Free Republic

Democrats are howling about the new Republican majority’s decision to read the Constitution in its entirety on Thursday. You are not “free” when the collective demands of favored citizens can place unlimited demands on the fruit of your labor. You are not “free” if your choices are meaningless. You are not “free” if you are not allowed to dissent. There is only one governing principle that properly respects the freedom of all citizens: ironclad obedience to a clear and concise document that identifies their inherent rights, and forbids the State from compromising them, under any circumstances. The Constitution does not...

With apologies to everyone born after 1972.

During the reading of Article II, Section I of the Constitution -- the clause that requires the president of the United States to be a "natural born citizen," an unidentified woman in the gallery screamed "Except Obama! Except Obama!" Politico's Marin Cogan adds that the woman yelled, "Help us, Jesus!" She was removed immediately. UPDATE: I'm told that the woman who made the disruption was Theresa Cao, a birther activist and supporter of court-martialed birther Lt. Col. Terry Lakin. On December 16, she told WorldNetDaily that she was "taking his message to the White House and Congress."

Sorry, Mr. President -- there's a new star in town. Despite the resurgent tingles up the legs of numerous liberal commentators — and even a smattering of conservative pundits — President Barack Obama is anything but a comeback kid. No amount of yelping among the ever-shrinking liberal ranks can make it so. For the moment, there is only one genuine comeback kid on the American block: the U.S. Constitution. And the mighty resurgence of interest in that document, along with a new call for a return to constitutional fealty, is brought to us all by liberty guys and gals reincarnate:...

Vanity. But unbelievable!

We have written many times about the Progressive movement and its open hostility toward both the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. We have also noted that modern progressives have generally had the good political sense to keep their opinions about the Constitution to themselves, beyond whatever critique is implicit in terming it a "living" document that is liable to call forth previously unknown "rights" at any moment. Today's New York Times editorializes on the Republican takeover of the House. You could paraphrase the editorial as "wah-wah-wah;" the paper basically cries over its party's November defeat. But in the course...

Democrats are howling about the new Republican majority’s decision to read the Constitution in its entirety on Thursday. Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York told the Washington Post it would be a “ritualistic reading” that treated the Constitution like “a sacred text” for “propaganda” purposes. “You’re not supposed to worship your Constitution,” Nadler huffed. “You are supposed to govern your government by it.” On her Headline News TV host Joy Behar wondered if “this Constitution loving is getting out of hand.” Of course, it’s hard to govern our ungovernable government with the Constitution if we don’t know what it says....

[Brian]Williams: Would you be willing to say, "This is a distraction, I've looked at it to my satisfaction. Let's move on"? Boehner: The state of Hawaii has said that President Obama was born there. That's good enough for me. Williams: Would you be willing to say that message to the 12 members in your caucus who seem to either believe otherwise or are willing to express doubt and have co-sponsored legislation? Boehner: Brian, when you come to the Congress of the United States, there are 435 of us. We're nothing more than a slice of America. People come, regardless of...

Small clip from tonight's interview. Brian Williams asks Boehner how much responsibility he feels for the outburst from the House gallery today during the reading of the constitution...

WASHINGTON – Lawmakers took turns reading the Constitution on the House floor Thursday, a nod to tea partiers who put Republicans in power. Even the nation's founding text got caught in political tussling: Democrats questioned omitting amended sections that reflect how the document has changed over time, such as one that classified slaves as three-fifths of a person...

WASHINGTON – And let it be said, on this second day following the convening of the 112th Congress, newly sworn members of the House shall stand and read aloud the Constitution of the United States. .. Republicans in charge of the chamber rattled it off with missionary zeal, .. Democrats pitched in, but with seemingly less ardor.

A woman was arrested in the House gallery Thursday after interrupting a reading of the Constitution by yelling out her belief that President Barack Obama is not a natural born citizen of the United States. When Frank Rep. Pallone (D-N.J.) read the part of Article II, Section 1 mandating that only a "natural-born citizen" may be president, the woman, seated in the front row of the public gallery, screamed "Except Obama, except Obama. Help us Jesus." (snip)

In a nation founded upon the U.S. Constitution, one might think that reading the founding document out loud on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives might not be controversial, but some on the left suggest those promoting its voicing have a "fetish." Among them is Dahlia Lithwick of Slate.com, who penned a column titled, "Read It and Weep: How the tea party's fetish for the Constitution as written may get it in trouble."

Reading of the Constitution about to begin. Some Democratic congressman from Washington State (Rep. Jay Inslee) is trying to gum up the works by asking if the original unamended document was going to be read. Ridiculous...

AND NOW . . . amidst billowing clouds of fragrant, aromatic first- and second-hand premium cigar smoke. . . it is time for . . . that harmless, lovable little fuzz ball, the highly-trained broadcast specialist, having more fun than a human being should be allowed to have, from behind the golden EIB microphone, firmly ensconced in the prestigious Attila-the-Hun chair at the Limbaugh Institute of Advanced Conservative Studies, serving humanity simply by showing up, and he’s not retiring until every American agrees with him, do NOT doubt him, with shrieks of joy at the mere mention of his name...