Is it too early to worry about this stuff as the beginnings of a new fascist movement? When do we worry about this stuff seriously? From the 2006 state GOP Convention in Texas:

At Saturday morning’s prayer meeting, party leader Tina Benkiser assured them that God was watching over the two-day confab.

“He is the chairman of this party,” she said against a backdrop of flags and a GOP seal with its red, white and blue logo.

The party platform, adopted Saturday, declares “America is a Christian nation” and affirms that “God is undeniable in our history and is vital to our freedom.”

“We pledge to exert our influence toward a return to the original intent of the First Amendment and dispel the myth of the separation of church and state,” it says.

…

At Saturday morning’s prayer meeting, ministers delivered prayers, gospel singers sang, and the Rev. Dale Young, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Laredo, picked up the convention’s dominant theme of immigration.

“Lord, your words tell us there’s a sign that this nation is under a curse, when the alien who lives among us grows higher and higher and we grow lower and lower,” he preached.

BTW, someone want to reassure me that “the alien who lives among us” doesn’t mean me?

This is the state GOP convention in the second largest state in the union. The #@!@#& state GOP…. Tina Benkiser is the chairman of the party, not some random minor figure. The prayer meeting wasn’t a fringe event. This is the front page of the Texas GOP home page as of 10 minutes ago:

Read the first line of the image.

Some elements of the platform are the same from years past. So, perhaps I’m overreacting or taking it too seriously. You can see that this didn’t get much mention in most news outlets.

Still scares me, as it’s the first time I’ve learned about this.

(via Atrios)