O'Donnell had no idea Separation of Church & State was in the 1st Amendment.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 10/19/10 at 4:47pm

You just can't write this stuff...

http://www.indecisionforever.com/2010/10/19/christine-odonnell-learns-that-the-first-amendment-is-a-thing-that-exists/?xrs=rss_undefinedname

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/19/10 at 4:53pm

And Bill Maher is 4 days away!!!! Damn, he's gonna have a field day with this.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 10/19/10 at 4:56pm

This actually frightens the sh*t out of me. That someone this stupid can make it this far. I guess we will soon have President Palin in the White House. The dumbing down of America indeed!

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 10/19/10 at 4:57pm

<----

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/19/10 at 5:01pm

I just watched the video. The best part is, when she asks the question and the audience erupts into laughter, she seems to think they're laughing WITH her, at Coons.

Posted: 10/19/10 at 5:02pm

The Conservative and "Tea Party" movements tend to not just forgive this sort of ignorance but to revere it. You watch- tonight on Fox this will be held up as a virtue. Somehow, ignorance of the first amendment will be held up as a shining example we should all aspire to.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/19/10 at 5:10pm

Limbaugh's already on it

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 10/19/10 at 5:24pm

What is he on about? That's not what was said. There is video proving that's not what he said.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4Dtm91JybQ

[Q]

Posted: 10/19/10 at 5:27pm

Limbaugh cites an article by Michelle Malkin, which Christine's campaign has also linked to on her official site. Here it is:

Site link. Updated On: 10/19/10 at 05:27 PM

Posted: 10/19/10 at 5:34pm

It's rather funny that Constitutional Scholar Christine O'Donnell has decided to sit back and let right-wing pundits explain what she really meant rather than do so herself.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/19/10 at 5:42pm

If you ask regular people & those in school the same question, you might be surprised how many from these groups do not know either.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 10/19/10 at 5:45pm

They're not running for a gov't posistion though Roxy...

Elvira is nothing you've heard. She's you, just with bigger tits.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqQJB8DR_Zo&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 10/19/10 at 5:46pm

Yes Roxy. Because that's standard we should hold our elected officials to. What a lame defense.
By the way...I just asked 10 kids in my after school program if they knew about seperation of church and state...all 10 were able to say it was in the constitution and 7 of them even got the ammendment right.

Posted: 10/19/10 at 6:02pm

Apparently teabaggers maintain that because those exact words aren't used in the first amendment, there is no "separation of church and state" and that is the tack they claim O'Donnell is taking.

Kind of makes her defense that Senators don't have to memorize the constitution sound kind of hollow, though.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 10/19/10 at 8:27pm

This actually frightens the sh*t out of me. That someone this stupid can make it this far. I guess we will soon have President Palin in the White House. The dumbing down of America indeed!

In fairness to the vast majority of the people of Delaware, she's currently running over 20 points behind in some polls. The RCP average is around 17.6 points.

Real Clear Politics Updated On: 10/19/10 at 08:27 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/19/10 at 10:57pm

"If you ask regular people & those in school the same question, you might be surprised how many from these groups do not know either."

Christine O'Donnell is not me. But she is Roxy.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 10/20/10 at 12:11am

Adamgreer,the mere fact she is running at all, even if it IS 20 or more points behind is frightening.

[Q]

Posted: 10/20/10 at 1:30am

I'm with you, SNAFU - it boggles the mind that ANYONE pays attention to her at all.

[landryjames2]

Posted: 10/20/10 at 11:08am

I come from a very conservative family, and O'Donnell is just repeating the mantra that the actual words "separation of church and state" are not in the Constitution/Bill of Rights. Although that is the implied meaning of course. (oh, I guess Joel already explained this so I am just affirming)

[Roscoe]

Posted: 10/20/10 at 11:19am

Do not laugh at or underestimate this woman. It won't be so funny when she's Sarah Palin's Vice President.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 10/20/10 at 11:34am

Yeah, I gotta play devil's advocate here and say that she wasn't asking him what was in the first amendment, but to clarify where the often repeated phrase, "separation of church and state," appears. It isn't there. The amendment has been interpreted simply into that phrase by our judicial system, but technically it's not there. That's what it means, just not what it says.

Posted: 10/20/10 at 11:37am

Roscoe, Christine O'Donell won't be Sarah Palin's Vice President; Michele Bachmann already has that spot sewn up.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/20/10 at 11:37am

The fascinating thing is that she's so stupid that she can't even recite the most basic of conservative memes: They claim that the first amendment ONLY restricts the government from "establishing" a state religion, not from exercising religious practices, which was only prohibited by later Supreme Court rulings.

It's a very important distinction to conservatives and the whole basis for things like O'Reilly's "war on Christmas" tirades. You would think any conservative running for office would be able to say it in his or her sleep.

But not our Christie.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 10/20/10 at 11:39am

JerseyGirl, if that's what she was really asking, all she had to do was, you know, ACTUALLY ASK THAT in so many words, instead of leaving it up to people playing devil's advocate.

Posted: 10/20/10 at 11:40am

Again, SHE has not been able articulate any of these defenses- it's all words being put in her mouth by conservative talking heads.