Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
I wonder how many people are aware that there is a special day that has been set aside by Congress to commemorate the signing of the Constitution each year.
From the Library of Congress:
Constitution Day and Citizenship Day is observed each year on September 17 to commemorate the signing of the Constitution on September 17, 1787, and “recognize all who, by coming of age or by naturalization, have become citizens.”
This commemoration had its origin in 1940, when Congress passed a joint resolution authorizing and requesting the President to issue annually a proclamation setting aside the third Sunday in May for the public recognition of all who had attained the status of American citizenship. The designation for this day was “I Am An American Day.”
In 1952 Congress repealed this joint resolution and passed a new law moving the date to September 17 to commemorate “the formation and signing, on September 17, 1787, of the Constitution of the United States” but the day was designated “Citizenship Day” and also retained its original purpose of recognizing all those who had attained the status of American citizenship. This law urged civil and educational authorities of states, counties, cities and towns to make plans for the proper observance of the day and “for the complete instruction of citizens in their responsibilities and opportunities as citizens of the United States and of the State and locality in which they reside.”
In 2004 under Senator Byrd’s urging, Congress changed the designation of this day to “Constitution Day and Citizenship Day” and added two new requirements in the commemoration of this Day. The first is that the head of every federal agency provide each employee with educational and training materials concerning the Constitution on September 17th. The second is that each education institution that receives federal funds hold an educational program on the Constitution for students on September 17 of each year.
It appears that few Americans know about this educational requirement. It also appears that few schools have complied with the Congressional mandate to hold an educational program about the Constitution on the designated date.
As a former teacher, I’m not one to argue that we shouldn’t be teaching our students about the Constitution. I think our educational institutions should provide our children with in-depth knowledge of the Constitution of the United States—as well as with a wealth of information about the organization and responsibilities of the three branches of our Federal Government.
A new project sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots aims to pressure public schools to teach students about the Constitution this coming September. That sounds like a good idea on the surface—but here’s what has some legal advocates concerned: The Tea Party Patriots are advocating for the use of their favored “Constitutional” curriculum in the public schools.
Doug Kendall, the Founder and President of the Constitutional Accountability Center, recently penned an article on the subject of the Tea Party Patriots and their favored Constitutional curriculum for the Huffington Post. In his article titled Parents: This Fall, Beware Tea Partiers Dressed Up as James Madison, Kendall wrote:
“When I was growing up, my mom warned me each fall about Halloween candy with a hidden razor blade. As a parent, the thing I’ll be most scared about this fall is the prospect of Tea Partiers coming to my child’s school dressed up like James Madison to ‘teach’ the U.S. Constitution.
“It is undoubtedly the case that all our kids could use a good civics lesson, but these modern day Madisons are peddling snake oil, not real history. Mother Jones reported yesterday that, during Constitution Week in September this year, the so-called ‘Tea Party Patriots’ are planning to pressure school boards across America to allow them into our schools to teach our children about the Constitution using materials from the National Center for Constitutional Studies, an organization founded by a genuinely scary individual named W. Cleon Skousen, a far-right conspiracy theorist with links to the John Birch Society who passed away in 2006.”
Kendall claims the curriculum developed by the National Center for Constitutional Studies uses highly inaccurate source material and issued the following challenge:
“I defy the Tea Party Patriots to find one credible historian willing to support their view of the Constitution’s history. Before the Tea Party gets to go into school and teach our children about the Constitution, they need to find a tenured professor on the history faculty on one of any of the 50 highest-rated universities in the United States who will vouch for the accuracy of their teachings. To qualify to teach America’s children about the Constitution you need to do more than dress up like James Madison.”
In Radical Constitutionalism, an article that appeared in the New York Times, Jeffrey Rosen called W. Cleon Skousen “the constitutional guru of the Tea Party movement.” Rosen, a law professor at George Washington University, says Skousen “argued that the founding fathers rejected collectivist ‘European’ philosophies and instead derived their divinely inspired principles of limited government from fifth-century Anglo-Saxon chieftains, who in turn modeled themselves on the Biblical tribes of ancient Israel” in his 1981 book The 5,000 Year Leap.
Skousen believed our Constitution was “divinely inspired.” Rosen says Skousen “saw limited government as not only an ethnic idea, rooted in the Anglo-Saxons, but also as a Christian one, embodied in the idea of unalienable rights and duties that derive from God, and he insisted that the founders’ ‘religious precepts turned out to be the heart and soul of the entire American political philosophy.’”
Rosen reports that Skousen was dismissed by mainstream conservatives for many years as “a conspiracy-mongering extremist.” In an article that appeared in Mother Jones last week, Stephanie Mencimer wrote: “Skousen’s views on the Constitution are considered well outside the mainstream, and they include ideas drawn from white supremacist dogma and other shady sources. One of his textbooks on constitutional history contained blatantly racist material suggesting that slaves were actually a happy bunch of folks.”
So how did Skousen’s views on our Constitution, which had been considered outside the mainstream by most conservatives for years, become popular with the Tea Party Patriots? Why, Glenn Beck…of course! Beck helped give a boost to Skousen’s book The 5000 Year Leap when he endoresed it. The book then became both a bestseller and a Tea Party favorite.
In December of 2008, Beck recommended the book to his followers as a way to become informed about “socialism and communism and fascism, and the free market, Americanism.”
Beck wrote of Skousen’s book:
“The first thing you could do, please, is get the 5,000 Year Leap. Over my book or anything else, get the 5,000 Year Leap. You can probably find it in the book section of GlennBeck.com, but read that. It is the principle. It is so easy to read. It’s the book Ronald Reagan wanted taught in high schools and Ted Kennedy stopped it from happening. That should tell you all you need to know. It is so easy to understand. When you read these principles, your mouth will fall open. You’ll read it and you’ll be – the scales will fall off your eyes on who we are. Please, number one thing: Inform yourself about who we are and what the other systems are all about. 5,000 Year Leap is the first part of that. Because it will help you understand American free enterprise. You’ll be able to defend it. You’ll be able to know what makes it possible for 6% of humanity living under our free economy to produce 1/2 of the Earth’s developed wealth every single year. That’s staggering! What is it? It’s the virtues and the principles that our founders believed in, that took us and pushed us and made us – allowed us to take a 5,000 year leap from the dark into the sunshine. We should know why collectivism is wrong. We should know why federal supervision is going to hold our standard of living down. It will reduce our productivity, just as it has in every single country where it has ever been tried. We should know why communist leaders of the past considered socialism the high road to communism. We should know the words of the old communist leaders that said ‘We don’t need to fight a war. We can push them into socialism and once we have them into socialism, communism is next.’ We should see and read the actual words of the early 20th century American Progressives and see the roots.”
Who wouldn’t trust the Constitutional views of a man who wrote a book that Glenn Beck thinks is the most important book for Americans to read??? Who wouldn’t want their children learning about our Constitution from educational materials provided by an organization founded by that same individual?
If, on the other hand, you’re as concerned about Tea Party Patriots pressuring your local school board to adopt the curriculum materials developed by the National Center for Constitutional Studies to teach your children about the Constitution as Doug Kendall is, you might want to check with your local school system to see what plans it may have for Constitution Day on September 17th.
SOURCES
The Tea Party Wants to Teach Your Kids About the Constitution (Mother Jones)
Legal Advocates Slam Tea Party Constitution Classes (Mother Jones)
Meet the man who changed Glenn Beck’s life:Cleon Skousen was a right-wing crank whom even conservatives despised. Then Beck discovered him (Salon)
Parents: This Fall, Beware Tea Partiers Dressed Up as James Madison (Huffington Post)
Radical Constitutionalism (New York Times)
Glenn Beck: Are you a Sept. 12th person? (Glenn Beck)
Wearing Dunce Cap, Tea Party Tries To Indoctrinate Children With Bad Constitutional History (Constitutional Accountability Center)
So Joel Skousen is the nephew of the author W. Cleon Skousen. Big whoop. All that explains is your propensity to avoid the truth and the issues with deceitful spin that has NOTHING to do with the issues and the truth.
And what the heck is this stupid link of bomb dropping that goes nowhere??? “BREAKING: Joel Skousen Drops Bomb After Bomb on Coast to Coast AM 8.2.2011 Radio Show | Alternative News Report
Trackback on 1, August 4, 2011 at 5:05 am”
As I posted earlier and Elaine refuses to realize, instead continuing to spread deceitful spin re coping and repasting her previous information … as I posted earlier IT IS THE FOUNDING FATHERS OWN WRITINGS THAT SUGGESTED THAT THE CONSTITUTION IS DIVINELY INSPIRED.
Invoking mud slinging “seeking to infiltrate our public schools with the radical theory that the Constitution is divinely inspired.” As if reporting the truth of what our Founders ACTUALLY THOUGHT AND STATED should be censored from the sensitive minds of our children that the liberals hope to have the corner on the market of mind control with their own revisionist history.
No matter how many times you attempt to vilify the messenger with your deception, and ignore the facts of the issues, the truth will win out.
Read the book or be lead by the deception of those like Elaine that try to convince you to close your mind and fall victim to their deception.
Reporting on the religious thinking and writings of the Founding Fathers in in NO WAY violating a separation of church and state. Nor is it your mud slinging term of “proselytizing.” It is truth in history free of censorship by the liberals that control education in the US.
Listen to Elaine’s deceptive spin to avoid the truth and the issues at your own mindless peril. Read the book to decide for yourself and take control of your own mind.
Divine Constitutional Abomination
By Caroline Fredrickson
Executive Director, American Constitution Society for Law and Policy
5/27/11
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/caroline-fredrickson/divine-constitutional-abo_b_868106.html
Excerpt:
Recent news reports have revealed that the nation’s largest Tea Party umbrella group is seeking to infiltrate our public schools with the radical theory that the Constitution is divinely inspired.
The Tea Party “Patriots” are pushing a constitutional curriculum designed by the National Center for Constitutional Studies, which disseminates reading materials suggesting that God intended for America to be a Christian nation, that the Jamestown settlers starved to death because they were communists who failed to embrace capitalism, and that national parks are unconstitutional.
This outrageous so-called “history” is not fit for any classroom. That the Tea Party “Patriots” intend to impose these materials on young children with little or no knowledge of our founding document as part of their “Adopt a School” program is an abomination.
The American Constitution Society has been participating in Constitution Week for years through its Constitution in the Classroom program. By sending volunteers to schools around the country, we introduce students to the important principles in the Constitution that affect their lives. Such principles include the freedom of speech, equal protection under the laws, the right against unreasonable searches and seizures, and freedom of religion.
There is room for debate about what elements of the Constitution should be featured in a Constitution Week curriculum, and of course, how to interpret those clauses. But the Tea Party “Patriots'” efforts to indoctrinate schoolchildren with material so far outside an honest and basic understanding of the Constitution should not be tolerated.
Instead of teaching a neutral version of the First Amendment’s religion clauses and their history, NCCS teaches that the First Amendment establishes the “Religion of America.” This theory traces back to NCCS founder W. Cleon Skousen’s book, which drew the connection between the Founding Fathers and the biblical tribes of Israel. During his own time, Skousen, a Mormon, was rejected by the Mormon Church and mainstream conservatives including William F. Buckley Jr., law professor Jeffrey Rosen explained recently in The New York Times.
*****
Public Schools, the Wrong Forum for Tea Party’s Religious Constitution Courses, ACS’s Fredrickson Says
American Constitution Society
5/27/11
http://www.acslaw.org/acsblog/public-schools-the-wrong-forum-for-tea-party%E2%80%99s-religious-constitution-courses-acss-fredricks
Excerpt:
Public schools, as the Supreme Court has noted time and again, are not forums for proselytizing. Organized prayer and spiritual services are for private institutions, such as churches or private schools. Voluntary student prayer is permitted. But public school officials who allow the Tea Party “Patriots” to enter their facilities on school hours to lecture students about a Godly Constitution, are running afoul of the Constitution’s First Amendment principle of a separation of church and state, and inviting lawsuits.
I apologize for typing errors and auto correct of them… I just went too fast and will attempt to slow down and proof read in the future.
Mespo727272
NEVER BEEN BOTTOM UP IN CONTROL?????
You have NOP CLUE what that means do you??? Yalk about some one who sorely needs to read the 5000 Year Leap and begin to understand the Constitution…
Sir or Madam
Bottom up is opposed to top down. Top down is a leader at the top who makes all the rules and decisions and tells everyone else what to do, what their rights are, and can change those laws and regulations on a whim – any time he wants – like a king or a dictator or the CEO’s of most companies – or the Department Czars that are under Obama’s control – rewriting and changing regulations on virtually a daily basis – essentially creating legislation with out representation – with out our elected officials in Congress having a say in these changes (our Founding Fathers revolted over less).
Bottom up is the VOTE. Our Founding Fathers – through the creation of the Constitution – gave us the ultimate power and control of our own government – with checks and balances no less. The VOTE is the bottom up ultimate power given to us through the ultimate sacrifice of life and wealth by our founders so that We The People would never have to go through that again.
If you read the book you would understand the power that you have and the type of government provided us by the Constitution.
“Bottom” in “bottom up” is not the bottom you have learned in the class warfare that Obama espouses to divide and conquer the people in this country. That warfare that he is using to destroy the Constitution and freedoms through the nanny state of larger government and more and more central government control. Creating his top down government that IS the government our founders desired to prevent us from ever being dominated by again.
Mespo727272, you sorely are in need of reading this perspective on the Constitution. To refuse to do that is educational stupidity at its best. If you actually read it and still agree with the deceptive spin that you swear ignorantly by – then God bless you.
Gene H. YOU ARE WRONG.
There is no compilation f the Founding fathers explaining the Constitution as I stated. The compilations you point to are about each founding Father and comparisons of them as to their individual philosophies and their lives … biographies… but NOP WHERE is their any other tie in to the creation of the constitution and the knowledge and thinking behind it. It is YOUR revisionist and INCOMPLETE understanding of the Founders thoughts that relate and tie into the creation of the Constitution that is apparent. READ the book or show me where their is such a compilation of the actual writings you mention – and MANY MANY more – theta give a TRUE insighte into the creation of this immortal document.
Your sick insistance to sling mud and name call reacher that address the truth in the book shows you have never bothered to read it and do not know what you are talking about – simply repeating the deceptive spin of others like yourself; OR you have read the book and KNOW you lose on the issues and do not dare to address them and resort to deception instead- liberals, progressives, Democrats… exasperating.
stephenwv:
“Learn about what went into the Constitution and why, exposes the destruction that is occurring to that bottom up control by the people.”
*************************
We’ve never had “bottom up control” and never will have it. The Founders were anything but the bottom of society and they insured that special care would be taken to prevent any popular mob from taking over as the Tea Party crowd seems to be advocating. Senators were appointed by legislatures, standing armies were prohibited, and only a small segment of the population could vote – basically white landowners. Even with that amount of conservative controls, an electoral college was established to preside over national elections to insure that emotions of the moment wouldn’t lead to a popular demagogue.
The truth is that the modern world has shown an unending march towards individual freedoms starting with the Suffragettes through the Civil Rights Movement and now to the struggle for gay and lesbian rights. Economically, there has been an expansion of individual freedom with a curtailment of Blue Laws, expansion of capital markets to unprecedented range, and the availability of financial services unimaginable to our Founders and even likely our grandparents. Taxes are up, sure, but so are services and benefits to the poor and elderly.
The problem with Tea Baggers isn’t their skewed political rhetoric or their inability to grasp fundamental political principles (thought they are handicaps to be sure), it’ s their dogged refusal to accept historical fact. Say what you will but nobody likes dumb or ignorant. That’s is why they are relegated to the cheering section in the political football game.
“The truth and the fact remains that this IS the ONLY compilation of the original writings of the Founding Fathers that exists anywhere explaining how they came to accumulate their knowledge and wisdom to create the Constitution. Period. ”
No. It’s not, but that is beside the point.
I think reading the Federatlist Papers and the letters of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton would give you better insight into what the Founders intended. Teaching the Constitution and the history of it to children is important. In fact, it’s too important to be left up to revisionist clowns like Skousen, so why not go with the original words of the Founders themselves instead of relying on the editorial distortions of someone with a contemporary political agenda. For example, Madison and Jefferson clearly understood (as did the other Founders) that they were establishing a secular state. Their own writings clearly indicate this fact.
Left? Right? Who cares? Those are simply the facts.
Careful there, Stevie! You got some lamb’s blood on you.
It always dumbfounds me the way the left refuses to deal with the truth of the ISSUES in favor of slinging mud at the messenger and name calling. The reason of course, is that the left loses on the truth of the issues and would divert attention with their mud slinging in hopes that no one will notice their losing positions.
The 5000 Year Leap was totally based on the original writings of the Founding Fathers. The left, like Elaine, do not address that truth at all. They sling mud to try (successfully to those who do not care to do their own research) to get you to believe it is based on Mormonism or what ever mud they are slinging.
The truth and the fact remains that this IS the ONLY compilation of the original writings of the Founding Fathers that exists anywhere explaining how they came to accumulate their knowledge and wisdom to create the Constitution. Period.
Contrary to Elaine’s deceptive mud slinging, the belief that the Constitution was divinely inspired was NOT Skousen’s idea! It was from the writings of the founding Fathers as quoted in the book.
One only needs to read the beginning of the book to discover the TRUTH behind the why, how and what that resulted in the only compilation of our Founding Fathers’ own writings for insight into the immortal document that is our Constitution.
The demonization by the left to prevent the Constitution from being taught to our children in reality exposes their fear that people will see destruction of this document that is going on right before our eyes. Virtually every day more central government control is eroding our freedoms. Usurping the power from the people as established in the bottom up control structure embodied in the constitution. Creating the top down control of the leaders at the top. Just the type of leadership our Founding Fathers hoped to kick to the curb for ever with the Constitution. It places the power with the people. The power of the Vote. To control this government. Learn about what went into the Constitution and why, exposes the destruction that is occurring to that bottom up control by the people.
Will the ultimate sacrifices of our Founders who gave their wealth and their lives so we would not have to go for not?
Read the book for yourselves. Make up your own minds. Don’t be led to the slaughter by the deceptive spin and mud slinging of those that would avoid the truth of the issues, because they KNOW they lose on the truth.
Like most sacred texts the constitution can be used in any way you like.
Especially since most people haven’t read or understood it.
Lol …
High School Sophomore Challenges Bachmann To Basic ‘Fact Test’ On U.S. Constitution
In expounding upon the Constitution, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) rarely troubles with reading it. Her musings on the subject have earned her yet another Politifact “pants on fire” award and ensured the employment of fact-checkers everywhere. Now, the Minnesota Independent reports that one American — a high school sophomore — wants to take the Congresswoman head on. Fed up with the “injustice” that Bachmann’s “politically expedient” inaccuracies serve to “women everywhere,” New Jersey 10th grader Amy Myers is challenging Bachmann to a public debate — or a basic “fact test” — on the Constitution:
As a typical high school student, I have found quite a few of your statements regarding The Constitution of the United States, the quality of public school education and general U.S. civics matters to be factually incorrect, inaccurately applied or grossly distorted. The frequency and scope of these comments prompted me to write this letter. […]
Rep. Bachmann, the frequent inability you have shown to accurately and factually present even the most basic information about the United States led me to submit the follow challenge, pitting my public education against your advanced legal education:
I, Amy Myers, do hereby challenge Representative Michele Bachmann to a Public Forum Debate and/or Fact Test on The Constitution of the United States, United States History and United States Civics.
Bachmann does have a law degree, but given the knowledge she’s displayed on the subject, the 10th grader stacks up pretty well.
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/05/13/bachmann-constitution-10th-grader/
Sorry, Swarthmore … I spelled your name wrong …
Sharthmore and rafflaw,
Thanks for the good wishes – much appreciated! I’d say I’m about 80% but now … I … have … pink eye … can’t see, still can’t breathe too well … but, the best part?
Chasing my daughter around the house screaming, “I’ve got cooties!” is providing me with much-needed entertainment! I swear, my neighbors must think we’re both completely looney tune … 😀
anon nurse,
Thanks for the link.
Thanks for this posting, Elaine.
Frank Schaeffer (author of “Crazy for God”) has written another book. Today’s article from AlterNet:
http://www.alternet.org/story/150936/insider%3A_%22the_christian_right_is_aiming_to_destroy_all_things_public%22?akid=6972.147321.KZjKjb&rd=1&t=2
Insider: “The Christian Right is Aiming to Destroy All Things Public”
By Frank Schaeffer
“The Right has pushed for the state to hand over its public duties to private companies, including military operations, prisons, health care, public transport, and all the rest.”
excerpt:
New Evangelical universities and even new law schools appeared, seemingly overnight, with a clearly defined mission to “take back” each and every profession—including law and politics—“for Christ.” For instance, Liberty University’s Law School was a dream come true for my old friend Jerry Falwell, who (when I was speaking at his school in 1983 to the entire student body for the second time) gleefully told me of his vision for Liberty’s programs: “Frank, we’re going to train a new generation of judges to change America!” This was the same Jerry Falwell who wrote in America Can Be Saved, “I hope I live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won’t have any public schools.”
SL Hope you are feeling better soon, also.
Stamford,
I hope you are feeling better soon!
Thanks, Elaine. This is a very important post for anyone genuinely concerned about the Constitution.