O'Donnell First Amendment comments draw laughter in discussion

1st Amendment news on Tuesday included the American Civil Liberties Union v. the FCC in a case about net neutrality. Another is a suit by Internet providers against an obscenity law blocking content to minors that grownups have a First Amendment right to view. But the First Amendment languished in obscurity until Christine O’Donnell displayed her total lack of knowledge of it in an argument against her Democratic opponent in the race for a Delaware Senate seat on Tuesday. Article resource – Christine O’Donnell reveals First Amendment ignorance in debate by Personal Money Store.

O’Donnell with some laugh lines on the 1st Amendment

Tuesday, there had been an argument between Christine O’Donnell and Chris Coons, her Democratic opponent. The 1st Amendment was the top of it the debate. O’Donnell said that Coons had been wrong in saying that public schools cannot teach creationism because it violated the First Amendment rights on freedom of religion when at Widener University Law School, according to Ben Evans at the Associated Press. The Tea Party is being represented by O’Donnell in her speech. She cited “indispensable principles of the Founding Fathers” while talking about how the federal govt overreaches sometimes. Coons explained back to her that “One of those indispensable principles is the separation of church and state.” O’Donnell responded with “Where within the Constitution is the separation of church and state?” The audience found that quite humorous.

The ignorance of O’Donnell seen by many

The First Amendment is within the Bill of Rights. It makes it impossible for any law “respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, infringing on the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances.” Later in the argument Coons said O’Donnell revealed a “fundamental misunderstanding of what our Constitution is.” O’Donnell shot back: “You’re telling me that the separation of church and state is found within the First Amendment?” Coons, summarizing the First Amendment, was interrupted by O’Donnell, who said “That’s within the 1st Amendment?” Wesley Leckrone, who is a widener political scientist, said to Evans, “You actually audibly heard the crowd gasp.”

O’Donnell makes up for comments

Actually, Christine O’Donnell had been right. The First Amendment is as she said. In 1791, the Bill of Rights came with the amendments. Based on Evans, Thomas Jefferson started the phrase. That’s where “separation of church and state” comes from. Jefferson later wrote a letter to clarify. He said that the 1st Amendment established “a wall of separation between Church and State.” O’Donnell did not want to talk to reporters following the debate. She wanted to run out. But her campaign manager spun a statement saying that O’Donnell “simply made the point that the phrase seems nowhere in the Constitution.”

Articles cited

SF Gate

sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/10/19/politics/p060642D21.DTL and tsp=1

Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

Brainy Quote

brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/t/thomas_jefferson.html