Now this is my type of debate. An alleged “bearded Marxist” debating an alleged “former witch” about the 17th amendment. You can imagine me wolfing down popcorn in feverish excitement while watching the debate of Delaware Republican Senate Candidate Christine O’Donnell and Democratic opponent Chris Coons.
O’Donnell was ridiculed for her apparent lack of knowledge of the Constitution last night. Now, hold on to your chair, I am about to defend . . . partially.
The first exchange to produce laughs was when she asked Coons “Where in the Constitution is the separation of church and state?”
That particular question does not necessary show a lack of understanding of the Constitution. Many conservative activists have argued that the Constitution was never intended to create a “wall of separation” between Church and State. Indeed, the language of a “wall of separation” is not in the Constitution. It came from Thomas Jefferson’s famous letter to the committee of the Danbury Baptist Association that reads:
Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between Church and State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties.
O’Donnell may have been thinking of the “wall” debate in asking Coons, “The First Amendment does? . . . Let me just clarify: You’re telling me that the separation of church and state is found in the First Amendment?”
Coons correctly responds with a reference to the establishment clause: “Government shall make no establishment of religion.”
O’Donnell then asks “That’s in the First Amendment…?” Yup.
Coons also correct to again ask O’Donnell about her views on evolution after she appeared to question the separation of church and state. If there is no such separation in her view, it magnifies the importance of her purported view that evolutionary theories are invalid. I have previously written a column about the right of the media to press candidates on their faith when they run in part on faith-based politics.
O’Donnell clearly had trouble on the other amendments. She was asked if she would repeal the 14th, 16th, or 17th Amendments if elected.
“The 17th Amendment I would not repeal” but then asked a person in the audience to explain what the 14th and 16th amendments were, adding “I’m sorry, I didn’t bring my Constitution with me.” I can certainly understand not recalling that the 16th amendment deals with the apportionment of taxes — not exactly a hot button amendment for most people. I can even understand gapping on the 17th on the direct election of Senators. But the 14th is a . . . well . . . a biggy after the whole Civil War thing.
The gap on the 14th was particularly embarrassing after O’Donnell accused Coons of constitutional ignorance by remarking “perhaps they didn’t teach you Constitutional law at Yale Divinity School.”
Now, I want to emphasize that O’Donnell is not expressing hostility to Yale Divinity School because she is a witch. She denies she is a witch. I am still a bit unsure why going to Yale Divinity School is a put down. I would think you would want a suspected bearded Marxist to go to divinity school, particularly after you just criticized him for attacking churches in the same debate. One thing is clear. The Delaware election should never end. For constitutional scholars, this is the best reality show on TV.
Source: CBS
Jonathan Turley
Byron,
And what was Miller’s motive for voting in the “online poll” more than once??
“The records corroborate statements made earlier this month by former borough Mayor Jim Whitaker who said Miller engaged in “proxy voting” in a failed bid to oust state GOP chairman Randy Ruedrich at the 2008 Alaska Republican convention.”
*****
Miller is a big phony. He said unemployment insurance was unconstitutional. Later, he admitted his wife went on unemployment after she had worked for him. He brought security goons with him to a town hall meeting who handcuffed a journalist who was trying to ask him questions.
Matt Taibbi wrote about Joe Miller in one of his pieces for his Rolling Stone blog.
More Tea Party Hilarity (10/12/2010)
By Matt Taibbi
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/matt-taibbi/blogs/TaibbiData_May2010/218982/83512
Excerpt:
Quelle surprise! So it turns out that one after another of the Tea Party candidates is in one way or another mooching off the government. The latest series of hilarious disclosures center around Alaska’s GI-Joe-bearded windbag Senatorial candidate, Joe Miller, who appears to have run virtually the entire gamut of government aid en route to becoming a staunch, fist-shaking opponent of the welfare state.
Miller’s pomposity and piety with regard to government aid programs has all along been in line with the usual screechingly hysterical self-righteousness Tea Party candidates bring to such matters, railing against Obamacare and other “entitlement” programs and promising to end the “welfare state.” That makes it all the more delicious now that he and his family have been exposed for taking state medical aid, unemployment insurance, farm subsidies, hell, even for using state equipment to run a private political campaign.
Back in June, Miller was saying this about his Republican primary opponent Lisa Murkowski, blasting her for supporting a state health care program:
“As you are aware, just last week the Anchorage Daily News reported that the Denali KidCare Program funded 662 abortions last year. Senator Murkowski has been a champion of this program, voting against the majority of her Republican colleagues for CHIPRA (HR 2) in January of 2009.”
Of course it now turns out that back in the Nineties, Miller himself and his three children (with one on the way; he now has eight) were at one point receiving assistance via a program almost exactly like the Denali KidCare program, which is only for low-income earners. Various reports note that Miller received this assistance after he’d bought a house and been hired by a prestigious law firm; he also got low-income hunting and fishing licenses during that time. It’s also come out that he received some $7,000 in farm subsidies and that his wife received unemployment insurance benefits.
Swarthmore Mom:
is gambling legal in Nevada? If it is then Sharon Angle can do nothing to stop it even if she wanted to. How is Latino voting being suppressed? When I go to my polling place I must provide a picture id and another form of identification and must give them my address. If I don’t, I cant vote. It seems reasonable to me, why is it unreasonable for Hispanics to provide the same information?
If a person is eligible to vote then providing proper documentation should be no big deal. The responsibility lies with the individual to obtain the necessary documentation not with the authorities to make it so anyone can vote.
Byron: Reid is losing to one of the worst candidates to ever run for the U S Senate, Sharon Angle. I hope the SEIU stuffs the ballot box in order to counter the suppression of the Latino vote. The crooked republican governor has not helped the state. I heard a casino operator on CNBC the other day saying that he is a republican for Reid because Angle will be harmful to the casino industry. She is a fundamentalist southern baptist. Gambling is one of the only industries there that is coming back, and she thinks gambling is a sin. I guess you are supportive of candidates that are bad for business.
Elaine:
now if we can only get “Dirty” Harry Reid to admit that he is stuffing the ballot box with the help of SEIU workers it will be a true blow for representative democracy.
I don’t believe Joe Millers transgression is quite as bad, it was an online poll and we have all “voted” more than once in those. Harken back to the Turley Best Legal Blog voting. Which is much like what Miller was voting for. It was a poll to see which candidate would fair better, it was not a local, state or national election.
Pardon me if I yawn over Joe Miller when there are actual egregious acts of voter fraud being perpetrated in this election cycle. Hopefully the dead will only get to vote once in Chicago and elsewhere, illegal aliens will be challenged before they get to vote and absentee ballots will be properly considered and attributed to the correct candidate.
I’ve watched two different videos of the Kentucky incident and there’s no way around what Tim Profitt did. Even the lunge claim is questionable in that the victim says she was trying to escape from the group of men that had surrounded her. It’s going to be interesting to see what kind of charges are brought and if, due to Profitt’s position with the Paul campaign, civil charges against the campaign committee would have a chance at success.
We’re talkin’ MoveOn here and a slight-built 23 year old woman who looks like a 14 year old girl. And then of course she receives treatment at a hospital and is diagnosed with a concussion and shoulder sprain and I believe it was from the hospital that she talks to the police and then has a statement for the media. The videos have gone viral and the Paul campaign has completely disassociated themselves from their own County Coordinator.
Whatever the legal outcome, I believe it is safe to say that Tim Profitt is going to have a few very uncomfortable weeks, months … possibly years.
An interesting story about another Tea Party candidate:
Al Reynolds, Tea Party Candidate For Illinois Senate, Says Black Men Prefer Drug Dealing To Education
Huffington Post (10/26/2010)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/26/al-reynolds-tea-party-can_n_774432.html
Excerpt:
Republican Party leaders in central Illinois are calling on their own candidate for state senate to step down following racist remarks he made at a candidate’s forum last week.
Al Reynolds, who is considered the Tea Party candidate in Illinois’ 52nd District, has been out of the spotlight since saying that African American men preferred dealing drugs to going to college, because it is “easier.”
“I’ve been in the city and the dichotomy of the women and the men in the minorities, there is a difference in the fact that most minority women, either the single parent or coming from a poor neighborhood, are motivated more so than the minority men,” Reynolds said, when asked what he would do to increase diversity at state colleges. “And it’s a pretty good reason. Most of the women who are single parents have to find work to support their family. The minority men find it more lucrative to be able to do drugs or other avenues rather than do education. It’s easier.”
More on Joe Miller–another fine Tea Party candidate:
Joe Miller: ‘I Lied’ About Accessing Computers For Political Purposes
The Huffington Post |
Elyse Siegel Posted: 10-26-10
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/26/joe-miller-documents-i-lied_n_774472.html
Excerpt:
Amid a political firestorm of controversy surrounding Alaska Senate candidate Joe Miller’s ethics violations while working as a government attorney in 2008, new details emerged on Tuesday night revealing that the Republican hopeful himself admitted to lying about his complicity in the matter.
“I lied about accessing all of the computers,” wrote Miller in an e-mail to Fairbanks North Star Borough attorney Rene Broker in March of 2008 in the wake of allegations he used the office technology for political purposes. “I then admitted about accessing the computers, but lied about what I was doing. Finally I admitted what I did.”
The remarks from Miller came to light in a 60-page dispatch of records released (PDF) by the Alaska borough after a judge issued a court order for the files to be made public.
Swarthmore mom: How’s your sweet puppy? Hope all is well.
Byron,
No sympathy whatsoever! Profitt’s not such a tough guy after all–just a thug…a right-wing ruffian.
There are lots of crazies around this campaign season–including a number of candidates.
Elaine:
have you no sympathy? 🙂
Man you are really cold, the poor guy has a bad back and you expect him to bend over to hold down a vict, uh er protester.
Here’s Tim Profitt’s excuse for stepping on Lauren Valle’s head:
From TPMDC
Kentucky Stomper: I Stomped Because Of Back Pain
Brian Beutler | October 26, 2010
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/10/kentucky-stomper-i-stomped-because-of-back-pain.php
The former Rand Paul volunteer who stomped on the head of a prone MoveOn activist tells a local CBS affiliate he would’ve never put his foot on the victim at all if it wasn’t for his bad back.
According to WKYT, “[Tim] Profitt explained that he used his foot to try and keep her down because he can’t bend over because of back problems. He also says police were alerted to watch her before Paul arrived because people in the crown recognized her as someone who may try and pull a stunt.”
Byron, you’e brough up Gladney before. Here’s the vid. He didn’t get “beat up”. He got pulled to the ground and was up in about 1/2 sec looking no worse for wear. The first fellow you see on the ground is a SIUE member, Gladney is to his right in a brown shirt. When the police come Gladney says ‘he attacked me’ and the guy that was on the ground says ‘he attacked me’. In any event it looks like a frat-house disagreement and Gladney didn’t get the worst of it by any means. You may want to go to UTube and full-screen it to see it.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTXBOgPCh9w&fs=1&hl=en_US]
byron It is a coton de tulear and a yorkie. We drove to Keller,Tx. She found her on Craig’s list.
Blouise:
“The sky is bright orange … bright orange! I’ve never seen it this color …”
Orange sky at night, put your head between your legs and kiss your butt goodbye. 🙂
SM:
what is a Yorkieton?
Byron She is kinda fufu. She is a yorkieton. She was my daughter’s pup but she couldn’t take care of her.
Red sky at night sailors delight.
The pressure fall was the lowest recorded since the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald in the Great Lake Region.
RANK EVENT DATE MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE
1. GREAT OHIO BLIZZARD 1/26/1978 950 HPA /28.05 IN/
2. UPCOMING EVENT 10/26-27/2010 959 HPA* /28.35 IN/
3. ARMISTICE DAY STORM 11/11/1940 967 HPA /28.55 IN/
ANNIVERSARY STORM 11/10/1998 967 HPA /28.55 IN/
4. CYCLONE OF 1913 11/7-9/1913 968 HPA /28.60 IN/
/AKA WHITE HURRICANE/
5. EDMUND FITZGERALD STORM 11/10/1975 980 HPA /28.95 IN/
test for wordpress
Byron,
“The repubs should have censured him and the people of La. should throw his ass out.”
Didn’t you mean to write that they should throw his “diapered ass” out?
*****
Bdaman,
“She’s wearing a wig a hooded jacket…”
Ohmigod–a wig and a hooded jacket! Call the bomb squad!
Speaking for myself, I’m much less fearful of wig wearers at political events than I am of people packing side arms. It’s kind of hard to whack someone to death with fake tresses–pretty easy to take someone out with a gun.
Swarthmore Mom:
Come on, that is ridiculous on it’s face. I know a bunch of Tea Partiers and most are big pansies. My 4 year old nephew could kick their butts.
Not to bring up old news but a black guy, a conservative by the way, got his ass beat at a democrat/union rally in St. Louis. Does that mean that all union members who vote for democrats are racist thugs?
There is enough of this type of thing on both sides of the political spectrum.
Bdaman,
The sky is bright orange … bright orange! I’ve never seen it this color …