Recently, the students in my three American National Government courses took their first exam, which was largely focused on the U.S. Constitution. The bad news is that about a third of my students flunked. The good news is that they probaby fared better than your typical teabagger who claims to have a great knowledge of — and love of — the Constitution. In a number of earlier posts, I’ve pointed out the high level of wingnut ignorance of the core document and the subsequent 27 amendments. Let’s procede with a few other examples of teabagger cluelessness.
First, we had the recent case of Arizona trying to intrude upon an area reserved for the federal government. Wingnuts celebrated the passage of this legislation, and Arizona Governor Jan Brewer suddenly became a teabagger favorite. Let’s see what the framers had to say about this matter. Article One, Section Eight clearly lists the establishment of a “uniform rule of naturalization” as a power of the U.S. Congress. If the wingnuts had bothered to read a little further into the document, they might stumble upon Article Six and a little something called the Supremacy Clause, which clearly asserts the supremacy of national laws in our political system.
One humorous response to a very unfunny law
Also, the law’s requirement for naturalized citizens to carry documentation confirming their legal status, and the obvious racial profiling that would occur under this legislation, would run right into a brick wall called the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. Not surprisingly, a federal judge struck down major portions of this odious law. Of course, the wingnuts have screamed bloody murder over the decision, and have accused the judge of “liberal judicial activism.” Apparently, these ignoramuses have never heard about the separation of powers (which grant the courts the power to review the laws) and a case called Marbury v. Madison.
Constitution 1, Teabaggers 0.
Speaking of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause, a federal judge used that language in the constitution to strike down California’s Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in the state. An overwhelming percentage of wingnuts supported this ballot proposition, apparently fearful that the temptation of marrying someone of the same gender was so powerful that it would destroy millions of traditional marriages. Once again, wingnuttia has gone berzerk, claiming that the judge in the case was another liberal activist (appointed by the far-left Ronald Reagan — a.k.a. “Conserva-Jesus”) who was biased in the case because he was openly gay (using wingnut “logic” wouldn’t a “straight” or married judge also have to excuse themselves for bias?).
Sanford, Vitter, Ensign Gingrich, Limbaugh...all staunch defenders of the sanctity of "traditional marriage" (which apparently means cheating on and/or divorcing your wife!).
I also must say that I was amused by the outrage at this decision as illegitimate because it conflicted with the will of the voters (do these lunatics think that liberties should be at the mercy of the majority?) , and I could barely contain my laughter as multiple-divorce buffoons like Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich bloviated about the “sanctity of marriage.”
Constitution 2, Teabaggers 0.
Yeah, that pesky Fourteenth Amendment. It seems to ruin so much of the teabagger’s fun in discriminating against gays and other minorities. Wingnuttia doesn’t seem very happy about the amendment granting all people born in the United States citizenship (particularly those brown ones). Not surprisingly, they now propose legislation to clarify the amendment (gee, I didn’t know that you could alter the constitution by passing a law) or by actually amending the constitution with new language clarifying who is entitled to citizenship if born within the country.
It seems that right-wing minds are plagued with visions of armies of “anchor babies” being unleashed on the country by the brown hordes who’ve been taking away all those minimum wage jobs that whites are clamoring for. In spite of all the teabagger fury, don’t hold your breath waiting for two-thirds of both houses of Congress and three-quarters of the state legislatures to eliminate birthright citizenship.
Constitution 3, Teabaggers 0.
As long as we progressives remain vigilant, we can protect our beloved constitution from the wingnuts and teabaggers who would “love” it to death.