Remember when Sarah Palin ran for vice president and even though she was given multiple chances she couldn’t describe the constitutional role of the vice president? That was awesome. You might also remember when Palin said the Constitution states that “our unalienable rights don’t come from man; they come from God. So this document is set up to protect us from a government that would ever infringe upon our rights to have freedom of religion and to be able to express our faith freely.” Yeah, that thing about “unalienable rights” comes from the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution. Oops.
In addition to basic sentence structure and all numbers above seven, Palin doesn’t really get the Constitution, which has clearly never prevented her from pretending she’s, you know, read the most important section of the document. Here’s Palin discussing the free speech clause of the First Amendment:
Palin on Phil Robertson:
“Free speech is an endangered species. Those “intolerants” hatin’ and taking on the Duck Dynasty patriarch for voicing his personal opinion are taking on all of us.”
Palin on Miss USA contestant Carrie Prejean:
“I respect Carrie for standing strong and staying true to herself, and for not letting those who disagree with her deny her protection under the nation’s First Amendment Rights. Our Constitution protects us all — not just those who agree with the far left.”
Palin on Dr. Laura:
“Dr. Laura: don’t retreat…reload! (Steps aside bc her 1st Amend.rights ceased 2exist thx 2activists trying 2silence’isn’t American,not fair’)”
Palin on Rush Limbaugh’s Sandra Fluke comments:
“I think the definition of hypocrisy is for Rush Limbaugh to have been called out, forced to apologize, and retract what it is that he said in exercising his First Amendment rights, and never is that — the same applied to the leftist radicals who say such horrible things about the handicapped, about women, about the defenseless.”
Palin on the Chick-Fil-A boycott:
“Well, that calling for the boycott is a real — has a chilling effect on our 1st Amendment rights. And the owner of the Chick-Fil-A business had merely voiced his personal opinion about supporting traditional definition of marriage, one boy, one girl, falling in love, getting married…I’m speaking up for him and his 1st Amendment rights and anybody else who would wish to express their not anti-gay people sentiment, but their support of traditional marriage.”
Despite Palin’s cartoonishly ridiculous interpretation, the First Amendment doesn’t protect Limbaugh or Phil Robertson from their corporate bosses, angry listeners or popular boycotts… CONTINUE READING