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which labels any group or person even a smidgen to the right of Al Sharpton a “racist,” “hater” or “right-wing extremist,” is now terrorizing those who indirectly fund “hate groups.”

Last week, World Net Daily reported that SPLC is moving against websites through which the “hate groups” can sell products, such as Amazon, or pay for them, such as Paypal.

SPLC has published a screed called “Financing Hate,” which targets those big businesses. Unsurprisingly, Amazon has said it would appoint “appropriate teams to investigate, review applicable policies, and take appropriate action.” It doesn’t take much imagination to know what SPLC thinks the “appropriate action” should be.

Happily, however, William Gheen, of Americans for Legal Immigration, has had enough. SPLC has called ALIPAC a “hate group,” upgrading it from “nativist extremist,” and so Gheen has informed SPLC it is in for a legal battle.

“This letter is to inform you that we have Internet posts and emails containing threats and death threats against my life and the lives of my family members in reaction to your false claims that we are a hate group. The threats we have received specifically cite SPLC claims that suggest we are somehow motivated by racism and advocating violence against minorities, both of which are demonstrably false.”

“The SPLC is fully aware that ALIPAC has openly and eagerly worked with minority organizations and leaders. The SPLC is fully aware that I have a background in registering and transporting minority and student voters and working to elect women and minorities to public office in the ’90s. The SPLC is fully aware that we never intentionally work with any racist or violent groups or individuals, and you are aware that we have publicly spoken out against racism and racist groups and individuals on numerous occasions. …

“Let this letter serve as your official notice of all of the factors I’ve listed here including your official notice that your designation of ALIPAC as hate group, while no evidence exists that anyone in our organization has ever engaged in racism, hate, or violence against minorities, has crossed the line of civil discourse and is now directly encouraging people to threaten violence against me and my family. …

“Now, you are attempting to mislead our donations company PayPal by telling them that we are one of 91 ‘Hate Groups’ using their services in the hopes they will stop allowing us to accept donations which pale in comparison to your multimillion-dollar yearly budget.

“Let this letter serve as notice to each of you at the Southern Poverty Law Center including Morris Dees, Mark Potok, and Heidi Beirich that I personally intend to hold you each legally responsible and personally responsible for any physical harm that befalls me, my organization, or my family due to your intentional lies and distortions.

“Furthermore, we are going to hold you accountable for any lost services or funds that result in your attempt to muddy the waters around our peaceful, political, racially inclusive, and law abiding organization.”

In other words, Gheen is going to sue the leftist outfit, which also put ALIPAC at the top of its list of hate groups in North Carolina on its “hate map.” Gheen has the right idea. Also filing suit should be the many others this malevolent organization has defamed and either ruined or tried to ruin with flatly defamatory claims.

Happily, no one has attacked Gheen’s family or home. The Family Research Council wasn’t so lucky. Floyd Lee Corkins, a homosexual activist, used the SPLC’s hate designation for that group to justify going to FRC headquarters and opening fire.