Re-writing the Constitution

There are quite a few Right Wing watch groups these days, but one of the blogs I enjoy is that of Warren Throckmorton, who has gone after David Barton and others attempting to inculcate their perverted interpretations of history on unsuspecting Americans. One of the more recent examples is the so-called Institute on the Constitution, which presents a very Puritanical interpretation of the Constitution, audaciously claiming that the Founding Fathers were influenced by early Puritan ministers, not the Age of Enlightenment.

The Institute of the Constitution is offering a 12-part lecture series over the Internet, as well as taking their show on the road to anyone who will host them, and apparently there are many willing hosts. While it seems organizations such as this one are working primarily through the conservative Evangelical community, the so-called scholars behind these tracts are getting wide spread attention through conservative media outlets, and their work appears to have influenced much of the Conservative view of history as espoused by GOP legislators at both the state and federal level.

The numerous books, which are being published through Thomas Nelson and other conservative printing presses, are making their way into school curriculi around the country. Barton is particularly active in Texas in promoting new statewide curriculum reading, and as the New York Review of Books reported sometime back, as Texas goes so goes the nation when it comes to high school textbooks.

Not since the Dunning School has there been such an orchestrated attempt to reshape history, only William Archibald Dunning was actually a respected professor at Columbia University, whereas the current conservative crop of so-called historians hail from such universities as Oral Roberts with degrees in religious education, not history.

David Whitney, who heads up the Institute of the Constitution makes no bones about his conservative religious agenda, as active as Barton in promulgating these "American views" anywhere he can, oblivious to the criticism.

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Dylan in America

Whoever it was in 1969 who named the very first Bob Dylan bootleg album “Great White Wonder” may have had a mischievous streak. There are any number of ways you can interpret the title — most boringly, the cover was blank, like the Beatles’ “White Album” — but I like to see a sly allusion to “Moby-Dick.” In the seven years since the release of his first commercial record, Dylan had become the white whale of 20th-century popular song, a wild, unconquerable and often baffling force of musical nature who drove fans and critics Ahab-mad in their efforts to spear him, lash him to the hull and render him merely comprehensible. --- Bruce Handy, NYTimes ____________________________________________ I figured we can start fresh with Bob Dylan. Couldn't resist this photo of him striking a Woody Guthrie pose. Looks like only yesterday. Here is a link to the comments building up to this reading group.

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Dispatches from Vilnius

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