Posted on 01/09/2010 9:09:37 PM PST by CondoleezzaProtege
...Romney’s argument with the Iowa talk-radio host starts with the two discussing their shared affinity for W. Cleon Skousen. “You and I share a common affection for the late Cleon Skousen,” the radio host says. The former governor agrees, affirming Skousen was his professor."
Who is Cleon Skousen you might ask? In answering that question, it’s hard to even know where to begin. Skousen was by turns an FBI employee, the police chief of Salt Lake City, a Brigham Young University professor, consigliore to former secretary of agriculture and Mormon president Ezra Taft Benson and, well, all-around nutjob.
Skousen was active with the John Birch Society throughout the 1960s, even going so far as to write another book titled The Communist Attack on the John Birch Society, accusing those that criticized Birchers as promoting Communism.
Skousen’s Communist paranoia may have reached it’s apotheosis in 1970 when the Mormon church and BYU in particular began receiving a tremendous amount of external pressure to change the church’s policy on denying the Mormon priesthood to blacks. Skousen, then a professor at BYU, published an article entitled “The Communist Attack on the Mormons” and noted that critics were employing Communist tactics which were “distorting the religious tenet of the Church regarding the Negro and blowing it up to ridiculous proportions.” The Mormon Church reversed course on its discriminatory practices in 1978 and began ordaining black men to the priesthood.
..."I sincerely doubt that Mitt Romney believes anything near as outlandish as many of the things Cleon Skousen espoused, and to be fair Skousen wrote on numerous topics with wildly varying degrees of intellectual sobriety."
(Excerpt) Read more at article.nationalreview.com ...
I'm not a huge Mitt fan either, but you don't have to carry the water for the talking point crowd.
The John Birch Society is a fringe extremist organization. Historically, the JBS is a group of conspiracy paranoiacs. Frankly, I see no difference between the JBS and other fringe extremist groups promoting minanarchy, anarchy, libertarianism, paleolibertarianism, southern confederate rebel secessionism, 150 year old Dixiecrat-Slavocrat agenda, anti war, anti Semitic agendas. JBS has ties to some of todays best known fringe wackos like Ron Paul, Thomas DiLorenzo and Lew Rockwell. Along with the late and infamous Reagan hater, Murry Rothbard. Not to mention that antisementic fascist and co-founder of the JBS, Revilo P. Oliver.
We’ll see how Utah Republicans vote in the primaries...
Another very good point. Thanks for making it.
Utah loves Mitt, not strictly because of his politics, or his Mormonism, but because of what he did for the state in saving the Olympics and the state’s perception worldwide. He is well loved there. I have no doubt they will vote for him in the primaries, for many reasons. Not all think he’s a liberal like you do or many on this site do.
It’s pretty easy of you to make such a call, but you need to compare apples to apples.
There are many in the online community that consider this site to be nothing but “fringe malcontents” comparable to DU on the left. But it’s not true and neither is your vitriolic comment about our spirited discussion here on this superior site!!!
In the article I posted, it says that one of the leading JBS thinker, Skousen, was a builder of the Mormon establishment and incredibly racist. He attached the potential for black infiltration into the LDS church with the communist conspiracy.
Not sure what you're trying to say here. I suggested that people look up material for themselves and come to their own decisions, rather than just send them to pieces supporting mine. What's wrong with that?
Our fear of embarrassment by the MSM forces some conservatives to smear and label tens of thousands of strong, patriotic, nationalistic, righteous Americans as too conspiratorial in their beliefs to be allowed in with the more intellectual Buckley style conservatives.
Whenever people just make up stuff instead of debating the points--e.g. where did I say anything about fear of embarassment by the MSM? I didn't--but you don't like my position, so you invent that and claim that's my motive--they've already lost.
I'll stand with Buckley, Goldwater, Russell Kirk and Ronald Reagan over phony "patriots" who are in hot pursuit of the Illuminati every day. Oh, and if you think being an intellectual is a smear, that explains everything.
BTW, I'm not voting for Romney either--why would I? I'm living in Massachusetts. Romney isn't the point--hypocrisy is.
Do you want to know why Ron Paul is there? It's because of the CPAC's desperation to appeal -- and to appear to be appealing to -- the "full spectrum" of conservative labels. I am not mystified nor confused in the slightest to hear that Ron Paul is on the line-up.
I kind of like what I see of Palin because labels don't seem to be her bag. Kind of like the Tea Parties. They're for the People without a Label, I guess.
For many of them, “Utah” is inseparable from “LDS.”
Visit http://www.jbs.org and do some research on them.
Many of their black members are upset about the completely unfounded racist charges as well.
Utah is about 50-60 percent LDS, and yet it voted 90 percent for Mitt in the last primary.
Does that help you understand why it’s more than his faith that the state likes him for?
It woudln’t look good for Palin to preside over such a divided event with mixed messages. She’s making a shrewd move by avoiding CPAC.
Scott Brown is not a mainstream conservative, bucko. He supports abortion rights, big government and RomneyCare. Brown sounds like a statist rino to me.
I don’t know how old you are, but if it hadn’t been for the nasty old Birchers raising hell about the push to totalitarian government here, it would have been all over years ago.
And WHAT were YOU doing in the 50s and 60s to help??
Also your comment earlier that many even here would "scream bloody blue murder" if the Constitution was followed in the way it was prior to 1860.
Smo' Joe, AMEN. I also like your tagline -- Stand Fast.
Well comparing Romney and Palin—the contrasts are pretty stark in terms of record and approach to politics. I also find it admirable that Palin’s son is in the military while none of Romney’s five sons have served in such a way in any capacity. This (among other things) means a lot to me considering we are a nation at war.
We’ll see whether people will vote on the basis of “The Olympics” or on issues such as conservative approaches to healthcare, courage of conviction on things like climate change and limited government, and no-nonsense attitude about abortion.
The fact that someone can be so popular in Massachusetts is a red flag. Palin was bipartisan and appealed to independents without sacrificing core convictions AND challenged the GOP establishment. Romney is a RINO and the GOP establishment darling.
Evidence, please.
And WHAT were YOU doing in the 50s and 60s to help??
Being a pre-Zygote. I'd have helped but I was too young to vote.
Hey! I'm a firm believer in "guilt by association" and "free association" and all that, but I know that in politics you actually find scoundrels publically endorsing and contributing to good candidates just to embarrass them and make them lose lots of votes. They know all too well what the shallow media hounds will do with stuff like that.
I'm also a firm believer in "Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." So although I agree with the Alinsky comment above, I wish we all could be more careful about jumping to conlusions erroneously!!!
What I would love to see is a completely different person, with the record of Palin, the experience/education of Romney, and the popularity of Reagan.
That’s someone I could get behind!
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