The President Caves in Again

The President caves again this time is spectacular fashion. The plan was to address a joint session of congress next Wednesday and the White House already had an agreement from the Speaker. When it was announced that the President would address a joint session, Rush Limbaugh objected because it would interfere with the Republican debate that was being carried on one cable network. This prompted Speaker Boehner to send a letter to the President citing a full schedule and vague security concerns. So, the President rescheduled to the opening night of the NFL (no conflict there) and in so doing he has shown the country that the Republicans are really in charge and he is becoming increasingly irrelevant. The Speaker has become the only speaker to ever deny a Presidential request to address Congress. You can spin this as a compromise but that is simply not true. The President really needs to come out and deliver a speech like FDR or Ike or Teddy Roosevelt to become relevant again.

First Amendment Test

The ensuing controversy about Christine O'Donnell's statement on the first amendment has been fun to watch and listen to.  First she is correct in her statement that there is a separation of church and state does not exist in the Constitution.  The problem is that the way she stated it made her sound like a complete idiot.  That being said the merits of such a separation can be debated.  Rush Limbaugh rushed to her defense and stated as he always does that the statement on the separation of church and state appears in a letter that Thomas Jefferson wrote.  So he discredits it because it is not policy.  This coming from a man who freely quotes the Federalist Papers as if they are the defacto interpretation of the Constitution.  Nothing could be further from the truth they are a series of essays (think of them as letters) that explain what one group thought of the Constitution.  In fact had been up to these authors the Bill of Rights wouldn't exist.  Jefferson and others had a slightly different idea of Constitution and its meaning.  One of those differences is that not only should the country not establish a national religion, but there should be a complete separation.  In fact early in the country's history churches were taxed.  It is unfortunate that this counter argument to the Federalist's is being erased from our history.  Think that I'm kidding look at Texas and their history standards.  They don't even mention Thomas Paine or Jefferson, two of the leaders of the opposition to Madison and Hamilton.