today we're live from the gaithersburg book festival in maryland. for a complete schedule from that festival, visit us online at booktv.org. and this weekend on "after words," former supreme court justice john paul stevens talks about his book, "six amendments," which details ways to amend the constitution. tonight senator elizabeth warren talks about her book, "a fighting chance." throughout the weekend booktv visits mobile, alabama, to talk with local authors. and tomorrow night steven pressman recounts a jewish-american couple who rescued 50 children from nazi-controlled vienna in the 19 30s. you can visit us online for this weekend's schedule. >> christopher hewitt discussed domestic terrorism and the united states and its perpetrators. he argues that terrorism has occurred in a series of waves. according to hewitt, terrorism is almost always linked to a

wider social movement. for instance, ku klux klan terrorism in the south was part of a broader pattern of white resistance to the civil rights struggle. black terrorism including killings by the black liberation army was associated with the rise of the black power movement. left-wing terrorism emerged in the context of widespread student opposition to the vietnam war. so terrorism tends to occur after a social movement enjoyed a period of growth and success. so in order to understand domestic terrorism, it must be located within its political and social context. now, hewitt's research suggests that terrorism does not flourish because politicians and opinion leaders pander to extremists. rather, the opposite appears to be true. that is to say extremists are more likely to move to terrorism under hostile governmental administrations. finally, a distinguishing characteristic of political violence in america that hewitt

noted was that a significant proportion of terrorist acts are committed by unaffiliated individuals rather than formal a members of terrorist organizations. although there is a great deal of hostility among the various extremist subcultures, at times their ideologies overlap. some are obvious. for example, environmental and animal liberation activists, they're usually more comfortable in the political left. the far left is more likely to be sympathetic to groups that espouse minority rights, even those that are chauvinistic as in the case of the new black panner in party or chicano nationalists -- black panther party. and even radical islamists. on the other hand, anti-abortion activists are more likely to find a sympathetic milieu in the extreme right and the christian identity movement. >> you can watch this and other

programs online at booktv.org. you're watching booktv on c-span2 with top nonfiction books and authors every weekend. booktv, television for serious readers. >> it's great to hear from my son. we went through a lot. being a father is, it's a hard thing because i don't think we remember what it's like. we don't know -- we forget. and and i have to give him credit, because he, he says, well, i didn't give up on him, but he didn't give up on me either. you know, we were really having a rough time, and even when he was in prison, i remember one time he called and was jumping on me for being such a terrible dad. and i told him, well, okay, son, but you weren't such a good son either. so i thought, you know what?

why don't we just stop this nonsense? i admit i was a terrible dad. let's just stop it. let's just love each other now. let's just change. that's not easy. and when you tell people to change, you can't make that like a panacea, like a magic wand. but you know the struggle to change itself is beautiful, it's healing. even on the hard days. and i see my son, i'm very proud of him because i see what he's gone through. i know the terrible things he's faced, the abuse he had from other guys. he had more neglect from me even though i used to hit him when i shouldn't have hit him, but he had abuse. his poor mom, too, and i want to give her credit because she stood by him. was another struggling young person, and she stepped up. so it's good to hear him. i think one of the things that

helps a lot is we went on a trip last year. he got off the parole sho so he could finally come to california. and he bought this crazy truck he wanted. and i helped him with it. and we drove all the way from chicago to california. and, you know, it was one of the most beautiful trips. we came with our friend -- [inaudible] puerto rican poet, and we had a great time. and i never argued with him once. we just had a great time talking, sharing. and my son has become wise in his age. he's become a wounded healer. and that's partly what i'm saying. this is why it's important to point out we all -- it's also important to point out that in our wounds, we have to give. and in our wounds we can make the change and become one of these people. and we were able to do poetry. now he's a poet, my son. so anyway, i want to just thank him. he is sincere and honest in that. i think the issue that he was

sincere and honest when he was in a gang, he was rough, he was mean, he was angry, he was violent, but he's sincere and honest in the peace. and that's important because i had to go through that. and i've seen other people do it. but to see my son, it's powerful. it's really what we're talking about. and i don't want to apologize for the tears because i think it's part of what we forget. i never cried for a long time. i was told not to cry. a man shouldn't cry. but man tears are important. they're tears of your feminine aspect, they're tears of being fully human, of being whole. it's important. >> you can watch this and other programs online at booktv.org. >> for this month booktv book club, join other readers to discuss "it calls you back: an odyssey through love, addiction, revolutions and healing," by former gang member turned candidate for governor of california, luis j. rodriguez. simply go to booktv.org and

click on book club to enter the chat room. once you're there you can log in as a guest or through your facebook or twitter account to post your thoughts on mr. rodriguez's book. >> you're watching book tv. next, richard vision uri looks -- viguerie looks at the split in the republican party over the size of the government, an argument that has existed since the teddy roosevelt administration. this program is just under 45 minutes. [laughter] >> thank you, john, and thank heritage foundation and thank heritage foundation's president, jim demint, for this opportunity. senator demint was my choice and i knew that jim[ó was goino be president, i just didn't know heas