The American View

The American View is a weekly, hour-long (Sun: 3-4 PM ET on Radio America), nationally syndicated paleoconservative radio show hosted by Constitution Party 2004 presidential candidate Michael Peroutka and co-host "Recovering Republican" turned "recovering member of the CP" John Lofton. Its thesis claims that there is an American View of law and government outlined in the US Declaration of Independence:
*There is a God (Christian).
*The rights of human beings come from that God.
*The purpose of government is to protect and secure those rights.
*When government becomes destructive of those rights, it is the duty of the people to alter or abolish their government.

The American View regularly propounds a constitutional, Christian conservative commentary on American politics. They do not believe anyone but Christians should hold public office, and they regard the Bible as an authoritative legal document that is not in conflict with the United States Constitution. Recent examples include:
*Opposition to George W. Bush's faith-based initiative
*Opposition to the Federal Marriage Amendment, arguing that a better solution is to impeach or ignore what they call activist judges
*Opposition to the War in Iraq on the basis that it is unconstitutional.
*Opposition to illegal immigration on the basis that it causes increases in crime and burdens local government and social service networks
*Opposition to the neoconservative movement, specifically citing William Kristol.
*Opposition to the concept of tolerance, especially of homosexuals, criticizing others of not using the Biblical argument against homosexuality
*Opposition to women serving in uniform or holding elected office
*Opposition to all abortion.
*Refusal to consider the concept of global warming or environmental destruction, believing instead that God keeps everything in check and will prevent any serious damage to the environment

Controversies
In June of 2006, Lofton challenged political and science activist and blogger Ed Brayton to record a debate. This was prompted by comments made by Brayton at the Positive Liberty blog disputing the logic of Lofton at The American View blog where Lofton called for the impeachment of a Maryland judge for not imposing God's law in a ruling that said the state's constitution could not allow a ban on gay marriage. Brayton offered an online, written debate, arguing that it would allow access for larger audience than that of The American View radio show, would allow the two to speak more thoughtfully and provide for verifiable citations and references to support their positions, and would remove concerns of the taped debate being deceptively edited prior to broadcast. Lofton repeatedly refused a written debate, ultimately calling Brayton a "coward."

On the website, John Lofton often writes editorials where he emasculates members of the Republican and Constitution Parties along with some in the wider conservative movement. He will often criticize others who did or do not support him or Michael Peroutka's 2004 campaign, or who side with the Republican Party over conservative third-party choices as being liars, ideologically impure, or simply mindless cheerleaders. Following the 2007 Virginia Tech Massacre, John Lofton wrote an editorial blaming the event on the students' inability to bring firearms into their classrooms. He further criticized the students for not defying the ban and bringing in handguns anyway. The article has since been pulled from the website.

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