David Barton calls himself an historian though he has no credentials as an historian and is far more accurately described as an historical revisionist. The Southern Poverty Law Center, watchdog for hate mongers in America, has an entire page on Barton and it’s worth reading only so that you can see what a jaw-dropping charlatan he is.
Here are some choice excerpts:
David Barton’s ascendant star as a self-taught “historian” and influential leader of the evangelical far right crashed in a storm of ridicule when the world’s largest Christian publisher recalled Barton’s 2012 book, The Jefferson Lies, for too many serious whoppers — the kind of gross factual mistakes that are a death knell for any real historian. A prolific propagandist, Barton has long promoted the canard that our Founding Fathers never intended the separation of church and state but rather sought to construct a Christian nation … Barton has been a political consultant to the Republican National Committee and served as vice chairman of the Texas Republican Party. Although even a large group of conservative Christian history scholars has meticulously refuted the claims in his Jefferson book, Barton continues to sell it and to promote his views online and in the media. […]Barton branched out into public policy in 1998 by launching what he called the ProFamily Legislative Network to help “conservative, God-fearing legislators.” The group’s annual conference and regular updates still keep several hundred state and national legislators apprised of “pro-family” legislation. That includes bills to ban abortion and prevent gay marriage, support religious expression in public schools and public life, and resist gun control. The network provides expert referrals for legislation and supportive research. Its conferences also offer media training and strategy sessions to far-right lawmakers who want tips on how to succeed in getting their legislative agenda through. […]
A fervent homophobe, Barton has claimed that gay people die “decades earlier” than others and have more than 500 partners apiece in their lifetimes. On his WallBuilders radio broadcast, he’s flagrantly misled listeners by saying that the “leading pediatric association in America” has cautioned educators against providing education about homosexuality. But the American College of Pediatricians that Barton referred to has only a couple of hundred members and is, in fact, a right-wing breakaway group from the 60,000-member American Academy of Pediatrics, which is the real “leading pediatric association in America.” The group he cited split with the American Academy of Pediatrics explicitly because it had taken an official stand that there is no harm associated with same-sex parenting.
Quite a fellow and not the sort of dude you’d expect a politician with any credibility at all to be hanging out with. However, that isn’t stopping Michigan Republican Tom McMillin from hosting a fundraiser with the fake historian and Christianist tomorrow in Shelby Township:
This really goes to show you the state of our state at the moment when it is controlled by people like McMillin willing to promote bigoted, racist homophobes like Barton. So much for Republican rebranding.
You can sign a petition calling on McMillin to renounce David Barton and his hatespeak HERE:
We are gathering to protest Tom McMillin’s Fundraiser. Tom McMillin is hosting a nationally known hate extremist, David Barton, for his fundraiser on March 5, 2014.We are meeting at the Shelby Police Station at 5:15 where will carpool over to the Palazzo Grande to peacefully protest at the street. It is private property, so we have to stay on the sidewalks.
UPDATE: There will be a protest of the event that you can learn more about HERE.
[Hat tip to Eclectablog reader Dorothy K. Photo by Chris Savage | Eclectablog]
