David Barton, American conservatism’s official fake historian, has organized a collection of fake Founding Father quotes at his website, WallBuilders, and authored a fake biography of Thomas Jefferson which was so egregiously dishonest that its publisher yanked it from the shelves.
So when Barton made an appearance on his pal Glenn Beck’s show this week to tell us that “conservatives don’t want to speak until they feel like they’ve mastered the facts about whatever the subject is that is under discussion,” we can only laugh.
Has he ever seen Ben Carson open his mouth? Or Carly Fiorina? Or Donald Trump? Or Ted Cruz? Or John Boehner, or fellow epic liar Paul Ryan?
Watch and laugh courtesy of Right Wing Watch:
Why is it that conservatives are convinced that they are in the minority? In reality, we’re not, but we think we are … According to statistics, when you look at the groups of liberals, and moderates and conservatives, conservatives are by far the most silent of those three groups. They’re least likely to speak up, and why is that? It’s because conservatives don’t want to speak until they feel like they’ve mastered the facts about whatever the subject is that is under discussion. Now, liberals or moderates, they’re happy to give you their opinion and tell you what they think, regardless of whether they know the facts. But conservatives don’t like doing that, they want to know the facts before they answer what are often wild and baseless claims made by liberals and moderates.
In fact, never has there been a man more eager to invent information to suit the needs of the Religious Right’s agenda for America. His most recent lie was a whopper: that the United States Constitution puts God’s law above man’s law. I don’t know how it does this when it doesn’t even mention God, let alone God’s law.
He has also recently claimed that:
- Retirement is a Pagan concept based on his reading of the Bible;
- That a lawsuit which did not take place proves he did not lie;
- That Evangelical voters have been ignored by both parties;
- That the Founding Fathers did not grant women the right to vote (in fact, they left that up to the states);
- That the Bible rules out the alleged existence of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD);
- That the due process clause comes from the Bible – it doesn’t: it’s origins are in fact found in Medieval England;
- The Founding Fathers settled the Evolution debate even before there was a debate.
And last but not least, actually claims the Bible, which in fact legitimizes slavery, opposes slavery.
As you can see, knowledge of the facts is the last thing on Barton’s mind when he opens his mouth. The truth is, Barton is a gifted liar with terrible fashion sense. He is hardly able to speak without lying, including, as we see here, about lying.
Dishonesty is endemic among conservatives today: Paul Krugman has dealt with the general level of dishonesty at the Republican debates, and you are going to see today, when Paul Ryan hits five Sunday news shows, what sort of mastery of facts conservatives possess.
In a party of liars, he is a liar among liars. In fact if there is anyone who cares less about facts, we would be hard-pressed to identify him. And this is the man so many Republicans have depended upon for the “academic” underpinnings of their agendas.
Leave it to Republicans to think a guy with a Bachelor of Arts degree in religious education from Oral Roberts University is a historian.
Hrafnkell Haraldsson, a social liberal with leanings toward centrist politics has degrees in history and philosophy. His interests include, besides history and philosophy, human rights issues, freedom of choice, religion, and the precarious dichotomy of freedom of speech and intolerance. He brings a slightly different perspective to his writing, being that he is neither a follower of an Abrahamic faith nor an atheist but a polytheist, a modern-day Heathen who follows the customs and traditions of his Norse ancestors. He maintains his own blog, A Heathen’s Day, which deals with Heathen and Pagan matters, and Mos Maiorum Foundation www.mosmaiorum.org, dedicated to ethnic religion. He has also contributed to NewsJunkiePost, GodsOwnParty and Pagan+Politics.
