[On July 8,] Keith Olbermann's Countdown featured an interview with historian Chris Rodda, who debunked a number of American history lies featured in the first installment of Glenn Beck's new "Glenn Beck University" online course curriculum (see video.) As announced with a flourish, "[Glenn] Beck University is a unique academic experience bringing together experts in the fields of religion, American history and economics." Ah yes, 'experts.'
via www.dailykos.com
David Barton's twisting of facts and grotesque manipulation of his audience's ignorance about history are patently immoral. He is intellectually dishonest. Barton's goal is political and his tactics propogandistic; he gives his Christian Nationalism lectures even on US military basis.
Bruce Wilson, the author of the above-cited DailyKos.com diary, rhetorically asks how the falsification of American history by the Religious Right and Fox News play out in the real world. He continues:
Well, to take one notorious example, recently a panel of "experts" appointed by the Texas Board of Education recommended a number of changes to Texas public school social studies curriculum. Changes included renaming the slave trade the "Atlantic Triangular Trade," minimizing the historical role of Thomas Jefferson, who advocated for separation of church and state, and emphasizing the view that the Founding Fathers were motivated by Christian principles. David Barton was on the panel.
