Conflict Constitutionalists

Jon Stewart Roasts The House's Reading Of The Constitution (VIDEO)
Jon Stewart was excited to hear that the Constitution would be read in its entirety on the House floor yesterday, but he ended up being less pleased with the results. "Well, you've done it," Stewart said last night. "You've managed to make the reading of one of our nation's most treasured and sacred founding documents and combined it with the efficiency of the DMV and the dramatic chops of family members who demand to be called to the bima during your bat mitzvah." [TPM SLIDESHOW: Sanest Of Th...

Birther Disrupts Congress
A woman doubting the natural born citizen status of US President Barack Obama disrupted a reading of the American Constitution during the Thursday morning opening of the US Congress. “Except Obama! Except Obama!,” shouted the woman, after Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., read the passage from the US Constitution that says “no person, except a natural-born citizen, or a citizen of the United States” is eligible for the presidency. “Help us, Jesus!,” the woman cried ...

Zandar's Thought Of The Day
If this is the new normal for the Tea Party right (and every indication that these inmates are indeed well ensconced in administration and day-to-day affairs of the asylum) then the next two years are going to be awesome. An apparent member of the Birther Movement seated in the gallery of the House of Representatives on Thursday interrupted a reading of the Constitution. The woman yelled out "Except Obama, except Obama, help us Jesus!" as Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) read the "natural born citizen"...

Birther outburst during Pallone's reading of the U.S. Constitution
As designated by the House GOP majority, Thursday morning was set aside for a full reading of the U.S. Constitution. During one part of it, a spectator in the gallery exercised her First Amendment right of Freedom of Speech. What set her off? No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to th...

And on the second day, they read
Day Two of Republican control of the U.S. House of Representatives was highlighted with a reading of the 223-year-old Constitution — the document that formed the American government and guides it to this day. It’s often a raucous scene on the House floor. Today, it was raucous in the visitors’ gallery, when a woman calling herself “Theresa” disrupted the recitation of the Constitution at the exact point in which a lawmaker read that the president must be a “na...

Birther Chickens Come Home to Roost
Crazed birther disrupts Constitution reading in House when "natural born citizen" passage is read on the floor. ...

Moths to the Flame
While Reps were reading the portion of the Constitution covering presidential eligibility ("natural born citizen", a feral birther disrupted the proceedings from the Gallery, yelling "except obama, except obama. Help us Jesus." ...

New at Reason: Katherine Mangu-Ward on the Dangers of Bipartisan School Reform
We are in for a season of grisly partisan bloodletting—or at least some pretty fierce jello wrestling—over Health Care, budgets, and pork, if the coverage of the opening days of the 112th Congress is any indication of things to come. But when it comes to education policy, politicians and pundits are inexplicably full of sunny optimism. Senior Editor Katherine Mangu-Ward brings some rain to the Bipartisan parade. View this article. ...

Boehner on Birthers: "It's Not Up to Me to Tell Them What to Think"
House Speaker John Boehner was asked by NBC's Brian Williams today about how much responsibility he feels for an incident on the House floor this morning in which an apparent "birther" yelled out from the gallery while the Constitution was being read. As Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) read the portion of the Constitution mandating that only a "natural-born citizen" may be president, a woman in the gallery shouted, "Except Obama, except Obama." You can watch the video at left. Williams noted tha...

A Progressive Call To Arms
Comrades! As I write, the RethugliKKKans are reading the United States Constitution in the well of the House! This has never been done before and is a horrible precedent--the United States Constitution is the biggest threat to the progressive dream of the complete and total evisceration of what it means to be a responsible human being and as such it must be undermined, scoffed at, mocked, ridiculed and trashed as much as possible. Why would anyone want a document which outlines basic freedoms? I...

No More Mister Nice Blog
YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW, WingnutS "Bummer," whined A -list right-wing blogger Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit after the House Republicans' Constitution-reading stunt was crashed by a birther. Well, boo-hoo, Jim -- your side enables these people, so you get what you deserve: An apparent member of the Birther Movement seated in the gallery of the House of Representatives on Thursday interrupted a reading of the Constitution. The woman yelled out "Except Obama, except Obama, help us Jesus!" as Rep. Frank...

Despite glitches, Constitution is read on the House floor
WASHINGTON — Republicans made history yesterday by staging the first-ever reading of the entire Constitution on the House floor. But that record may come with an asterisk: Democrats asked why original sections that later were amended, including references to slaves, were left out of the recital, and lawmakers initially did not catch that a couple of key paragraphs were omitted when two pages got stuck together. Disputes and glitches aside, Republican and Democratic lawmakers silenced thei...

Heckling birther disrupts Congress
Stumble This! WASHINGTON — A woman screaming that President Barack Obama was not legitimately elected to the White House disrupted a symbolic reading of the US Constitution in the House of Representatives on Thursday. Capitol police removed the Protester, who shouted "Except Obama! Except Obama! Help us Jesus!" as Democratic Representative Frank Pallone read the passage that spells out the requirements for becoming president. Some of Obama's arch-conservative opponents have leveled the un...

Boehner: Sure Obama's A Citizen, But I Won't Tell Others 'What To Think' (VIDEO)
In his first big interview as Speaker of the House, John Boehner (R-OH) told NBC's Brian Williams that he believes President Barack Obama is a U.S. citizen, but won't tell the other members of his Caucus "what to think." "The state of Hawaii has said that President Obama was born there," Boehner said. "That's good enough for me." [TPM SLIDESHOW: Meet The New House Republican Leadership] Williams then pressed Boehner on whether he will tell some of his colleagues -- who are co-sponsoring legisl...

Historic Constitution reading comes with glitches
WASHINGTON -- In a symbolic move by a new Republican majority, the people who make our laws read the document that is the foundation for our laws in its entirety in Congress. Ga. Politics news, helpful links PolitiFact Georgia » David Wyss: State Governments have little ability to stimulate job growth in the short run. But like lawmaking itself, Thursday's unprecedented reading of the U.S. Constitution by members of the House didn't come without glitches -- including some involving Georg...

Whatever happenedto real reporting?
I'm watching the coverage of the disruption of the House of Representatives during the reading of the Constitution today by a Protester who questioned Barack Obama's eligibility for the presidency. Here's what USA Today said: "A Protester who says President Obama wasn't Born in the USA was arrested this morning for disrupting the reading of the Constitution in the House chamber." Not true. That's not what Theresa Cao said. Even though we have all had the opportunity to watch the video and he...

Open tabs: Help us, Jesus
What good did the breathless early reports of the Daley hire do anyone? The Birther lady who interrupted the House Constitution class today has a great blog, of course. No one has been picked to replace Gibbs yet, so don't listen to anyone who says different. Tim Pawlenty wants you to know that he's "gritty" and "blue-collar." ...

Nevadans sit out reading of Constitution on House floor
Washington — They promised they’d do it, and on the second day of their tenure in the House, the GOP staged a not-so-dramatic reading of the U.S. Constitution. Despite it being the government’s founding document, it’s the first time it’s been read — every article, signature, and amendment — on the floor of the House of Representatives. The event wasn’t just in homage to the Founding Fathers; it was also a sign of the new influence of the Tea Party, for whom adh

Beware Bipartisan School Reform
We are in for a season of grisly partisan bloodletting—or at least some pretty fierce jello wrestling—over Health Care, budgets, and pork, if the coverage of the opening days of the 112th Congress is any indication of things to come. But when it comes to education policy, politicians and pundits are inexplicably full of sunny optimism. Patient zero in this epidemic of cheer is Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post this week expressing the hope that peo...

Commerce secretary praises new WH chief of staff
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke praised the pick for White House Chief of Staff on Thursday in an interview with reporters at the Consumer Electronics Show. William Daley, a former Clinton Administration Commerce secretary, was announced as the new chief on the same day. Locke said he reached out to Daley for advice before he took the helm at the Commerce Department.  "We had several meetings where he imparted his wisdom and help; I'm excited to have him as chief of staff," Locke said. Locke sa...

State senators call for parole moratorium
BOSTON - A Bipartisan group of Massachusetts state senators is calling for a Moratorium on Parole board hearings following the fatal shooting of a Woburn Police Officer. The 14 senators say there should be no additional hearings until after the board has completed a report on the 2008 decision to Parole the man investigators say shot and killed 60-year-old John Maguire during a botched jewelry heist Dec. 26. Police said Maguire’s killer was 57-year-old Dominic Cinelli, a career criminal w...

Actual Potential Bipartisanship
Here is a potential -- or, at least, conceivable -- area for Bipartisan support: reforming the tax code. The Wall Street Journal reports that corporate leaders are pushing and it seems to have some support from both parties: The White House and congressional Republicans are moving from different directions toward a consensus that the U.S. Corporate Tax code needs a fundamental overhaul, a goal high on corporate leaders' agenda. Specific proposals for retooling the complex corporate-tax system a...

Malloy Lobbies Business For Sick Leave Mandate
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has told businesses he will support Legislation requiring paid Sick Leave for employees, which many companies oppose. Malloy appeared before the Connecticut Business & Industry Association on Friday, telling more than 300 business owners, managers and representatives he believes companies should be required by law to offer Sick Leave to workers. The Sick Leave mandate has failed in previous sessions of the legislature. Malloy say...

Groups, Dems criticize GOP event in Capitol
WASHINGTON—Democrats and congressional Watchdog groups accused Republicans on Friday of illegally holding a campaign Fundraiser in the Capitol complex during this week's swearing-in ceremonies for lawmakers. One group said it would ask House ethics officials to investigate, but there were no immediate indications that they would take formal action. A spokesman for the GOP congressman who sponsored the event denied that he had used it to raise campaign money, and said funds collected were ...

Birther Reportedly Arrested After Interrupting House Constitution Reading (VIDEO)
A supposed birther spectator interrupted the House's reading of the Constitution Thursday, as a representative read the natural born Citizenship clause mandating that only Candidates born in the United States are eligible to serve in the Office of President. "Except Obama, except Obama, help us Jesus!" the woman interjected over Rep. Frank Pallone's (D-N.J.) recitation of the Second Article clause. Politico reports that the woman was arrested by the sergeant at arms after being scolded by Rep....