A few weeks ago I criticized House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) for his apparent lack of an even basic understanding of the Constitution, this week it’s Representative Frank LoBiondo of New Jersey’s turn.
Rep. LoBiondo, a Republican, confuses Article 1, Section 1 of the Constitution with the 1st Amendment worse still when pressed he doesn’t seem to know what the 1st Amendment says:
Ouch… Every member of Congress swears an oath to defend the Constitution of United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic:
“I, AB, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”
I’m not how sure they can bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution when so many of them, both Democrats and Republicans, seem to be completely clueless about what it says.
Article 1, Section 1 of the Constitution deals with legislative powers:
All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
The 1st Amendment deals with religion, speech, the Press, the right of assembly and the right of the people to petition the government:
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.
Members of Congress should know this stuff cold… The Constitution of the United States of America is not particularly long or complex document, in fact its eloquence is one of its greatest strengths.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again now… The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution of the United States and The Federalist Papers should be required reading for every high school student — and politician in America.
I should mention that the guy who schooled Rep. LoBiondo appears to be a 9/11 Truther not a Tea Party activist… It just goes to show even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Update (April 16, 2010): Steven Hayward at No Left Turns reports that, Christopher Weber, the guy questioning Rep. LoBiondo is in fact not 9/11 Truther:
Okay, so a few days ago I flagged this spectacular YouYube video of a citizen taking down Republican Congressman Frank LoBiondo of New Jersey for his obvious ignorance of the Constitution, along with the update from Michelle Malkin that the person in the video was supposedly a 9/11 Truther or somesuch nut. Uncharacteristically for Michelle, who is a good journalist, she did not offer any links behind her claim that this guy is a nutjob, but I passed it along relying on her post.
Well, this person has a name: Christopher Weber, and he has his own YouTube account, hpprinter12345, where you can see all 16 of his videos, some of them very good. Nothing about 9/11 Trutherism. But this guy does know how to speak well and compellingly. And he did me the kindness of calling me on the phone to ask, essentially, what the hell is going on? I’m not that guy!
He’s right, he isn’t, and I owe him an apology as well as this correction. Unfortunately, there is another Christopher Weber with a Youtube account, thepenrev, and this other Weber has more than 1,300 YouTube videos posted. Looks like he posts several a day. And it is THIS OTHER CHRISTOPHER WEBER who has the nutty 9/11 Truther videos and lots of other stuff. Unquestionably what happened is that Michelle, or someone, saw these other videos–these two Webers look a little bit alike–put 2 and 2 together, and got 22. And now the original Mr. Weber is being besmirched across the net.
H/T: Michelle Malkin.
Related
- GOP lawmaker ripped by Tea Party activist – The Hill
- Watch this guy quiz Congressman LoBiondo on the Constitution – Paul Mulshine, Newark Star Ledger
OK … something odd is going on here – I think the GOP let the attacks dogs loose on this guy to quick – http://nlt.ashbrook.org/2010/04/major-correction-and-apology-time.php – check this out
Thanks for bringing this to my attention I’ve updated the post.