Its Getting Frightening

October 20, 2010 by Tony Posted in Election 2010 6 Comments

In my post yesterday I mentioned how I thought this was one CRAZY election year…and the video below only goes to prove what I am feeling. Here Republican candidate for US Senate Christine O’Donnell spars with her opponent over whether the Constitution addresses the separation of church and state.

This is getting frightening…if you don’t know the right exists, how are you ever going to defend it????

6 Responses to Its Getting Frightening

  1. C R Krieger says:

    I think Law Professor Ann Althouse gets this right.  The two are talking past each other.  She knows what the First Amendment says, or doesn’t say, and he wants to talk about how he thinks it is understood today.

    The good news for us is that we no longer have a religious test for holding office here in the Commonwealth, like we did into the beginning of the 19th Century, well after the First Amendment was approved.  But, back then it only applied to the US Congress.

    I too blogged about this, here, which is the short version of the Professor Althouse blog, and with a lot fewer comments (hers were up to 175 when I linked to it).

    Regards  —  Cliff

  2. Jack Mitchell says:

    It would have looked much better had O’Donnell been the one to quote the the 1st and develop a context in line with her take on the matter. It is not clear wether or not O’Donnell does or does not know the content of our Constitution. Spin doctors can argue that. What is clear, is that she lacks the fundamental skill of debate. A thing once valued in the Senate.

    This clip underscores a belief among skeptics of the Tea Party. They don’t really understand The Constitution and the full breadth and scope of its reach. They regugrgitate cherrry picked lines, wedged into a narrow political dogma.

  3. Dean says:

    Ms.O’Donnell, in Dred Scott v. Sanford, Artcle III,Sec. 2 Clause ! of th U.S. Contitution proivides that ” the judicial power shall extend… To controversies .. between Citizens of different States…”The U.S. Supreme Court held that Scott was not a “citizen of a state” within the meaning of the Contitution. The Afican – Americans in our country are watching these elections with great interest.

  4. Andrew says:

    She also didn’t know what the 14th and 16th Amendments were, though she supports altering the former and repealing the latter. The Amendment she did remember was the 17th, which she wants to repeal. After this debate, it’s pretty obvious why.

  5. C R Krieger says:

    I think, given the recent track record of Tea Party critics, at least in the blogosphere, re the original Tea Party, it would be best to focus on the personalities at hand.  That should give us plenty of fodder.

    Regards  —  Cliff

  6. Dean says:

    She states the she has a fellowship to some organization or institue to study the U.S. Constiitution. Do we know if where that is ?