“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Self-professed Marxist Democrat Chris Coons messed up today in his debate with Conservative Christine O’Donnell. Coons insisted that the First Amendment declared, “”Government shall make no establishment of religion.” The First Amendment actually reads, “”Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” Christine O’Donnell correctly challenged Coons on his misinterpretation. In fact, O’Donnell was correct. The First Amendment does not prohibit the free exercise of religion or speech as Coons was suggesting. It certainly was not included in the First Amendment.
Unfortunately for O’Donnell, by questioning the church and state commandment she put herself further in the doghouse with the state-run media. They lambasted her for questioning their leftist dogma.
CBS News reported:
Republican Senate Candidate Christine O’Donnell today challenged her Democratic opponent Chris Coons on his statement that the Constitution disallowed the integration of religion into the federal government, asking, “Where in the Constitution is the separation of church and state?”
The exchange, which prompted laughs from the studio audience, came during a debate this morning at Delaware’s Widener School of Law, which was aired by WDEL radio.
In a discussion over the whether or not public schools should be allowed to integrate religion-based ideas into science curricula, O’Donnell argued that local school districts should have the choice to teach intelligent design if they choose.
When asked point blank by Coons if she believed in evolution, however, O’Donnell reiterated that her personal beliefs were not germane. “What I think about the theory of evolution is irrelevant,” she emphasized, adding later that the school of thought was “not a fact but a theory.”
Coons said that creationism, which he considers “a religious doctrine,” should not be taught in public schools due to the Constitution’s First Amendment. He argued that it explicitly enumerates the separation of church and state.
“The First Amendment does?” O’Donnell asked. “Let me just clarify: You’re telling me that the separation of church and state is found in the First Amendment?”
“Government shall make no establishment of religion,” Coons responded, reciting from memory the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. (Coons was off slightly: The first amendment actually reads “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”)
“That’s in the First Amendment…?” O’Donnell responded.
Of course, the interpretation by Coons and the media is hardly a concensus. In fact the Supreme Court will hear a school choice case next week on this very issue.
UPDATE: Glenn Reynolds has several updates on this latest attack on O’Donnell.
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Published May 24, 2012 at 8:46 pm - 91 Comments
free` commented:
Just like the media did to Palin. Doesn’t matter what she says or said, the msm will write whatever they want.
Melvin Winter commented:
Related parody (relating to the Ratification Clause of the Constitution): Supreme Court Strikes Down Constitution http://optoons.blogspot.com/2010/04/supreme-court-strikes-down-constitution.html
neomom commented:
She’s dumb like a fox. This thing aint over. Another check sent off to Christine.
Mikey commented:
Of ALL the races that are happening right now, O’Donnell is the one I want to win the most. S
Mike commented:
Progressives do not see the fidderence between Federal and Local Govt. let alone the three branches. It’s all just “Government” to them. Congress can’t make any law that establishes religion or halts the establishment there of in any state. That is what “with respect to the establishment of religion” means. They can’t make it happen or stop it if it does. Only the State in which it happens can if they choose per the 10th Amendment.
TXPatriot commented:
When she says, “That’s” what does that word refer to? The establishment clause that Coons cited OR the separation of church and state. It reads like she was reacting to the clause, but when everyone is talking, it sounds like it refers to the separation of church and state… which is NOT in the Bill of Rights.
Further, he states the first part, but leaves out the second:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
It seems to me that Creationism not being taught because the federal government doesn’t want it taught would, in fact, violate the second part.
Rachelle commented:
The courts have created a church and state separation that does not exist in the Constitution.
The Constitution bars an established state religion and it looks to the Church of England as the official religion of England for its example.
Not having an official state religion [an established religion] is not the same thing as having a complete separation of church and state as the media and some courts insist.
gus commented:
The FIRST AMENDMENT means whatever LIBTARDS want it to mean.
To a LIBTARD. Yes means NO if they want it to.
Take San Francisco for example.
Keep your hands off of womens bodies when they want to kill babies.
Keep your hands on womens bodies when they want to buy a HAPPY MEAL.
Liberals do not care what the Constitution says. They decided that the 1st AMENDMENT WORDS RESTRICTING THE GOVERNMENT from interfering with the FREE EXERCISE (of religion) THEREOF…..does not exist.
Much like the second amendment. The RIGHT to KEEP and BARE arms DOES NOT EXIST.
Mark S. commented:
I was thinking the same way you were Tx… which phrase did the “That” went to do?
That being said, either way, O’Donnell’s right in her response.. Coons misquoted the Constitution so she could be calling him on that, or she could be calling him on the carpet for the separation statement.
And you can be assured, every LSM outlet will report it wrong.
gus commented:
The PROBLEM here is that the MFM and LIBTARDS everywhere, BELIEVE what COONS believes. They don’t care what the WORDS are.
They interpret it anyway they want.
wanumba commented:
At all these debates, a copy of the Declaration /US Constitution pamphlet should be handed out to every audience member.
The Left kicked out the entire Western Literature tradition out of schools because in order to really understand it, one HAS to have read the Bible.
Now, we have unconnected, Liberal Left, narcissist, nilistic, cynical and propaganda crap as ‘literature’. People accept twistings of quotes because it ‘sorta sounds’ right.
Now, with an ignorant population, the Left says ANYTHING. Time to make the public look at what was actually written and compare it against what the Left is claiming.
Further, by protesting teaching of creationism along with evolutionism – which normally would be intellectually appropriate because they ARE the ONLY TWO theories out there that deal with the subject of where this present existance came from, and by impartial standards, (insisted upon by the Leftist themselves when they need something they want) even if one doesn’t agree, one has to be aware of what they BOTH entail – the premise is schools are an extension of the STATE now. The schools are GOVERNMENT now.
There isn’t anything in the Constitution that justifies an establishment of a Federal, government-controlled school system. Constitutionally, it’s an usurption of states and private pursuits. Practically, by this power grab, education has been highjacked to be used as a tool to mold captive generations into Leftists, favoring ONE narrow political spectrum at the expense of all others.
The LEFT seized the schools, uses them to indoctrinate the religion of the Left – what else is a ‘world view’ – and then slithers around pretending its protecting the nest from ‘religious extremists.’ They also work day and night to shut down independent schools and home schooling – constantly trying to expand their control.
kozanne commented:
Mark S, they already are reporting it as if Ms. O’Donnell thinks she doesn’t need to know the Constitution.
Of course, nobody is mentioning that 0bama and Pelousy, et al seem to think they don’t need to know it either!
gastorgrab commented:
The establishment clause is not a mandate. It is an expression of ‘negative liberties’, and not the fabricated, socialist concept of ‘positive liberties’, that liberals would have us believe.
Parents CAN force their children to abide by whatever standards they set, as parents. Even religious standards. If a parent wants to send their child to a religious school, no authority on the planet has the right to second-guess them.
———————
***Attention school children!***
- Chris Coon has declared that your parents cannot make you eat your broccoli!
- Chris Coons has declared that you don’t have to clean your room!
- Chris Coons has declared that your sexual freedom, is your business, and that parents may not interfere with whatever choices you make!
- Chris Coons has declared that having a tattoo is the right of every school child!
.
Amelia commented:
Gus- it’s “bear” arms, unless you are referring to a right to tank tops, which I’m fairly sure is not in the constitution nor in any amendments. Gastorgrab- Chris Coons is implying the opposite; he does not think that any religious doctrine should be imposed in PUBLIC schools (would you like it if your children were made to learn an Islamic interpretation of the world’s creation instead of scientific fact? Teaching any religious doctrine as fact is constitutionally and morally troubling), but that parents have every right to send their children to private, religious schools if they wish and teach them whatever they personally believe. Wanumba- the bible IS taught as literature in many public schools, I read it at a liberal, public, California high school and have read it since, because I do think it is an important piece of literature. I wish Christine O’Donnell felt the same way about the constitution.
Peggy R commented:
Why are candidates to federal office debating whether evolution should be taught? [Okay, to make O'Donnell look like a religious nut, I know.] This is a topic for debate among local and state candidates for office since this is within their purview.
Not everything is the business of the feds. Yes, I know it’s hard for O and Co. to comprehend that limit on power.
bg commented:
++
gah, i’m so confused..
just a sample:
TiZA vs. the search for truth
[According to the ACLU, TiZA's refusal to agree not to enforce the secrecy clause "sends the ominous signal that current and former employees who talk to the ACLU may be forced to defend themselves against a baseless, expensive lawsuit."
[..]
“The ACLU believes Mr. Zaman’s testimony relating to control of virtually every significant event at TiZA, MAS-MN, MET and MET’s subsidiaries, coupled with his efforts to hide such control, constitute powerful evidence against TiZA’s denials that it is a Muslim school and that it funnels state and federal money to other Muslim organizations.”
Every time we read about this lawsuit, we have to pinch ourselves
and say: We’re talking about a public, taxpayer-funded school.]
Ground Zero Mosque Imam Issues Effectual “FATWAH”
[The Ground Zero Mosque Imam is attacking first responder Forras and has issued an effectual “Fatwah” on Forras and his lawyer. He has publicly stated that more terrorist violence will result if building of the mosque is prevented.]
STOP ‘Ground Zero Mosque’
Anti-Islamist Muslim speaks out against radicals
[“Political Islam is a system of government and an ideology that permeates not only religious beliefs but the legal system and civil society,” he said. “It is not consistent with freedom and liberty. Islamists want to bring their faith and legalisms into government so that clerics and sheiks and experts in Sharia law can determine in an oligarchy what laws are right and what laws are wrong.
“They make government into God.”]
listen closely @ the 4:07 mark..
i’m still waiting for someone to please inform me as to whether
or not Muslims fulfill Zakat is any business of a US President??
how about Constitutional?? /sarc/
==
Kevin P commented:
You know what – if liberals want to believe they evolved from the bacteria inside the bowels of a maggot – let them. I’m starting to believe that’s where they came from.
gastorgrab commented:
“Gastorgrab- Chris Coons is implying the opposite; he does not think that any religious doctrine should be imposed in PUBLIC schools”
————–
“Imposed on” people who are not adults, and who are not of legal voting age????
A state government is not a federal government, and a city government is not a federal government. While federal government limits the power of religion, a state government is quite different. Each state is a sovereign entity, and it’s constitutioonal limitations on government power are not necessarily the same as the federal government.
The federal government has tried in the past to close down all religious schools, on the basis that it was a violation of federal guidelines. In ‘Pierce v. Society of Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary’ (1925), the US Supreme court decided that such ‘moral’ decisions belong to parents alone:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierce_v._Society_of_Sisters_of_the_Holy_Names_of_Jesus_and_Mary#Decision
Associate Justice James Clark McReynolds wrote the opinion of the Court. He stated that children were not “the mere creature[s] of the state” (268 U.S. 510, 535), and that, by its very nature, the traditional American understanding of the term liberty prevented the state from forcing students to accept instruction only from public schools. He stated that this responsibility belonged to the child’s parents or guardians, and that the ability to make such a choice was a “liberty” protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.
.
Carol-Christian Soldier commented:
the words -separation of church and state are in a former constitution-guess which one?
the fact that the law??? students laughed – shows me that they are NOT being taught the US Constitution….BTW-the words SoCS are NOT in the US Constitution …
C-CS
bg commented:
++
re: #18
what about the following??
Springtime in Islamberg
[Islamberg is a branch of Muslims of the Americas Inc., a tax-exempt organization formed in 1980 by Pakistani cleric Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani, who refers to himself as "the sixth Sultan Ul Faqr," Gilani, has been directly linked by court documents to Jamaat ul-Fuqra or "community of the impoverished," an organization that seeks to "purify" Islam through violence.
Though primarily based in Lahore, Pakistan, Jamaat ul-Fuqra has operational headquarters in New York and openly recruits through various social service organizations in the U.S., including the prison system. Members live in hamaats or compounds, such as Islamberg, where they agree to abide by the laws of Jamaat ul-Fuqra, which are considered to be above local, state and federal authority. Additional hamaats have been established in Hyattsville, Maryland; Red House, Virginia; Falls Church, Virginia; Macon, Georgia; York, South Carolina; Dover, Tennessee; Buena Vista, Colorado; Talihina, Oklahoma; Tulane Country, California; Commerce, California; and Onalaska, Washington. Others are being built, including an expansive facility in Sherman, Pennsylvania.
Before becoming a citizen of Islamberg or any of the other Fuqra compounds, the recruits - - primarily inner city black men who became converts in prison - - are compelled to sign an oath that reads: "I shall always hear and obey, and whenever given the command, I shall readily fight for Allah's sake."
In the past, thousands of members of the U.S. branches of Jamaat ul-Fuqra traveled to Pakistan for paramilitary training, but encampments, such as Islamberg, are now capable of providing book-camp training so raw recruits are no longer required to travel abroad amidst the increased scrutiny of post 9/11.]
related:
[They may be living right next door...
Scattered across the United States, unknown to all but a handful of citizens, are 35 Islamic terrorist training compounds known as "Muslims of America." Under the leadership of a radical Pakistani cleric, Sheikh Mubarak Gilani, Muslims of America has thousands of devoted followers who are being groomed for HOMEGROWN JIHAD.
In never-before-seen video footage, the Christian Action Network exposes these dangerous terrorist compounds and reveals for the first time a secret training tape in which American Muslims are recruited to "join one of the most advanced training courses in Islamic military warfare"... right here in America! They are called "Soldiers of Allah" and they are trained in explosives, kidnapping, murder, firing weapons, and guerilla warfare. They are told, "Act like you are a friend, then kill him just like from the book."]
==
gastorgrab commented:
I’m very sorry, but Christine O’Donnell is correct, even if she didn’t explain herself very well.
The issue in question is whether the federal government, or the parents themselves, have the legal authority to set the moral standards for their children.
Children are generally not directly given any choices by the federal government until they are emancipated from their parents……until they reach a legal voting age, and are considered ‘adults’, themselves! I have no motivation to change my support for this system, and i see no valid argument for parents to delegate their authority to guide their own child’s future, to an overpaid panel of ‘government elite’!
.
bigbrother0074 commented:
I’m so confused… is there a clip with more context? Some time before and after?
Militant Conservative commented:
Amelia
October 19th, 2010 | 12:57 pm | #16
bigbrother0074
October 19th, 2010 | 2:23 pm | #26
Rush spent a major chunk of his show discussing this.
Odonnell nailed coons by asking him the five rights guaranteed by the first amendment, he did not know them. Free press,freedom of speach,right to peacefully assemble, Freedom of religion. I’m a 24/7 member and can get the videos.
Alex commented:
You are entitled to your own opinions but not your own facts. In the exchange in question, Coons was not referring to the “separation of church and state.” He repeated the language of the First Amendment Establishment clause verbatim. To which, in response, O’Donnell asked rhetorically whether that phrasing was in the First Amendment. This woman is an idiot of colossal proportions, and you embarrass yourself everyday with your pedantic (and increasingly strained) defenses of her and her views. I’d have a whole lot more respect for you if you just admitted that you’d vote for The Cookie Monster in the Delaware Senatorial race if he was a Tea Party Candidate.You are entitled to your own opinions, Dan, but not your own facts. In the exchange in question, Coons was not referring to the “separation of church and state.” He repeated the language of the First Amendment Establishment clause verbatim. To which, in response, O’Donnell asked rhetorically whether that phrasing was in the First Amendment. This woman is an idiot of colossal proportions, and you embarrass yourself everyday with your pedantic (and increasingly strained) defenses of her and her views. I’d have a whole lot more respect for you if you just admitted that you’d vote for The Cookie Monster in the Delaware Senatorial race if he was a Tea Party Candidate.
Gina commented:
So does it not bother anyone that She doesnt know her amendments when she claims that she will follow them and use them in her decision making in Washington? Does it not bother anyone that in this debate as well as the one where she was asked about Supreme Court decisions, that she needed to be provided examples or explainations in order to answer the questions? Sometimes she makes its very simple to understand that she is not a qualified or educated candidate to be in Congress.
Glenn Koons, LB, Ca. commented:
It is really a shame that the MSM-Journo-Lists have such power to smear a newbie on the national scene like O. She has made some very good points versus Coons.But,he is a leftist Dem and protected both by the MSM as well as by the establishment elites. It does not matter that he is a real socialist. De. elites think that is just fine for a state which has huge private sector offerings but a large unemployment rate. Hmm., oh well, country clubbers love guys like Coons but wait till he gets to the Senate and just salivates over Bama’s agenda!
Chisum commented:
Video: O’Donnell vs. Coons on the separation of church and state
http://hotair.com/archives/2010/10/19/video-odonnell-vs-coons-on-the-separation-of-church-and-state/
AuntieMadder commented:
Based only on the transcript and the video clip here, it seems that O’Donnell doesn’t know that the 1st amendment contains the statement “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”
Both the transcript and the video clip here end after O’Donnell asks, “That’s in the First Amendment…?” and the laughter begins. Perhaps her clarification follows. If not, this isn’t good.
I feel bad for her because, to me, 1st amendment equals free speech and I find it confusing that the clause prohibiting a federally mandated religion is also in the 1st amendment. Further, I can’t seem to memorize the amendments by number, except that the 1st is free speech and the 2nd is the right to bear arms. (On the plus side, I read from the Bill of Rights often in order to follow mentions of the amendments made by numbers only.)
Chisum commented:
This woman is an idiot of colossal proportions, and you embarrass yourself everyday with your pedantic (and increasingly strained) defenses of her and her views. I’d have a whole lot more respect for you if you just admitted that you’d vote for The Cookie Monster in the Delaware Senatorial race if he was a Tea Party Candidate.
———————————————–
So, Alex, according to you O’Donnell is an “idiot of colossal proportions”, huh?
I’ll bet she , unlike you, knows how to copy and paste properly!
Idiot Troll!
Ladue Pundit commented:
Alex, Amelia, and Constitutional flunkies, et al:
Stop trying to excuse and defend Mr. Coons. He stated “the separation of Church and state” in direct reference to the Constitution’s Firsy Amendment. Those words were written in a private letter by Thomas Jefferson, wherein Jefferson describes a “wall of separation.”
The First Amendment guarantees free speech and safeguards our right to practice religion in this country.
Coons had it wrong. He further pontificates that the right to an abortion is borne out of (bad pun) this “right.” Doesn’t this fool know that child killers used the right to privacy as their vanguard for murder? As if anything done in private was deemed to be allowed by the framers…?
Anyone who played the audio heard Coons exhibiting his idiocy. Jim, let’s get the part where Coons fails to identify the 5 freedoms which are guaranteed by the First Amendment.
Since when is examining the origin of human life from a variety of viewpoints a religious breach? Let all ideas be presented in the marketplace of thought. What are you libs afraid of?
AuntieMadder commented:
Thanks for the link, Chisum.
The transcript and video clip here don’t mislead about O’Donnell not knowing that the 1st amendment includes “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”
What happens afterward, however, is bad for Coons, which is most likely why the clip ends where it does. Apparently, O’Donnell and I aren’t the only Americans who can’t remember the five freedoms protected by the 1st amendment.
From Politico, via Michelle Malkin, via Hot Air.
“O’Donnell was later able to score some points of her own off the remark, revisiting the issue to ask Coons if he could identify the “five freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment.”
Coons named the separation of church and state, but could not identify the others — the freedoms of speech, press, to assemble and petition — and asked that O’Donnell allow the moderators ask the questions.
“I guess he can’t,” O’Donnell said. “
Militant Conservative commented:
Alex
October 19th, 2010 | 2:55 pm | #29
listened to the transcript multiple times today on Rush’s show. Coons got it WRONG Odonnell got it right. The venue was a school of LAW and the idiot students missed it too. Chisum’s right don’t you validate before posting? Out of context media is pulling out all the stops to help their socialist/communist friends in the Democrap party.
America has awakened, we’re not socialists, we’re capitalists. powder is dry
AuntieMadder commented:
Alex #29 – Given the choice between an “idiot of colossal proportions” and an American military veteran and war hero, you libtards chose the idiot. So, can your insults of O’Donnell.
Gina #30 – It isn’t good for O’Donnell. Still, she can keep a copy of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights on her desk and another in her brief case for reference. Coons, who, as it turns out, isn’t so familiar with the 1st amendment, either, is a self-proclaimed Marxist and therefore can be counted on to disregard the law of this land, just as those in Congress do and have done.
Ladue Pundit #35 – I hope you’re not calling me a Constitutional flunky. My memory isn’t so great but my ability and willingness to read from the document as needed, which has been often the last couple of years, has proven to be excellent.
Opaobie commented:
Alex
October 19th, 2010 | 2:55 pm | #29
….you’re repeating yourself, robotroll.
Gina
October 19th, 2010 | 2:57 pm | #30
…not NEARLY as much as having an avowed MARXIST in the Senate who will try to DESTROY the Constitution. She knows more than the nervous responses to a hostile debate moderator demonstrated…and she is RIGHT about there being no prohibition in the 1st Amendment against people in an independent school district teaching whatever they want. The federal government has NO authority to interfere as long as they don’t endanger the public safety….which is exactly what schools are doing under the control of the “Department of Education”…they are producing illiterate America-haters who are destroying their own culture and country. Teaching morals and good citizenship USED to be the norm before Jimmy Carter created the DoE behemoth.
Question: If the founders believed in “separation of church and state”, why was the first act of Congress approval of funds to provide “…missionaries and Bibles to the Red Indians” along the frontier?
Chisum commented:
Leftist seem to have a problem with the 1st Amendment. Coons is in good company!
Democrats Unleash ‘Tax Cheat Geithner’ & ‘Nation Of Cowards’ To Silence Critics
Every so slowly & deliberately ripping the Constitution to shreds.
Examiner:
According to the Wall Street Journal, Democrats are now using the Federal Government to openly strong-arm any and all businesses that dare to object to Obama’s disastrous agenda into silence, in blatant defiance of the 1st Amendment.
From the article:
“If at first you don’t succeed, get some friends in high places to shut your opponents up. That’s the latest Washington power play, as Democrats and liberals attack the Chamber of Commerce and independent spending groups in an attempt to stop businesses from participating in politics.
Indeed!
http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/204503.php
gus commented:
Amelia.
O’Donnell clearly knows the Constitution better than Coons does.
And as for my mistyping Bare VS. Bear.
I apologize.
I can spell SMARMY BITCH quite correctly.
Ladue Pundit commented:
The transcript and video clip here don’t mislead about O’Donnell not knowing that the 1st amendment includes “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”
————
Auntie Madder
There’s a difference regarding the separation of Church and State (NOT in the Constitution), and the establishment of religion [i.e. prohibiting the state from doing so]
O’Donnell’s question to Coons was regarding his statement about the First Amendment ‘calling for the separation of Church and State.’
It does not, he obviously wishes it did, and he is wrong.
This is not about your ability to read from the document, but listen to the tape.
bg commented:
++
Alex @ 2:55 pm #29
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
==
Dems are Dumb commented:
“…Coons named the separation of church and state, but could not identify the others — the freedoms of speech, press, to assemble and petition — and asked that O’Donnell allow the moderators ask the questions. …”
“Separation of church and state” is not found in the United States Constitution.
The only thing Coons “remembers” about the 1st amendment isn’t in it!
Wishful thinking on the part of God and Country haters–they’ve been drumming this into empty skulls for decades now, including a few on this blog.
gus commented:
Ladue and bg. The problem is that COONS and all LIBTARDS believe what they want to believe.
ANYTHING IS IN THE CONSTITUTION THAT THEY WANT IN IT.
nothing is in the constitution that they don’t want in.
It doesn’t matter what the words are.
They interpret NO as YES and YES as NO.
However they see fit.
Coons CLEARLY is not aware of the ACTUALLY WORDS in the 1st amendment. He only knows that LIBTARDS ARE REALLY REALLY SMART and O’Donnell is really really dumb.
And the LIBTARD STUDENT IMBECILES agree with THE BEARDED MARXIST.
Wow!! How shocking. Idiots supporting morons.
Redwine commented:
Separation of church and state is not in the First Amendment. If you want an excellent evisceration of the ignorant bearded Marxist Coons, listen to today’s first hour of Mark Levin, one of America’s most astute constitutional lawyers. O’Donnell got it right, but she should have stated her response more emphatically, and not as a question.
Redwine commented:
The audience, full of LAW STUDENTS, didn’t get it either, and laughed. If I were a law professor at that institution, I would gather those students to explain the First Amendment. Anyone caught laughing a second time would get a failing grade on their record.
Centra commented:
Everything is upside down these days. I am amazed at the intense media bias.
As far as the economy, goes in 2001 I decided to leave a job and I got a new job the very next day. In 2006 I decided it was time to move on and got a new job the very next day. This time it took me 36 days to find a new job. For an inspector with my qualifications that is unheard of. My form of inspection is in high demand all the time because of inspector burnout, most in my field become ISO consultants, I do both with great ambition. But what is really amazing is it took 36 days to find another job in my field that I would accept. This is truely a time of trouble, in my opinion.
Ellie Light commented:
The Bearded Marxist demonstrated what is wrong with the legal system today and how our schools teach the Constitution. What the Founders said or intended is of no import compared to what we say it means. The fact that the Constitution does not mandate the seperation of church and state is demonstrated by the official state religions of various states after the Constitution was adopted and religious restrictions that continued to exist within those states. It did bar the US from mandating a state religion or regulating religion, something that Coons doesn’t get.
Worse he couldn’t even name the five freedoms guaranteed byb the First Amendment, and the media will not show this part of the debate.
The media, law students, and Coons are pathetic. This is the reason the USA is in such a bad state.
mark commented:
O’Donnell is correct. The theory of “separation of church and state” is to be found in letters from one of the founding fathers-Jefferson, I believe. The left has taken to it like flies to …….you can imagine what! The “Ruling Class” interpretation is that it means they can stomp out your religion, but not theirs, yet they will give support to a religion that teaches to behead “nonbelievers.”
O’Donnell is getting the “Palin treatment.” Unfortunately, the garbage works due to the fact that ignorant people assume they are being told the truth by establishment media.
Ladue Pundit commented:
The only thing Coons “remembers” about the 1st amendment isn’t in it!
********
Unfortunately, the garbage works due to the fact that ignorant people assume they are being told the truth by establishment media.
********
Both great points. 50% of voters are stupid. Their heads are full of sitcoms, baseball statistics, and booze. The only thing rousing them now is the impending economic collapse brought on by Ob@stard and his depraved mindset.
Gift that keeps giving commented:
I expected the evangelicals to defend this – that little historical revisionism has been floating around since 1947 – but watching the more secular teapartiers desperately cling to some mortifying excuse that its simply everyone else (including a room full of law students and essentially every legal scholar you’d be able to find outside of Bob Jones University) that’s wrong. And just to make sure, Rush put out his marching orders on the subject specifically so true believers could bleat out RUSH SAID SO desperately and repetitively at anyone that just can’t swallow this last indignity to their political self-respect.
I honestly find it more sad than anything else. There’s apparently a mighty mass of Americans that have been so completely mired within the conservative Christian alternate reality which O’Donnell comes from that they’ve just been caught completely unaware that their private narrative is horrifically, hysterically at odds with what the rest of the civilized world deals with as “facts”. Did you note the smile of triumph on her face when the audience laughs at her? She honestly thinks she just made a fantastic and legitimate point, and the audience is supporting her. Her logic is the evangelical conservative logic on the subject, which is a tortured and hair-splitting re-read on basic accepted Constitutional law for the rest of us, but that thought never crossed her mind. I’m sure it did to Rush, but this kind of peek behind the asylum door demands immediate wagon circling from the only person conservatives really care to listen to.
jomojava the infidel commented:
Gift that keeps giving #56,
The phrase “historical revisionism” would adequately describe the state of history/civics teaching in government schools.
bg commented:
++
Gift that keeps giving @ 6:57 pm #56
talk about “facts” there wasn’t a
one in your post that could tell..
oh wait, you’re another one who
believes your opinions facts make..
sorry, don’t know where you got that
notion from, but it taint so, no no no..
==
Dems are Damned commented:
Hair splitting=what the Constitutional actually says…Ha!
Oh wait, it really says you can jab a pair of scissors into a baby’s head and suck out its brains? As long as it’s in “private” or maybe on youtube…
Right? This is an example of your basic accepted Constitutional law.
This is the illogical pretzel twist brought to us by liberals who hate America and rewrite the Constitution one sentence at a time.
See you in hell.
Dace commented:
Actually “separation of church and state” does appear in a constitution, just not the American one. The only constitution that included those words were the constitution of the old Soviet Union. That says loads about the direction this country is headed.
Radegunda commented:
Hey, mind-reader #56, please inform us what Coons thought was in the First Amendment–because when he was asked, he COULD NOT SAY.
Nor does he care. Leftists regard the Constitution as merely an impediment to their coercive utopianism, or occasionally as a slogan to shout when they’re trying to defend foreign terrorists.
Kevin commented:
“would you like it if your children were made to learn an Islamic interpretation of the world’s creation instead of scientific fact? ”
Would you be upset if your kids were taught a theory as scientific fact?
Because if you have children that’s what is happening right now.
It’s called the THEORY of evolution because it remains exactly that, a theory.
http://hardresetamerica.com/
Ladue Pundit commented:
To the voters of Delaware:
Keep concentrating on the social values difference between O’Donnell and Coons.
Make the election about witchcraft.
But remember, with a liberal like Coons you get the whole package–spending, taxing, unemployment, foreclosures, and higher deficits.
And while the rest of the union is regaining its sanity, you’re electing a bigger moron than the last moron to hold the seat –Vice President Bite Me.
Don’t expect us to bail you out.
Opaobie commented:
A Few Declarations of Founding Fathers and Early Statesmen on Jesus, Christianity, and the Bible…maybe they had a better understanding of the Constitution than Comrade Coons since they WROTE it.
(This list is by no means exhaustive; many other Founders could be included, and even with those who appear below, additional quotes could have been used.)
…click the link above and read more quotes….
AuntieMadder commented:
Ladue Pundit, after Coons first said “separation of church and state,” O’Donnell pointed out that it doesn’t say that. Coons corrected himself by paraphrasing what it actually states by saying, “Government shall make no establishment of religion,” to which O’Donnell again asked if that’s in the 1st amendment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“The First Amendment does?” O’Donnell asked. “Let me just clarify: You’re telling me that the separation of church and state is found in the First Amendment?”
“Government shall make no establishment of religion,” Coons responded, reciting from memory the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. (Coons was off slightly: The first amendment actually reads “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”)
“That’s in the First Amendment…?” O’Donnell responded.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If she was disagreeing because he paraphrased instead of reciting word-for-word, which he should have done but most likely can’t because he doesn’t know it, she should have said so. “Those are not the statement as it reads in the Constitution.”
Questioning him again about what he said being in the 1st amendment backfired, making it appear that she’s ignorant of the 1st amendment.
AuntieMadder commented:
Gift that keeps giving
October 19th, 2010 | 6:57 pm | #56
Did you ever stop to think that she smiled because she was embarrassed, being laughed at by a bunch of imbeciles who decided before she even spoke that they weren’t going to like her? Of course you didn’t because you’re just another know-nothing know-it-all, like the rest of the libtards.
AuntieMadder commented:
gus #41 – Can you spell condescending twit, too? It comes in handy when dealing with, well, condescending twits.
Centra commented:
Dems are damned, You can go to jail for damaging an eagles egg but for killing a human baby you get an at a boy.
Chisum commented:
For all the slobbering trolls:
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/10/media_misrepresenting_christin.html
Read it and weep!
Michael commented:
O’Donnell is correct; local school boards need to have the decision-making authority over what is taught, funding priorities, etc. That’s the real issue here – do you want federal bureaucrats in DC driving policies that shape our children’s futures and waste precious tax dollars doing it?
Trish commented:
Coons is another moron who thought he got one over on O’Donnell. She was and is correct, though she ought to have been clearer in her mocking- “you mean the establishment clause?” Perhaps she needed to say it slower so that the lovely (sarc) audience could grasp what she was saying…SEPARATION OF CHURCH & STATE IS NOT IN THE CONSTITUTION…
How long before this issue is finally put to rest anyway? Is it so hard for liberals to give in on the FACTS of that argument that they will blindly continue to assert a false premise?
Militant Conservative commented:
Gift that keeps giving
October 19th, 2010 | 6:57 pm | #56
WOW only a brain dead troll woul name themselves after a euphmism for Herpes.
As for your intelligence level. The truth and critical thinking ability is not in you. Your so malinformed and up the butt of the MSM you do not even know how much propaganda YOU have swallowed.
powder is dry.
Chisum commented:
Ace calls the press Suckers of C*ck!
And On O’Donnell’s Flub: After 24 Hours, It Appears It Was No Flub At All. Washington Post Reporter Ben Evans Simply Lied.
http://minx.cc/?post=307106
Chisum commented:
Poor poor trolls!
From a Cornell Law Professor:
What If Christine O’Donnell Were Right About The First Amendment?
http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-if-christine-odonnell-were-right.html
AuntieMadder commented:
Trish #82 – You’re right. She should have been more clear in her response to him. I hope that she and all other conservative candidates take a lesson from this little incident.
LaduePundit, it dawned on me after reading and then digesting your response to me that I am among those you called “Constitution flunkies.” As a flunky, the best response I can come up with is “Bite me.”
Jerry C commented:
#16 Amelia
“Teaching any religious doctrine as fact is constitutionally and morally troubling”-exactly. But why do you believe it’s okay for public schools to teach the THEORY of evolution as fact? Why not just teach the basics: math, english and history (not revisionist history)?
“the bible IS taught as literature in many public schools, I read it at a liberal, public, California high school”-says alot about your worldview. John 15:18
“I do think it is an important piece of literature”-your liberal, secular point of view is glaring. The Bible is more than literature. The Bible is the inspired Word of God. 2 Tim 3:16, 2 Pet 1:20-21, 2 Sam 23:2
The Bible is the most historically accurate book…ever. And you can read it all you want, but you’ll never understand it using your liberal, carnal mind. 1 Cor 2:14
“I wish Christine O’Donnell felt the same way about the constitution.”-She knows the Constitution better than Coons. The 1st Amendment is about Freedom of Speech, Religion, Press, etc…, NOT seperation of church & state. Maybe that’s where you err. You believe in what Coons says and could care less about what he’ll actually DO. As for me, I’ll vote for O’Donnell on what I believe she’ll do verses what I know Coons, a devout marxist, will do.
I will pray for you, Amelia, that you will come to the saving grace of accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. John 3:16
Chisum commented:
Poor poor trolls.
WaPo/AP Caught Revising the O’Donnell Story Without Issuing a Correction (Updated x3)
http://patterico.com/2010/10/20/wapoap-caught-revising-the-o%E2%80%99donnell-story-without-issuing-a-correction/
bg commented:
++
thanks Chisum..
==
Chisum commented:
You are most welcome, BG.
Timely Renewed commented:
Although unfortunately presented inarticulately, Ms. O’Donnell is correct that “separation of church and state” does not appear in the Constitution, nor is it a correct interpretation of the Establishment clause. The sole meaning of the Establishment clause was to prohibit the federal government from preferring one faith as a national religion. The 20th century Supreme Court rulings expanding that clause to incorporate the bigoted 19th century anti-Catholic concept of “separation of church and state” are an unconstitutional exercise of judicial overreach, as well as creating a jurisprudence which even pro-separationists acknowledge is incoherent. We need to amend the first amendment to restore the original meaning of its establishment clause, which is non-preference among denominations, not secular hostility to faith in general. See http://www.timelyrenewed.com.
james k. commented:
she was incredulous of “Government shall make no establishment of religion” being in the First Amendment?!?
cube commented:
O’Donnell is getting the Palin treatment. No matter what she says, it will be misconstrued and she will be made to sound foolish.
Mark LaRochelle commented:
O’Donnell was right; Coons was wrong: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=39596#