Because I think it is important to keep pointing out the sorts of Religious Right leaders that Mike Huckabee regularly associates himself with, I just wanted to post this clip from a recent episode of "Huckabee" that featured Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel taking about text books in Texas:

This weekend Mathew D. Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, will appear on Mike Huckabee’s show to discuss potentially dramatic changes to the framework of textbooks that are being discussed by the Texas State Board of Education (TSBOE). Huckabee and Staver will be revealing suggested changes, some of which are still under discussion. TSBOE will soon finalize the language that textbook publishers use to align their textbooks to current standards. As Texas is a leader in textbooks, most other states purchase the same educational materials. The show will begin at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday and 2:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, Eastern Time.

Some of the suggestions that have come forward at various times include:

* Removing references to Daniel Boone, General George Patton, Nathan Hale, Columbus Day, and Christmas.
* Including the cultural impact of hip hop music, ACLU lawyer Clarence Darrow, and the Hindu holiday of Diwali.
* Replacing the term "American" with "Global Citizen"– stating that students need to be shaped "for responsible citizenship in a global society" without any mention of citizenship in American society.
* Replacing expansionism and free enterprise with imperialism and capitalism.

...

Mathew Staver commented: “To have a bright future we must know our past. Those who want to reshape America begin by rewriting our past. We repeat the mistakes of the past when we are ignorant of them. America has a rich past founded on Judeo-Christian values. To forget them, or worse, to distort them, will doom our future. That is why the textbook controversy in Texas affects every American.”

Staver has long been close to Huckabee, having served on his Faith and Family Values Coalition during his presidential campaign. 

Recently, Staver made news when it was announced that Liberty University would be withdrawing from CPAC due to the fact that a gay conservative group was allowed to sign on as a co-sponsor, which made sense considering that at last year's CPAC, Staver declared that marriage equality would inevitably lead to an entire generation of violent criminals. 

Staver and Liberty U will also be hosting a 2-day anti-gay summit later this week, while Staver and Liberty University also represented Lisa Miller, the who kidnapped her daughter and disappeared rather than abide by court ordered custody arrangements.

For the third time in the last week, a leading Religious Right activist has declared that his goal is to see homosexuality criminalized.

First it was Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association and Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council who made such declarations and now Gary Glenn of the AFA of Michigan has joined the call as well:

Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association of Michigan, has added his voice to a growing course of American leaders calling for the re-criminalization of homosexuality in the U.S.

In an e-mail to Michigan Messenger, here’s how Glenn responded when asked if he supported the criminalization move proposed by the Family Research Council’s Peter Sprigg’s comments last week on Hardball:

“The short answer to your question is yes, we believe that states should be free to regulate and prohibit behavior that’s a violation of community standards and a proven threat to public health and safety — including, as most of the United States did throughout its history, homosexual behavior.”

It should also be pointed out that Glenn is among the plantiffs in the Thomas More Law Center's lawsuit challenging the Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 on the grounds that protection for gays is part of an effort to "criminalize the Bible and use the threat of federal prosecutions and long jail sentences to silence Christians from expressing their Biblically-based religious belief that homosexual conduct is a sin."

Back in 2007, the D. James Kennedy's Center for Reclaiming America for Christ shut down, as Coral Ridge Ministries announced that it would focus on expanding its media operations.  

Since then, Coral Ridge has produced several DVD programs like "10 Truths About Hate Crime Laws Book and Hate Crime Laws" and "Pastors, Pulpits, And Politics" ... and now, via Good As You, we see that they are back with their latest production "Radical Rulers And The Obama White House Radicals": 

America has come under the rule of the most radical administration in our nation’s history. In this explosive new book, journalist Robert Knight identifies more than a dozen White House appointees (plus President Obama) who are all working to bring extreme change to America. The Obama team’s far left ideology means a government takeover of healthcare, soaring budget deficits, redistribution of wealth, forcing taxpayers to subsidize abortions, punitive energy and environmental rules, restrictions on free speech, a push to mainstream homosexuality, and much more.

Along with the book, the DVD, The Obama White House Radicals, uncovers the backgrounds of several Obama Administration appointees—from a self-avowed Communist to a member of the Socialist International. The DVD also examines the influence of Rules for Radicals author Saul Alinsky on President Obama’s political education. Experts appearing on the program include Janice Shaw Crouse, political commentator for Concerned Women for America; William Federer, a nationally known speaker and host of the American Minute radio broadcast; and Gary Cass, president of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission.

In case you missed it, the point is that President Obama's administration is extremely "radical" ... at least, according to far-right radicals.

And for a mere $40, this insightful DVD exposé and accompanying book explaining that can be yours.

Once upon a time, Ralph Reed was known as "The Right Hand of God," a man whose political genius was unmatched and whose power and influence was unquestioned. 

Then he left the Christian Coalition to strike out on his own, only to see his former organization collapse and his own political aspirations go up in smoke thanks to his deep ties to corruption [PDF].

But he's still around and active in right-wing politics via his Faith and Freedom Coalition, from where he continues to dispense pathetically cliched political analysis such as this about Sarah Palin ... or, as he calls her, "The Palinator":

This may be Palin’s unique strength. She understands the fiscal and values agendas of conservatism are reinforcing, not mutually exclusive. A nation that relies on God and family for its strength does not seek to expand the federal government to meet every need. Fiscal responsibility and small government are not merely economic principles, they speak to the moral character of a people that believes government has an important but limited function. In this sense, Palin is a fusionist who weaves the various strands of conservatism into a coherent whole.

This is why Palin can act as a bridge between Tea Party activists and the Republican Party and have credibility with both. For now the media is fascinated with whether she will run in 2012. They hope she does, if only because it will make for the most interesting political story since the Obama-Hillary rumble in the 2008 Democratic primaries. That decision is probably a year away. Meanwhile, the MSM is missing the bigger story, at least in the short-term: Palin, who they tried to drive out of respectable political discourse, is re-energizing the grassroots of a Republican Party that they dismissed as dead. Their attacks against her—and the values she symbolizes—not only backfired, they are now working in her and the GOP’s favor.

What ultimately drives the media crazy is they know instinctively they are co-conspirators in her rise. From the Katie Couric interview to the over-the-top attacks by the likes of Shrum, by overplaying their hand they made Palin a bigger force than they ever intended. Had they simply been fair to Palin when she ran for vice president and treated her with decency, she would not be viewed now by so many grassroots conservatives as a victim of irrational elitist hatred. As much as John McCain in selecting her as his running mate in 2008, the MSM made her a force, and she is proving she can use that platform very effectively indeed.

Apparently, providing expert conservative analysis now consists primarily of regurgitating nonsensical right-wing fantasies about how Sarah Palin "is a fusionist who weaves the various strands of conservatism into a coherent whole" who symbolizes everything great about America and will rise of to save this nation.

Amazing.

• David Weigel: Tea Party Convention Marks Coming Out for a Movement.
• Tea Party activists loved Sarah Palin, while Joseph Farah went all Birther at the event.  What a surprise.
• Sarah Palin continues to prove that she is an absolute joke.
• As does Michael Steele.
• This is the sort of thing that goes on at the International House of Prayer.
• Republican legislators in Iowa want to undo marriage equality while Democratic legislators in Virginia want to undo the the state's constitutional amendment banning marriage equality.
• Finally, who ever would have guessed that the Illinois Family Institute would find its way back onto the SPLC's list of anti-gay hate groups?

• This was the Focus on the Family Super Bowl ad that caused all the fuss? Consider me unimpressed.
• Hooray! Sarah Palin says it would be "absurd" for her to rule out running for president in 2012.
• Speaking of Palin, she also spoke at a campaign event for Texas Gov. Rick Perry, where she shared the stage with David Barton of Wallbuilders.
• The AFA's Bryan Fischer is really intent on making his point that life would be so much better if homosexuality were criminalized.
• Carrie Prejean has gotten engaged.
• Mike Huckabee will be headlining a fundraiser for the Minnesota Family Council in late April.
• Finally, despite receiving undeservedly flattering coverage from the Washington Post for his anti-marriage efforts, Bishop Harry Jackson blasts the paper for its coverage of the marriage equality issue.

At the National Tea Party Convention, organizers announced that they would be starting a new PAC called Ensuring Liberty Corporation which would aim to "endorse, support and elect" conservative candidates for office ... provided they promised to be loyal Republicans: 

The announcement came with an official platform that could help define what the multi-faceted tea party movement stands for and expects from the candidates it supports. The group's leaders plan to support candidates who stand for a set of "First Principles."

Those principles are: fiscal responsibility, lower taxes, less government, states' rights and national security.

Prospective political candidates will be expected to support the Republican National Committee platform. If a particular candidate meets the proposed criteria he or she would be eligible for fundraising and grassroots support.

Once elected to office, members would be expected to join a congressional caucus of "like-minded representatives" who attend regular meetings and are held accountable for the votes they cast. Those who stray from the tea party path would risk losing the new organization's support and a possible re-election challenge.

That is one way of trying to take over the Republican Party. Of coruse, an even more efficient way would be to do what they are doing in South Carolina and simply merge the two:

The South Carolina Republican Party announced Monday that it’s uniting with tea party groups in the state to share resources, coordinate messaging and push the GOP in a more conservative direction.

The points of contact between the state party establishment and the grass-roots will be the Greenville County Republican Party — one of the most conservative wings of the state party — and the Upstate Coalition of Conservative Organizations, an umbrella structure of state tea party groups.

The agreement, as announced by South Carolina Republicans, is designed to serve four goals: increase precinct involvement, improve communication between the state party and grass-roots groups, create liaisons between the state party and the various tea party organizations and to work “closely to make the Republican Party more conservative.”

State Republican Party Chairman Karen Floyd told POLITICO that the arrangement came at the suggestion of a local activist who works with both the state party and local tea party groups.

“This is not something the state party by edict pushed down,” Floyd said. “This is something the grass-roots pushed up with an understanding that we are stronger together than apart.”

Floyd said that working with the groups accomplishes her goals of “growing the Republican Party, electing conservative Republicans and growing the strength of the party,” though she was careful in describing what the party intends to do in working with the tea parties to elect more conservative members.

Frankly, it is hard to see this as anything but a looming sign of the end of Tea Party activism as a movement as it gets entirely co-opted by the existing Republican power structure.  

I am utterly fascinated by the fact that seemingly nobody on the Right is willing or capable of decrying the fact that Lisa Miller has kidnapped her daughter and disappeared rather than abide by court ordered custody arrangements with her ex-partner.

So far, the National Organization for Marriage's Maggie Gallagher has been the only one even willing to say that she "cannot endorse what Lisa Miller has done," though even she followed that up by saying "but I understand it."

Others who have weighed in, like Peter Sprigg and Gordon Klingenschmitt, fully support Miller's actions, while Miller's lawyers at the Liberty Counsel have quietly been trying to wash its hands of the case and steadfastly refusing to even comment.

And now, via OneNewsNow, we find yet another activist, Peter Heck, condoning and justifying Miller's action:

It's interesting how "civil unions" are always portrayed as the happy middle ground in the battle over same-sex marriage. Even some pro-family advocates are willing to accept the legitimacy of civil unions as some sort of victory for them since they stop short of conferring the semantic title of "marriage" upon homosexual partners. And yet, this tragic story involving the innocent Isabella demonstrates that "civil unions" are not effective compromises, but rather weapons used by social activists to assist in their ongoing struggle to undo cultural norms and moral standards through legal confusion.

Consider also that Janet's attorneys are attempting to use the 1980 Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act to benefit their client. The PKPA was enacted to prevent a disgruntled parent who lost a custody hearing from taking their child into another state to try to get a different custody ruling. In other words, this law was intended to prevent a rightful biological parent from having their child taken from them. Yet, thanks to what the homosexual lobby has accomplished, this law is now being twisted into a tool to do exactly what it was intended to prevent.

When Hollywood portrays or the mainstream media reports on those practicing homosexuality, they paint a picture of normalcy that does not exist, and they engage in grotesque mischaracterizations that equate sexual behavior (that is always a choice) with genetic identity (that is never a choice). The consequence is a fundamental reshaping of society -- families reconstituted, laws rewritten, mores restructured.

Despite the propaganda campaign to portray homosexuals as passive victims and those with traditional moral values as aggressive oppressors, the "gay rights" movement is seeking this very type of cultural revolution. But don't take my word for it. Paula Ettelbrick, the former legal director for the homosexual Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, said: "Being queer is more than setting up house, sleeping with a person of the same gender, and seeking state approval for doing so....Being queer means pushing the parameters of sex, sexuality, and family, and in the process transforming the very fabric of society."

Indeed it does. And little girls like Isabella have their lives ruined in the process.

I have to take issue with Andrew Sullivan's assertion that the Tea Party movement is "Christianist" at its core.

By "Christianist," Sullivan means essentially the Religious Right and the idea that the Religious Right's anti-gay, anti-choice political agenda has played a central in Tea Party activism is ludicrous. 

When the movement began last year, the "TEA" in Tea Party stood for "Taxed Enough Already" and was aimed at the bailouts and stimulus measures put in place in an attempt to stabilize our economy.

At first, the Religious Right more or less watched from the sidelines as the fiscal conservative groups like Freedomworks, National Taxpayers Union, Americans For Tax Reform, and The Club for Growth started to institutionalize the Tea Party effort. 

Eventually, groups like the American Family Association climbed on board, as did leaders like Ralph Reed, but that was done in order to try and capitalize on the Tea Party success and tie their "Christianist" agenda to the already established Tea Party activism.  

The presence of Religious Right fringe figures like Roy Moore and Rick Scarborough at the National Tea Party Convention is more a sign of the power of the Tea Party narrative than it is of Religious Right control or influence over the movement or its agenda.

Perhaps nothing better illustrates the fundamental merging of overall right-wing movement under the banner of the Tea Party than the fact that the Tea Party front-runners at Freedomworks recently partnered with Religious Right powerhouses like the Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America despite that fact that, just a few years back, Freedomworks' founder Dick Armey was calling the socially conservative wing of the movement a bunch of stupid, lazy demagogues.

At the moment, Tea Party activism is the face of the conservative movement and so it is no surprise that Religious Right groups are climbing aboard the bandwagon in an effort to try and utilize it to press their own agenda.  

The Tea Party movement does not have a Religious Right agenda at its core, but rather as a component ... and that is only because Religious Right groups have set out aligning themselves with the movement in order to co-opt and exploit it.

Last week, the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs announced that it had set aside an outdoor worship area for Pagans, Wiccans, Druids and other believers.

Today, via AU, we see that Robert Jeffress (best known for his militantly anti-Mormon opposition to Mitt Romney) has penned a response for the Washington Post's "On Faith" in which he warns that such accommodation of the "worship of pagan deities is an open invitation for God to send His harshest judgments against our nation":

What we label today as "pluralism," God called "idolatry." The first commandment from God was, "You shall have no other gods before Me." There is no evidence that God has changed His mind on the subject. To openly violate this most basic law is to invite God's judgment upon our nation. God has judged idolatry in the past through military invasions, earthquakes, a flood, and a mixture of fire and brimstone. The book of Revelation prophesies that God will employ the same agents of His wrath during the final seven years of earth's history. There is no reason to think God is on hiatus during this present age.

"But doesn't our Constitution demand that all religions be treated equally?' you might ask.

Since God is not an American, there is no reason to think He has a particular affinity for our ideas about the separation of church and state. Nevertheless, although the First Amendment guarantees the right of every American to worship however they choose, it does not require government to provide a stone monument to facilitate that worship - even if the same government provides a chapel for Christians.

...

I don't know the cause of the Haitian earthquake, the Indonesian tsunami or 9/11. But I can say without hesitation that any nation that officially embraces idolatry is openly inviting God's wrath.

This past week government officials testified they are "certain" of another terrorist attempt on our soil within the next three to six months. One would think this would be a good time to seek God's protection rather than kindle His anger.

Last week we noted that the Thomas More Law Center had filed suit against Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 on behalf of right-wing activists and pastors in Michigan. One of those pastors was Levon Yuille, who tells OneNewsNow that he opposes hate crimes protections for gays because he finds it "demeaning [to] the black community": 

A black pastor who is challenging the constitutionality of the recently enacted federal "Hate Crimes Act" says he's offended by comparisons to the civil rights struggles of African-Americans with those who engage in homosexual behavior ... Yuille tells OneNewsNow that he also finds it insulting to equate the supposed "civil rights" struggle of homosexuals with the real civil rights struggle of African-Americans.

"I feel like individuals [are] demeaning the black community in trying to equate us to what someone chooses to do sexually," Yiulle remarks. "The totality of black people is far greater than what one would prefer to do in expressing themselves in the manner I've already stated."

The Michigan pastor says the spotlight should be on how the HIV virus is devastating his community -- women in particular. "I'm most certainly disheartened to see that there's so little focus being placed on this issue relative to so many black men participating in heterosexual and homosexual behavior -- and ultimately and regrettably a lot of black women contract AIDS through this type of behavior," he shares.

Pastor Yuille says he is taking a stand for truth, and believes he is doing what is right from a biblical, social, and health perspective.

Tom Tancredo kicked off the National Tea Party Convention last week by complaining that President Obama was elected only because America no longer requires literacy tests for voters; a position which he defended as an attempt to stand up to the "cult of multiculturalism."  In that effort, he received support from Vision America's Rick Scarborough, who declared that America would cease to exist if it becomes more than 30 percent Hispanic:

In an interview, Mr Tancredo defended his remarks, insisting they had "nothing to do with colour or ethnicity or any of that crap" but "has everything to do with people coming to America and wanting to be American". That, he explained, means stopping talking your native language and doing everything to blend in. "Under the cult of multiculturalism, we don't make them do that and that will have great implications," he said. Looking at a British reporter, he galloped on: "When the Archbishop of Canterbury says there is nothing wrong with Sharia law being practised as well as British law, you say wha-a-at?"

Among the first keynote speakers yesterday, meanwhile, was Rick Scarborough, the pastor and firebrand founder of Vision America, which had its own stall here yesterday laden with books he has written, among them Liberalism Kills Kids. He also wanted to discuss the Tancredo speech which he apparently liked very much. "I didn't hear racism," he told this reporter, before spelling out his worries. "America is a country of legal immigrants but the Left has turned it into a country of invaders," he offered bluntly. "Look at Europe and the rampant invasion of England. They are practising Sharia law and I think this crew is going to fight that." Mr Scarborough also outlines how the US is a "special country" – more than any other in the world – and that is how God intended it. He adds: "If we are to become 30 per cent Hispanic we will no longer be America." (And therefore no longer special.) "That would be a bad thing."

[The Times quotes Scarborough as saying "If this country becomes 30 per cent Hispanic we will no longer be America," which is where I got the title.]

Over the weekend, the Wall Street Journal produced yet another story about how Focus on the Family is becoming kinder and gentler under the leadership of new President Jim Daly, with Daly asserting that, unlike Dr. Dobson, he will not be endorsing political candidates, saying "I don't think that's helpful. Who cares, really, what I think?":

Mr. Daly, 48, said he wasn't backing away from Mr. Dobson's conservative social agenda, as the Super Bowl ad shows. The ministry collected more than $2.5 million just days after Mr. Daly proposed the idea.

But, Mr. Daly said, he has no use for the sharp personal attacks on politicians employed by Mr. Dobson.

"I don't see evil behind everything," Mr. Daly said. Mr. Dobson declined to be interviewed for this article.

Mr. Daly said he preferred to build bridges with others. While Mr. Dobson blasted President Barack Obama for "fruitcake" ideas, Mr. Daly praised the president for his devotion to family and last summer attended a White House event celebrating fatherhood.

On abortion, Mr. Daly said he wouldn't spend much energy fighting for a ban—though that remained his ultimate goal—but would emphasize adoption.

The ministry's political action budget is about $10 million, the same as in years past. Mr. Daly said he hasn't yet decided what role the organization will play in this year's elections.

Mr. Daly said he would reinvigorate the organization's central mission—"helping marriages, helping parents"—which he said had been overshadowed by Mr. Dobson's activism.

Politically, that may lead the group into surprising new territory. The ministry has never dealt much with immigration, for example. But Mr. Daly said he planned to take a fresh look at the issue because "families are being torn apart" through deportations.

In a related blog post, the WSJ notes that one of Focus's newest efforts is an on-line video series called "Jelly Telly" which is aimed at teaching Biblical Principles to children:

• PFAW Statement: Tancredo Sets the Tone For Tea Party: Extreme, Racist, Nativist.
• Think Progress: Ollie North On What Happens If Gays Are Allowed To Serve Openly In Military: ‘NAMBLA Members’ Are Next.
• Box Turtle Bulletin: AZ Senator Jack Harper discusses the details of a gay soldier’s life (without permission) in order to advance his anti-gay agenda.
• Minnesota Independent: Bachmann: Obama ‘wants to annihilate us!’
• Finally, the Orlando Sentinel's Scott Maxwell blasts the Florida Family Policy Council for its "dirty tactics," and the FFPC responds by attacking Maxwell for not giving them enough time to apologize.

• National Tea Party Convention organizers announced plans to form a group called "Ensuring Liberty Corporation" that will seek to raise $10 million to help conservative candidates running for office.
• An interesting race in Texas to keep an eye on between a Log Cabin Republican and the husband of former Eagle Forum president/Texas GOP Chair Cathie Adams.
• White House Office Faith Director Joshua DuBois tells David Brody that questioning President's Obama's Christian faith goes "beyond the boundaries of what's acceptable."
• Randall Terry is unimpressed with Focus on the Family's Super Bowl ad because it is not explicit enough about abortion.
• For some reason, this quote from Joseph Farah just cracked me up: "My dream is that IF Barack Obama even seeks re-election as president in 2012, he won't be able to go to any city, any town, any hamlet in America without seeing signs that ask, 'Where's the birth certificate?'"
• Finally, I will never understand the mindset of people like Peter LaBarbera and what compels them in all seriousness to write things like this: "Men were never intended to have sex with men, nor were they intended to try to turn their bodies, as God made them — into female bodies, as God made them. Wake up, America: your judicially-approved tax code is now creating incentives for one of the most tragic manifestations of rebellious man’s claim to know better than God."