Michael Steele Doesn’t Know What The First Amendment Says
Michael Steele Doesn’t Know What The First Amendment Says
This morning, RNC Chairman Michael Steele came out of isolation and guest-hosted Bill Bennett’s Morning in America. During the program, a caller asked Steele about the constitutionality of the 90 percent bonus tax passed by the House yesterday. The caller said that he believed that the tax was unconstitutional because “the first amendment…specifically states that a law cannot be passed to specifically target a person or a group of people.”
The caller was apparently trying to reference the ban on bills of attainder in Article I of the U.S. Constitution, not the first amendment. Apparently unfamiliar with the purpose of the first amendment, Steele responded, “That’s right!”:
CALLER: I noticed a couple people now talking about the Constitution and I’m told on the law they are currently trying to pass in order to tax all of the bonus pay. Well I believe, well, actually I know it is against the constitution. I believe it is the first amendment that specifically states that a law cannot be passed to specifically target a person or a group of people.
STEELE: That’s right!
CALLER: And we’ve got a president who is supposedly a constitutional scholar.
STEELE: Right. Right.
Listen here:
Here’s what the first amendment actually addresses:
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.
Earlier this month, Ken Blackwell, a former candidate for the RNC chairmanship responded to Steele’s recent flip-flopping on abortion by suggesting that Steele “re-read the Bible, the U.S. Constitution, and the 2008 GOP Platform.” Given Steele’s apparent lack of familiarity with the first amendment, it seems he may still be making his way through Blackwell’s reading list.
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This RNC comedy show is actually becoming funny.
Steele may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he sure comes up with some quotable misquotes.
Rush, you need to be learn’n your minions gooder…
March 20th, 2009 at 2:10 pmAnd the constitution says Muggles aren’t alloweed at Hogwarts !
You’d think someone who has devoted their career to the govt would be more familiar with the base documents.
March 20th, 2009 at 2:13 pmMichael Steele Doesn’t Know What The First Amendment Says
– - That’s Man of Steele gettin’ jiggity with the hip-hopness edginess of goin’ beyond the edge baby.
March 20th, 2009 at 2:14 pmSteele is a fitting representative for the party that misrepresents everything.
March 20th, 2009 at 2:14 pmOf course conservatives don’t know the 1st ammendment. That’s why they want to tell people who they can and can’t marry. Whether they can have an abortion. And believe in torturing people.
March 20th, 2009 at 2:16 pmSteele subbing for Bennett?
Bennett must be back in Vegas, blowing money and…
March 20th, 2009 at 2:19 pmCan anyone tell me what the Constitution has to do with abortion?
March 20th, 2009 at 2:19 pmLet Steele keep talking. Between him and Rush and Rep. LaTourette who was spouting sphincter talk, the Repugs have the perfect rhetoric to turn off every voter.
March 20th, 2009 at 2:22 pmLOL. 1st Amendment. What a brainstem.
See Article I, section 9, clause 3, Mr. Steele: “No bill of attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.”
Moron.
March 20th, 2009 at 2:22 pmHey, I wouldna known that, either.
‘Course, I’m not the chairman of a National party Committee…
March 20th, 2009 at 2:25 pmMaybe Steele should ask John Yoo what it says.
PHUCK YOO
March 20th, 2009 at 2:25 pmGreat tee shirt
Ok, now we know that Michael Steele put the twit in twitter.
March 20th, 2009 at 2:30 pmthe cannon on the deck
rolls this way and
then that way,
this way and
then that way.
…
March 20th, 2009 at 2:30 pmHow this guy managed to beat Stephen Colbert in a rap battle I have no idea.
March 20th, 2009 at 2:35 pmApparently neither Steele nor the caller know the difference between Congress and the President.
March 20th, 2009 at 2:37 pmI guess the trolls are Googling the Wiki entry for the 1st Amendment…
March 20th, 2009 at 2:38 pmOMG! The entire GOP is a gang of total idiots!
March 20th, 2009 at 2:38 pmHe should read the Constitution, now shouldn’t he? I think the first time I read it was 6th grade. I guess we need to have civics taught in our public schools, huh? Can you really say you support out Constitution, Mr. Steele if you have never even read it?
Sadly, this big tax on the bonuses is going to be ruled unconstitutional. To the folks at AIG and others, even if it is constitutional for you to take the money, is it ethical or moral when so many are hurting, and you contributed to this huge mess we are in?
March 20th, 2009 at 2:38 pmGOP = F**KTARDS!
March 20th, 2009 at 2:38 pmI admit I didn’t know where in the U.S. Constitution the ban on bills of attainder could be found, but I knew for sure it wasn’t the first amendment (since I’m quite familiar with that). I suppose that if I thought about it, I would correctly place it in the first ARTICLE, since that article deals with legislative powers (but I wouldn’t know the clause number).
Now, is my knowledge of the Constitution above average for an American? Is Steele’s below average? Was the caller’s below average? Or does Steele really know the Constitution and just have a brain fart? Those things happen, particularly when you are mindlessly agreeing with someone else who’s making your point for you (Steele really needs to focus more).
Too bad Stewart and Colbert aren’t on tonight, and we have to wait until Monday for them to have fun with this.
March 20th, 2009 at 2:41 pmLack of familiarity with the Bill of Rights is mandatory for the chair of the RNC. No surprises here.
March 20th, 2009 at 2:44 pmAll that the GOP has left, after their ideological purgings, are the stupid among us. We must destroy the GOP as the world can never allow these morons in power again.
March 20th, 2009 at 2:44 pmDespite all of this, there are PLENTY of examples of laws on the federal books that affect one person or group of people, that the Supreme Court (when it’s addressed the issue) has found not to be bills of attainder under the proper reading of Art. I, cl. 9 of the US Constitution.
Oh, and since when did Rushpublicans start caring about the Constitution anyway? Was it before or after they (a) carried out warrantless eavesdropping on American citizens; (b) allowed church groups to raise money on government property; (c) ignored treaty obligations of the US by torturing prisoners; (d) politicized the US Dept. of Justice; (I could go on, of course…)?
March 20th, 2009 at 2:45 pmPerhaps in the alternate version of reality that Republicans exist in, they have a different constitution.
March 20th, 2009 at 2:48 pmEven the concept of a bill of attainder doesn’t necessarily apply here. Any given bill may affect only a small part of the population, but as long as it was written in a general fashion it should pass muster. In any case, I’m sure the deep pockets of the bonus recipients will be able to fund a legal challenge to the law so we can all know for sure.
I’m sure I’ve mixed up the fourth and fifth amendments in the past, but I generally expect our elected representatives to do better. The Constitution is as important to their business as the W3C specs for HTML are to mine. I don’t think Steele has ever held a national office, but he did run for Senate a couple years ago.
March 20th, 2009 at 2:49 pm.
Q U E S T I O N:
Does the (R) in RNC stand for:
1) (R)epublickin’ ?
2) (R)ush Limbaugh ?
3) (R)eligon ?
.
March 20th, 2009 at 2:59 pm.
Q U E S T I O N:
Does the (P) in GOP stand for:
1) (P)arty on, baby ?
2) (P)reach to me, baby ?
3) (P)erpatrating crimes, baby ?
.
March 20th, 2009 at 3:01 pmO.K. seriously…
… The chumps that screed they know what the Constitution says yet can’t quote it, properly or at all, are really just a princess in the parade of ignorance.
Remember, their parade ends.
March 20th, 2009 at 3:06 pmwow…I guess its not surprising that anyone in the leadership ranks of the republican part seems to have any idea what the constitution says, or where it says it..
once again, I know it feeds into thier mindset of being a helpless victim and the government being the mean ol opressor, but income taxes are not “punishment”..they are just a part of living in civilized society. these people act like contributing to soceity is some form of torture, yet are quite happy to drive on the highways paid for with taxpayer money, receive mail that the taxpayer paid to deliver, fly in skies kept safe by the FAA, drink water kept (somewhat) safe by the EPA…get thier social security checks…etc etc…
republicans, constantly looking to be the victim to satisfy thier daddy complex..
arguably..some taxes could be considered punitive…say a tax on breathing or walking..but income tax..sorry pal, the thing in ARTICLE one of the constitution about bills of attainder doesnt apply to income tax…you think you get a trial before the IRS is allowed to ask you for money every april 15th? hahaha..man..
March 20th, 2009 at 4:36 pmwow..alan keyes was finally right about SOMETHING…steele does need to re-read his constiution…
March 20th, 2009 at 4:38 pmPoor Mikey. He’s in seriously over his pointy little head.
March 20th, 2009 at 4:59 pmThe first amendment the rethugs understand is..I can spew all the lies and garbage I want and you cant come back at me with facts cause thats not what we want to hear and when you do we will call you marxist, socialist, facist, communist and macarthyist so there
March 20th, 2009 at 6:44 pmPeople like Steele, and the rest of the rightwingers, are not counting on Americans to be smart enough to investigate the things that they say. Therefore, they will tell us anything and expect us to believe it!
March 20th, 2009 at 7:34 pmI call it “Pali-tics”: the inability to correctly quote and interpret what our constitution actually says. Named after Sarah Palin’s inability to do so first, and now Michael Steele’s apparent ineptness.
March 20th, 2009 at 7:49 pm“Mr. Steele, I hear that you are dumber than dogsh*t, and that you simply nod and agree a lot in order to look and sound intelligent.”
“That’s right”
March 20th, 2009 at 9:16 pmThe caller’s quote sounds more like a reference to equal protection – the Fourteenth Amendment
I don’t like the smell of the “bonus tax”, because it seems the government is trying to modify the terms of a contract without the consent of the other party. They’re looking like loan sharks. I’d be more comfortable if they were rewriting terms for future bailout agreements.
March 21st, 2009 at 6:33 amMan of Steele with a brain to match eh? Anyone having Ken Blackwell taking them to task for their idiocy….well, that’s just hilarious…..
March 21st, 2009 at 9:07 amAnother show for the Republiscum Channel,Spinning the Constitutionn now with your host, the Steele token………
Appluase,nothing, not even crickets.
March 21st, 2009 at 11:44 am