The Tea Party claims to be about fiscal responsibility, constitutional originalism, and freedom. The movement is exposing itself more, and more as just another front group for American Theocratic leaders. The Tea Party Patriots, in particular, are trying to enforce their own brand of religion into our schools.
Every September 17th, schools are required to teach lessons on the Constitution, the day it was originally ratified. Nothing wrong with that. It is actually a good idea to get kids involved in thinking about our uniquely American way of doing things.
The problem comes because the Tea Party Patriots want to encourage schools to use materials from the National Center for Constitutional Studies. Even though the words God, Jesus, or Christianity appear not even once in the constitution, and even though the Founders were very intentional in what they included and did not include, the NCCS wants students to know that our constitution was divinely inspired. To the Tea Party Patriots and the NCCS, the constitution is as direct a word from God as Moses coming down from on high with the Ten Commandments.
Cleon Skousen, founded the NCCS, but he had been a proponent of the Divinity of the Constitution for decades. The man the Tea Party Patriots want inserted into our schools, has said things like this:
The center's founder, W. Cleon Skousen, once called Jamestown's original settlers communists, wrote end-of-days prophecy and suggested Russians stole Sputnik from the United States. In 1987, one of his books was criticized for suggesting American slave children were freer than white non-slaves.
The man in charge of the Tea Party Patriots adopt a school program also gives seminars for the theocratic NCCS. The relationship between the Tea Party and the radical theocracy of NCCS is very close. Remember, these are the supposed fiscal and constitutional conservatives pushing an obvious, obvious religious agenda in our schools.
Meanwhile, the NCCS is promoting Skousen's book, The 5000 Year Leap. The book was recently promoted on Glen Beck's controversial TV program. In fact, Beck considers Skousen his mentor, and the 5000 Leap a seminal work. So, this is the crowd trying to infiltrate our schools with their so called theocratic constitutional conservatism. Mitt Romney is also listed as a fan of Skousen, a fellow Mormon. Governor Rick Perry of Texas is also a huge fan of the 5,000 year leap.
Skousen cavorted with the Birchers, and became so extreme that even far right politicians would have nothing to do with him. Then Glen Beck and the Tea Party discovered him. According to research done by Salon, even the most right wing groups thought he had gone off the deep end. Now his principles are being pushed onto our schools.
The Theocrats are infiltrating our schools, our popular media, and or most powerful leaders. The NCCS and Skousen have been disavowed by mainstream conservatives, but his writings are as impactful on the right wing as anything Ayn Rand wrote. Skousen takes the greed is good capitalism of Rand and doubles down with religious dogmatism and rigidity. This is the Tea Party and the Tea Party Patriots.
Someone needs to ask Mittens, Rickie, and the Tea Party about their affiliation with this religious extremist. He was so extreme the official Mormon Church disavowed him. The right wing National Security Council said he was too nuts for them. One of our leading governors is a disciple of his, our leading Republican presidential candidate loves him, and the Tea Party is beholden. Are our children ever going to be safe?