Remember when Tom Tancredo (R-CO) was included in the GOP debates for President of the United States? Even after he posted videos on YouTube like this one? Luckily, the American electorate had little of that, and Tancredo did not run for reelection to his House seat.
But now Tancredo is back on the radar, endorsingan organization with the ominous name Youth for Western Civilization, now appearing on college campuses near you. Awesome! It's like a cross between Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty and... the KKK! Here's Goal Number One on their agenda:
- Inspire Western youth to organize on the basis of identity, with pride in their heritage and their history, and counter radical multiculturalism on campus.
Before you jump over the fold, remember: The GOP allowed this guy to participate in the primary race for President.
Okay, let's take a closer look now. Tancredo's other wet dreams are somehow even more bizarre:
- Counter and ultimately defeat leftism on campus by pushing the activist agenda, changing college policies in a conservative or right wing direction, and restoring a curriculum that focuses on Western history, not political correctness.
What would an approved history curriculum look like? Would students be allowed to learn about Chinese or Indian civilizations? Never mind that school curricula are often Western-centric as it is. I'm guessing the "restoration" would involve skipping over any claim that a non-"Western" individual contributed to American society. After all, this country was founded and built by... Westerners? Sorry, I don't really understand what they're trying to promote here. By Westerners, do we mean white people? There were and are other people who have lived in this country for 300 years... (For a definition of "Western", read on.)
Here's their grand long-term plan:
In the long term, we want the majority of students to leave college more right wing than when they arrived. Eventually, we would like to start changing curriculums on campus to restore an emphasis on real education and classical learning, rather than trendy multiculturalism.
One can't be sure what they mean by "real education and classical learning"-- the site, which just launched, is lacking for examples. Unfortunately we can only go so far without a concrete explanation of what Western civilization is-- so, I'm going to check out the Facebook group, where some of the bright-eyed right-wing youth have been discussing this very question.
The term 'West' refers to nations either in Western Europe or countries settled by people of Western European descent. I also include Scandinavia in the definition of the 'West' The three pillars of the 'West' in Europe are Great Britain, France, and Germany. The values of the West spread throughout Europe so that now most countries in Europe are considered part of the West. The origins of the West are in Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire.
Heh heh heh.
First of all... why isn't Eastern Europe part of the West? Are we supposed to defend Western culture from Eastern influences-- for example, in an ideal Tancredo-approved science course, would students be taught that Nikola Tesla's alternating current is inferior to Thomas Edison's direct current? Are they left out because they turned to Marxism, or do they have too much "Asiatic" influence?
Why are the Nordic countries part of the "West" when Eastern Europe is not? Recall that part of the goal of this organization is ostensibly to fight "leftism". So, did socialism arise naturally in "Scandinavia", or was it forced onto the pure Western culture by outside influences?
Hmm... or maybe they just like Nordic people because they're white...
"The origins of the West are in Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire." Another head-scratcher. I mean, this is probably what Tancredo means by "classical civilization", but surely Greece and Rome are not the only influences on Western Europe. I mean, Greece and Rome were heavily influenced by Egypt, and much of European culture comes from the Abrahamic religions of Palestine... oh... blacks and Jews.
Look at what this organization promises:
Youth for Western Civilization will help you bring top conservative speakers on your campus, including Bay Buchanan, Tom Tancredo, and many others.
Bay Buchanan, Reagan's Treasurer, is currently working for CNN as a political analyst. Does she actually support the aims of this organization? Yup-- she accepted their invitation to speak at Vanderbilt.
This the hard-core racist fringe of the GOP that the party is currently allowing to surface and the media are offering a veil of legitimacy. It's not pretty.