---thanks for uncovering the excellent article. Reminds me of the Scientology concept called "valence"...when a person takes on or assumes the partial identity of another, or allows the "looked up to" person to act as a dominant personality; so that even if the Skousen character is physically dead, he lives on in a perverse way in Beck's body.
In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "do.rflex" <do.rf...@...> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "yifuxero" <yifuxero@> wrote: > > > > --- > > from Wiki: > > [edit] Professional life > > Skousen went to work for the Agricultural Adjustment Administration in June > > 1935. The following year he joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation > > (FBI), where he worked until 1951. > > > > From 1951 to 1955, he taught at Brigham Young University. He served as Salt > > Lake City, Utah police chief for four years before being fired in 1960, by > > Mayor J. Bracken Lee.[1][2] Skousen was summarily dismissed shortly after > > Skousen raided an illegal poker club, where J. Bracken Lee was in > > attendance.[3][4] Lee characterized Skousen's strict enforcement of > > anti-gambling laws as "like a Gestapo."[5][6] For the next fifteen years, > > Skousen edited the police journal, "Law and Order". He returned to Brigham > > Young University as a professor of religion in 1967, retiring in 1978. > > > > > I took a 'Book of Mormon' class from Skousen at BYU. I enjoyed it so much > that I took a more advanced class from him on the same topic the second > semester I was there. Religion classes were mandatory, even for non-Mormons > such as myself. > > Skousen was an excellent Book of Mormon and scripture teacher, but in my view > he was also a shifty eyed creep. I didn't trust him at all on a personal > level. > > Two semesters was all I could stand of BYU. I transfered out to the U of Utah. > > Did you read the article below, yifuxero? > > > > > > > > > > > In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "do.rflex" <do.rflex@> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > Meet the man who changed Glenn Beck's life - > > > > > > Cleon Skousen was a right-wing crank whom even conservatives despised. > > > > > > Then Beck discovered him > > > > > > > > > By Alexander Zaitchik - Salon.com - Sept. 16, 2009 > > > > > > > > > Excerpted from the article: > > > > > > In reality...the so-called 912ers were summoned to D.C. by the man who > > > changed Beck's life, and that helps explain why the movement is not the > > > nonpartisan lovefest that Beck first sold on air with his trademark tears. > > > > > > Beck has created a massive meet-up for the disaffected, paranoid > > > Palin-ite "death panel" wing of the GOP, those ideologues most > > > susceptible to conspiracy theories and prone to latch on to eccentric > > > distortions of fact in the name of opposing "socialism." > > > > > > In that, they are true disciples of the late Mormon, W. Cleon Skousen, > > > Beck's favorite writer and the author of the bible of the 9/12 movement, > > > "The 5,000 Year Leap." > > > > > > A once-famous anti-communist "historian," Skousen was too extreme even > > > for the conservative activists of the Goldwater era, but Glenn Beck has > > > now rescued him from the remainder pile of history, and introduced him to > > > a receptive new audience... > > > > > > What has Beck been pushing on his legions? "Leap," first published in > > > 1981, is a heavily illustrated and factually challenged attempt to > > > explain American history through an unspoken lens of Mormon theology. > > > > > > Anyone who has followed Beck will recognize the book's title. > > > > > > Beck has been furiously promoting "The 5,000 Year Leap" for the past > > > year, a push that peaked in March when he launched the 912 Project. That > > > month, a new edition of "The 5,000 Year Leap," complete with a laudatory > > > new foreword by none other than Glenn Beck, came out of nowhere to hit > > > No. 1 on Amazon. It remained in the top 15 all summer, holding the No. 1 > > > spot in the government category for months. > > > > > > The book tops Beck's 912 Project "required reading" list, and is > > > routinely sold at 912 Project meetings where guest speakers often use it > > > as their primary source material... > > > > > > But more interesting than the contents of "The 5,000 Year Leap," and more > > > revealing for what it says about 912ers and the Glenn Beck Nation, is the > > > book's author. > > > > > > W. Cleon Skousen was not a historian so much as a player in the history > > > of the American far right; less a scholar of the republic than a threat > > > to it. At least, that was the judgment of J. Edgar Hoover's FBI, which > > > maintained a file on Skousen for years that eventually totaled some 2,000 > > > pages. > > > > > > Before he died in 2006 at the age of 92, Skousen's own Mormon church > > > publicly distanced itself from the foundation that Skousen founded and > > > that has published previous editions of "The 5,000 Year Leap." ... > > > > > > > > > ---Willard Cleon Skousen was born in 1913 to American parents in a small > > > Mormon frontier town in Alberta, Canada. When he was 10 his family moved > > > to California, where he remained until he shipped off to England and > > > Ireland for Mormon missionary work. > > > > > > In 1935, after graduating from a California junior college, the > > > 23-year-old Skousen moved to Washington, where he worked briefly for a > > > New Deal farm agency. He then began a 15-year career with the FBI, also > > > earning a law degree from George Washington University in 1940. His posts > > > at the FBI were largely administrative and clerical in nature, first in > > > Washington and later in Kansas. > > > > > > After retiring from the FBI in 1951, Skousen joined the faculty of > > > Brigham Young University, the Latter-day Saints university in Utah. He > > > then enjoyed a tumultuous four years as chief of police in Salt Lake City. > > > > > > During his tenure he gained a reputation for cutting crime and ruthlessly > > > enforcing Mormon morals. > > > > > > But Skousen was too earnest by half. The city's ultraconservative mayor, > > > J. Bracken Lee, fired him in 1960 for excessive zeal in raiding private > > > clubs where the Mormon elite enjoyed their cards. > > > > > > "Skousen conducted his office as Chief of Police in exactly the same > > > manner in which the Communists operate their government," Lee wrote to a > > > friend explaining his firing of Skousen. > > > > > > "The man is a master of half-truths. In at least three instances I have > > > proven him to be a liar. He is a very dangerous man [and] one of the > > > greatest spenders of public funds of anyone who ever served in any > > > capacity in Salt Lake City government." ... > > > > > > After his firing from the police force, Skousen became a star on the > > > profitable far-right speakers circuit. He worked for both the > > > Bircher-operated American Opinion Speakers Bureau and Fred Schwarz's > > > Christian Anti-Communism Crusade. > > > > > > The two groups competed in describing ever more terrifying threats posed > > > by America's enemies, foreign and domestic. > > > > > > As the scenarios became more and more outlandish, the feds grew > > > concerned. In an internal memo, the FBI described Skousen's friend and > > > employer Fred Schwarz as "an opportunist," the likes of which "are > > > largely responsible for misinforming people and stirring them up > > > emotionally ... Schwartz [sic] and others like him can only do the > > > country and the anticommunist work of the Bureau harm." ... > > > > > > By 1963, Skousen's extremism was costing him. No conservative > > > organization with any mainstream credibility wanted anything to do with > > > him. > > > > > > Members of the ultraconservative American Security Council kicked him out > > > because they felt he had "gone off the deep end." One ASC member who > > > shared this opinion was William C. Mott, the judge advocate general of > > > the U.S. Navy. Mott found Skousen "money mad ... totally unqualified and > > > interested solely in furthering his own personal ends." > > > > > > When Skousen aligned himself with Robert Welch's charge that Dwight > > > Eisenhower was a "dedicated, conscious agent of the Communist > > > conspiracy," the last of Skousen's dwindling corporate clients dumped > > > him. The National Association of Manufacturers released a statement > > > condemning the Birchers and distancing itself from "any individual or > > > party" that subscribed to their views. Skousen, author of a pamphlet > > > titled "The Communist Attack on the John Birch Society," was the nation's > > > most prominent Birch defender... > > > > > > Skousen laid low for much of the '60s. But he reemerged at the end of the > > > decade peddling a new and improved conspiracy that merged left with > > > right: the global capitalist mega-plot of the "dynastic rich." Families > > > like the Rockefellers and the Rothschilds, Skousen now believed, used > > > left forces -- from Ho Chi Minh to the American civil rights movement -- > > > to serve their own power... > > > > > > Toward the end of Reagan's second term, Skousen became the center of a > > > minor controversy when state legislators in California approved the > > > official use of another of his books, the 1982 history text "The Making > > > of America." > > > > > > Besides bursting with factual errors, Skousen's book characterized > > > African-American children as "pickaninnies" and described American slave > > > owners as the "worst victims" of the slavery system. Quoting the > > > historian Fred Albert Shannon, "The Making of America" explained that > > > "[slave] gangs in transit were usually a cheerful lot, though the > > > presence of a number of the more vicious type sometimes made it necessary > > > for them all to go in chains." ... > > > > > > "The 5,000 Year Leap" is not the only Skousen title to find new life on > > > the 912 circuit. The president of the National Center for Constitutional > > > Studies, Dr. Earl Taylor Jr., is currently touring the country offering > > > daylong seminars to 912 chapters based on Skousen's "Making of America." > > > > > > For $25, participants will receive a bagged lunch and stories about > > > America's religious Founders and their happy slaves. > > > > > > An ad for Taylor's "Making of America" seminar, currently featured on the > > > Web site of the Tampa 912 Project, claims that Skousen's book is > > > "considered a great masterpiece to Constitutional students [and is] the > > > 'granddaddy' of all books on the United States Constitution." > > > > > > Like so much declaimed by W. Cleon Skousen and his 21st century acolyte > > > Glenn Beck, this last statement is fantasy. But it is also a profitable > > > and popular one. In coming to terms with a movement that has an ever more > > > tenuous relationship with accepted fact, we relearn that perennial lesson > > > grasped even by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI. Fantasies can have serious > > > consequences. > > > > > > > > > Full article here: > > > http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/09/16/beck_skousen/ > > > > > >
