At least one of us here freaked out when reading this story, though the rest of you may find it less strange.
One of our editors says, "when I was younger, I'd learned about this guy, W. Cleon Skousen because of his group called 'The Freeman Institute' - they were notorious for putting their own Bircher-like Mormon twist on patriotism, heavily mixing in Mormon religious doctrine with what they termed constitutional scholarship. There were a among the groups which believed none of the Constitution passed since the Bill of Rights applied to modern life. They also connected politics with church and "prophetical" teachings. They had a reputation locally for doing flag ceremonies wearing neo-nazi brownshirts and sam browne belts, along with riding boots. Very creep shit indeed, something our families warned us away from at all times."
Ah, the ancient evil revealed! We knew less about this guy but did a little research.
In 1987, controversy erupted in California over the term "pickaninny" used in Skousen's book The Making Of America, when it was considered as a textbook by the National Center for Constitutional Studies
This guy's history reads like that of a typical zealout, self-proclaimed scholar and rabid anti-communist of the McCarthy era, such so that he claimed anyone he disagreed with was a communist.
He was a police chief out west, until getting fired by the Mayor of Salt Lake City (an interesting story) and accused of illegally using public funds.
The interesting point is this - his book, The 5,000 year Leap, has apparently become required reading for Governor Perry, Mitt Romney - and get this - Glenn Asshat Beck, who told viewer the book was "divinely inspired."
Ah, Beckers, you should take some time to learn a little bit more about who it is you're following around and what he believes.
No dinging of Mormons here, we've been told the late Mr. Skousen was a pretty controversial figure among those in that church, and that not everyone liked the guy.
However, he seems to have found a new relevance because of the newly found love for political insanity and conspiracy theories found by American rightists, independents and libertarians.
The Washington Independent - Rick Perry, Mitt Romney and W. Cleon Skousen
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