For the average Religious Right leader, getting into bed with Glenn Beck is usually a pretty good career move. After all, Beck’s empire still brings in boatloads of cash despite his expulsion from Fox News. The problem is Beck himself isn’t exactly picky about his partners, and that can lead to serious embarrassment – as Family Research Council Executive Vice President William G. “Jerry” Boykin recently discovered.

Boykin, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general best known for his extreme dislike of Muslims, was supposed to speak at the Beck-backed “Founding Faith Conference,” a gathering set to take place in Texas September 20-21.

The conference website can’t even be accessed without a password now (nothing suspicious there!), but Salon’s Alex Seitz-Wald reported that the confab intends to “train fellow citizens in the Founder’s view of Law and Government and be equipped to give them a working knowledge of our Founding Documents.” The conference’s website also noted at one point that Boykin would participate in a VIP dinner, photo op and panel discussion, Seitz-Wald said.

In a radio ad for the gathering, Beck even asked listeners to “join my good friend General Jerry Boykin” at the conference, telling people to “Sign up today for the Founding Faith Conference and learn how to boldly defend your conservative principles in any situation.”

But here’s the thing about the “Founding Faith Conference:” It’s not your average gathering of right-wing ideologues. In fact, it’s associated with a pro-Confederate group.

Warren Throckmorton, a professor at Grove City College in Pennsylvania, said on his blog that the “Founding Faith Conference” is sponsored by the Institute on the Constitution (IOTC), which was founded and is directed by Michael Peroutka, the 2004 presidential candidate for the Constitution Party. The Institute leans heavily on material produced by “Christian nation” advocates John Eidsmoe and David Barton.

Worse yet, Throckmorton noted that the IOTC has ties to the League of the South, a radical outfit that seeks to preserve the “Anglo-Celtic culture” of the South. The League, which can’t seem to accept that the Civil War ended in 1865, is actually working toward secession. It has even been labeled a racist hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

So it seems that when word of the truth behind this conference got out last week, thanks to the efforts of Throckmorton and others, Boykin bailed.

Margaret Andrews, who works for the group that organized the conference, told Salon that she respects Boykin’s decision and that she had no idea of the IOTC’s association with the League of the South. She also told Salon that Beck has no role at the conference and is just a paid promoter.

“I cannot speak with any authority of the relationship between the League of The South and the Institute on The Constitution, which was recently brought to my attention,” Andrews said. “However, as you can see from the event web site, the conference will still be featuring many diverse presenters who will be speaking on a variety of different civil rights and constitutional issues of our day.”

There are two lessons here for Gen. Boykin. First, it’s best not to trust Glenn Beck (that probably goes without saying). Second, do a little research before you agree to speak at a conference. I hear the Google is a great tool.

Of course, one has to wonder what Boykin knew about the IOTC and the League of the South beforehand and whether or not he had any issues with their radical agendas. Given some of his extreme statements in the past, it’s very possible Boykin had no qualms with these groups and backed out only because of the public scrutiny. We’ll never know, but it makes you wonder.

This whole situation was an embarrassment for Boykin and the FRC. Here’s hoping he has learned his lesson.