meet david barton; "historian"/pastor of the tea-party

[Sasha]

wgDZiDNo_AU

[Savage]

I didn't know that the Bible denounces the minimum wage and capital gains tax, you learn something new every day.

[Rooster]

Ug, I can't watch that. There's a high pitched squeal that's making my ears bleed and my jaw hurt.

[Invader Zim]

It is a shame that the American right doesn't pay more attention to the actual evangelical historians working in the field, I have actually met a few, and they were all actually rather leftwing. Obviously in the liberal vein, but they certainly weren't frothing at the mouth rightwing types like this guy.

[Rusty Shackleford]

fucking twiggy twit is what he is.

[Robocommie]

At this point, I am so god-damn sick of hearing about the fucking Founding Fathers and what they intended for the nation, as if they were divine beings who drafted an eternally perfect document.

[eric922]

At this point, I am so god-damn sick of hearing about the fucking Founding Fathers and what they intended for the nation, as if they were divine beings who drafted an eternally perfect document.
I know right, it was so perfect that the first thing they did was propose 12 amendments to it, 10 of which passed of course. Besides, the document is over 2 centuries old, it was ahead of its time in 1787, but not it is out of date and needs serious updating, its like using MSDOS in the days of Windows 7.

[Jose Gracchus]

Its actually more insidious than that. The U.S. Constitution was actually a conservative counterrevolution against the forces of workers, artisans, plebeian farmers, and even increasingly assertive marginal groups like women, free blacks, and even slaves -- struggles unleashed by the turmoil of the Revolution and the formation of often radically democratic State constitutions.

[Pretty Flaco]

Its actually more insidious than that. The U.S. Constitution was actually a conservative counterrevolution against the forces of workers, artisans, plebeian farmers, and even increasingly assertive marginal groups like women, free blacks, and even slaves -- struggles unleashed by the turmoil of the Revolution and the formation of often radically democratic State constitutions.

Can you explain how the constitution was conservative for it's time?

[Gorilla]

Can you explain how the constitution was conservative for it's time?

Compare the Pennsylvania state constitution of 1776 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_Constitution_of_1776).


The 1776 Constitution contained five of the six points of the United Kingdom's People's Charter (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartism) over 50 years before it was written. Some of the radical innovations included:

Voting franchise for all tax-paying free men.
A unicameral legislature with members elected to one-year terms.
A thirteen-member Supreme Executive Council to administer the government.
A judiciary appointed by the legislature for seven-year terms, and removable at any time.
The provision that all legislation should be held until the next session of Assembly, so that the people of the state could assess the utility of the proposed law.
A President elected by the Assembly and Council together
A Council of Censors (elected every seven years) to conduct an evaluation of the activities. They could "censure" actions by the government deemed to have violated the constitution. The Council of Censors was the only body with the authority to call a convention to amend the constitution.


Whereas the US constitution allows for restricted franchise, has a quasi-aristocratic upper house to the legislature with terms as long as six years for legislators, has a unitary executive, lifetime judicial appointment, no provision for referendums or anything like them, a president elected by the non-popular electoral college, and only weak provisions for disciplining elected officials.

[Rusty Shackleford]

this man makes a quest appearance on glenn beck every other week or so to "tell it how it is"

he also gets reactionary authors on his show and calls them all experts basically.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Jesus was supposedly the son of a lowly carpenter, the best bro of a bunch of grubby fishermen and prostitutes/the diseased, and connected (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_the_Zealot) to one of the premier nat-lib groups of the ancient world. He clearly would've supported the GOP if he were alive today.

[Robocommie]

Jesus was supposedly the son of a lowly carpenter, the best bro of a bunch of grubby fishermen and prostitutes/the diseased, and connected (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_the_Zealot) to one of the premier nat-lib groups of the ancient world. He clearly would've supported the GOP if he were alive today.

I could see Simon Zelotes being a Maoist, today. :lol:

[Dragovich]

Ah the Tea Party, the bunch of morons the lot of them are.