Tea Party's 'historian', David Barton, admits it: I'm not a historian

[ck4829]

Barton: I really kind of do a whole lot of all of it, but I don't consider myself a historian because I'm not sure there is such a thing ... So I really don't call myself a historian. I probably know more about history than most folks. I've probably read more history books than most folks, I've read thousands and literally tens of thousands. But I don't consider myself a historian; I just happen to know some things about it.

I don't think anybody can ever be an expert, per se, because in the case of history we have millions of documents at the Library of Congress, at the National Archives. If I've read a million of them, let's say, that's still only one percent of the knowledge that's out there. How can I be an expert with one percent knowledge? I may know more than some other people in this area, but I can't really consider myself a historian or an expert because there is too much left too learn, there is too much still to come to and in that sense I don't look at myself as a historian.

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/barton-i-dont-consider-myself-historian

[blogslut]

1. How can that man even speak?

His mouth is so completely full of meal.

[Ship of Fools]

2. I'm far from a being a genius, but THIS is just pathetic ...

[RockaFowler]

3. It's like that old commercial

I'm not a doctor, I just play one on TV

I'm not a historian, I just play one on TV

[sinkingfeeling]

4. Duh!

[pinboy3niner]

5. "Forget the fact that I'm unqualified; I don't call myself that 'cause I'm HUMBLE, see"

Yeah, that's the ticket!

A wiki excerpt on Barton:

Barton is a collector of early American documents, and his official biography describes him as "an expert in historical and constitutional issues."<3> Barton holds no formal credentials in history or law, and critics (for example those discussed below) dispute the accuracy and integrity of his assertions about history, accusing him of practicing misleading historical revisionism and "pseudoscholarship."<4><5><6> His research has been described as flawed by many historians, who dismiss his work as that of "a biased amateur who cherry-picks quotes from history and the Bible."<7>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Barton_(author)#Biography

[GodlessBiker]

6. "I've read thousands and literally tens of thousands [of history books]. This guy is like SNL's ...

Penelope. What a joke.

[Blue Owl]

7. Hey but he plays one on TV

Isn't that all that REALLY matters to the Tea Party/M$M?

This shit ain't real, it's all manufactured.

[drm604]

8. Wow. He's one voracious reader.

According to his wiki biography he's 56 or 57, depending on the month.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Barton_(author)

According to the article linked in the OP he has claimed "I've probably read more history books than most folks, I've read thousands and literally tens of thousands."

So, if he's 57 and started reading history books when he was 10, 10,000 books comes to over 212 a year. But he didn't say ten thousand, he said tens of thousands. In fact, he said literally tens of thousands. So he's claiming to have read 20,000 history books at a minimum. So, if he started at age 10 (doubtful) he's read over 425 history books a year since then.

This man is amazing. He's a reading machine. He deserves our respect and attention!

[Blue_Tires]

9. lol...10,000 books

i'm sure!

[Historic NY]

10. I have several thousand books...& no I've not read every one..

then again mine are mainly reference or first person diaries or journals. Just what is he reading crib notes.