Abusing History, the Constitution, and the Founders

by Ray Smock

My friend Michael Austin, who was on the faculty here at Shepherd University before assuming the duties of Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Newman University in Kansas, has written a most timely book on the egregious abuse of the history of the founding of the United States by current-day political extremists who take the words of the Founders out of context to fit their 21st century political agenda. These same extremists argue that “political compromise” is a bad thing and that ideological purity is more important than finding solutions to the many problems facing this nation.
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Austin’s book is: THAT’S NOT WHAT THEY MEANT!: Reclaiming the Founding Fathers from America’s Right Wing.It is due out in August and we have scheduled the author to be our Constitution Day speaker on September 19.  Mike asked me to write the foreword to the book and I was happy to do so after reading this clear, concise book that sets the record straight.  My entire Foreword can be found at the end of this posting.
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While Austin focuses his criticism on writers and commentators like Glenn Beck, Mark Levin, Sean Hannity, and others, he recognizes that both sides of the political spectrum have played fast and loose with the words of the Founders and those who drafted the U. S. Constitution. But right now—in 2012—there is a growing consensus among thoughtful people on both sides of the political spectrum that the worst and most consistent abusers of American history are on the far right. Republicans are as alarmed by this development as are Democrats. 

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