Is America Ready For A Mormon President, Specifically Mitt Romney?

Not all people who are serious evangelical church goers are right-wing fanatics. An old friend of mine structures much of her life around her church and she takes it really seriously. Mostly what she takes seriously-- and I mean really seriously-- are Jesus' message and his words. This has led her to being a consistent voter for Democrats, although she's a registered independent (Decline To State) and to be an unrelenting advocate for equality for society's most vulnerable groups, particularly racial minorities, gays, the poor and immigrants. I think she must drive some of the other church-goes in her rural, very Republican hometown up a pew wall. But she's intrepid and determined... determined to carry Jesus' word forward. This week she told me about a horrible racial discrimination suit in Big Bear, where she lives.

Bear Valley Unified School District, the school board, a teacher, principal and interim superintendent of schools have been named in a federal law suit. The suit charges that the defendants violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the equal protection clause of the 14 Amendment.

The suit was filed July 20 in U.S. District Court by MALDEF on behalf of Coral Aviles. The Latina student claims she was harassed publicly and suffered racial discrimination in 2010 by a teacher at Big Bear Middle School. MALDEF is the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

During a press conference July 21, the student, her mother and representatives of MALDEF talked about the suit and the environment for racial discrimination in the country today.

Coral says she wore a Mexico T-shirt to school during the final days of the school year in June 2010 to show her support for Mexico playing in the World Cup soccer tournament. She said her teacher, Suzy Carpenter, after asking her if she was Mexican, asked Coral what the girl was doing in her country. Coral claims Carpenter said it was because of people like her (Coral) that she had to pay high taxes.

The incident sent Coral to then-principal Julie Chamberlin’s office. The matter was not resolved entirely, according to the suit. The girl didn’t return to the classroom for the remainder of the school year, instead she spent one day with the custodian picking up trash and another in the yearbook staff class.

When we talk about politics, we mostly talk about that kind of on-the-ground politics that touches peoples' lives in very direct and visceral ways. Sometimes we wander into national politics, though. Her biggest worry on that front is that Mitt Romney could become president. It fascinates me to hear her talk about the Mormon cult, a discussion which is always preceded by assurances that she knows some really nice Mormon people-- California has more Mormons, by far, than any state other than Utah-- and that they are kind and neighborly.

But she worries that the Mormon power structure wants to take over the country. And that their version of Jesus has one thing in common with the actual Jesus-- the name. The Mormon "Jesus" was born on another planet and is the brother of Satan and... whole other crazy trip than the Christian Jesus. But Mormons love to point out-- and they always do-- that they believe in Jesus too. Turns out there are other Americans who have the same paranoia about Mormons-- and about Mitt Romney in particular.

The day after last seeing my friend from Big Bear, a journalist turned me onto a website about a new film, A Mormon President. I posted the trailer below and the film purports to be about Joseph Smith, who ran for President, although the website has prominently-placed photos of Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman and seems to be offering a "Bonus DVD Feature: Mitt Romney and Modern Mormon candidates."

I have an entirely different set of reasons about Romney's lack of fitness to me president and they have to do with his clear record as an economy destroyer and someone who has built a fortune around systematically devastating companies and jobs for quickie profits for himself. You think Hoover, Bush and Obama were bad? Mitt Romney-- Mormon or not-- would make both of them look good.