TeaStater Jane Cormier Turns Educator

Rep. Jane Cormier of Alton is leading a discussion series entitled "Constitution 101" at the Gilman Library in Alton. From the Laconia Daily Sun:

This course, "The Meaning and History of the Constitution" is a 10 part presentation by Hillsdale College. Rep. Jane Cormier will moderate the classes and discussion, which will include a video and study guide discussion.

Hillsdale College is a private (no gummint funding!) school in Hillsdale, Michigan. The President of the college recently received some attention for his testimony before a subcommittee of the state legislature:

While testifying against the Common Core, which have been adopted in more than 40 states in an effort to standardize education, Arnn said he took issue with the idea of government interfering with educational institutions and went on to describe a letter he had received from the Department of Education shortly after becoming president at Hillsdale. The letter, he told the committee, said his college "violated the standards for diversity because we didn't have enough dark ones, I guess, is what they meant."

These comments led to the now-standard fauxpology:

Several hours after Arnn made his initial statements, Hillsdale College issued an official apology. “No offense was intended by the use of that term except to the offending bureaucrats," read the statement, which was published by MLive. It further said that while Arnn was sorry if offense was taken, his greater concern “is the state-endorsed racism the story illustrates."

In other words, he's sorry that he got negative attention for making the comments, but that's all he's sorry for. In 1984 Hillsdale stopped accepting federal funds, because of affirmative action. In 2007, Hillsdale stopped accepting state funds. In 2010, they issued a Resolution Against Federal Interference, which essentially says, you can't make us take dark ones if we don't wanna. The college advertises on Rush Limbaugh's radio show. The Mission and Moral Commitments document makes clear that this is not a gay-friendly institution. 

Hillsdale has a "Statues of Liberty" walk that includes statues of Margaret Thatcher and Saint Ronald Reagan. 

The Constitution 101 materials are generated by the Allan P. Kirby Center for Constitutional Studies at Hillsdale, where Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas's wife Ginni is a consultant. Past speakers at their Constitution Day festivities include Paul Ryan and Charles Krauthammer. The Center is closely tied to the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation. 

Representative Cormier is bringing a slanted curriculum from a college desperate to conceal its bigotry to the public library in Alton. That's no surprise. Rep. Cormier is firmly allied with the Tea Party/John Birch Society/Free Stater faction of our state legislature. The self-styled Constitutional experts of the NH legislature are many. They embrace the Second Amendment and the double triple secret 13th Amendment. The rest of those pesky amendments, eh....not so much. 

It amuses me that Cormier is so worshipful of a document (and the men who wrote it) that didn't even consider her a person. I'm further amused by the fact that Cormier and her allies hate all things "public" and "gummint"  - yet they always seem to use public buildings or spaces for their events.  Shouldn't those who want all things privatized find private space to use? Apparently the idea of opening her home to the great unwashed masses held little appeal for Rep. Cormier. Tee hee. 


PS I don't in any way intend this as a criticism of the Gilman Library. Our public libraries should be free speech zones, open to all views and speakers.