W. Cleon Skousen, Glenn Beck, Mitt Romney - and Ben Carson?
Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2015 4:43 pm
The Mormon conspiracy theorist W. Cleon Shousen, revered and oft quoted by Glenn Beck, a touchstone for Mitt Romney, and described by the conservative National Review as an " all-around nut-job", is apparently also a favorite of presidential candidate Ben Carson. Carson has been referring to Skousen's bizarre conspiracy theories and pseudo-history as if they were fact.
Given Carson's current position as the leader of the Republican presidential candidate pack, I find this both amusing and disturbing. Although I guess it is worth noting that none other than pizza man Herman Cain was the front runner at this point in the last presidential campaign. So there is that.
Skousen's works had a prominent place on our TBM family bookshelf growing up. My father felt it was his religious duty to read these tomes - every one - and to explain the critical inside information contained therein to his children. With my father's encouragement, I tried reading a few of his books. The only one I ever finished was The Naked Communist. It was sort of scary at first, but so overblown that it was hard to take seriously after a while.
One can only trust that his love for Skousen's work, which emerges largely from the paranoid depths of a religious Mormon mind, will be of the same benefit to Ben Carson's career aspirations as it was to those of Glenn Beck and Mitt Romney.
Given Carson's current position as the leader of the Republican presidential candidate pack, I find this both amusing and disturbing. Although I guess it is worth noting that none other than pizza man Herman Cain was the front runner at this point in the last presidential campaign. So there is that.
Skousen's works had a prominent place on our TBM family bookshelf growing up. My father felt it was his religious duty to read these tomes - every one - and to explain the critical inside information contained therein to his children. With my father's encouragement, I tried reading a few of his books. The only one I ever finished was The Naked Communist. It was sort of scary at first, but so overblown that it was hard to take seriously after a while.
One can only trust that his love for Skousen's work, which emerges largely from the paranoid depths of a religious Mormon mind, will be of the same benefit to Ben Carson's career aspirations as it was to those of Glenn Beck and Mitt Romney.