******************************************************************************************************************* Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., NY) credited Thomas Jefferson for writing the Bill of Rights during a debate over the First Amendment and campaign finance Tuesday. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, stumbled Tuesday over basic American history, crediting Thomas Jefferson for authorship of the Bill of Rights during a debate over the First Amendment and campaign finance. "I think if Thomas Jefferson were looking down, the author of the Bill of Rights, on what's being proposed here, he'd agree with it. He would agree that the First Amendment cannot be absolute," Mr. Schumer said. While Jefferson is deemed the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, he was not intimately involved in the writing of the Constitution or the Bill of Rights, which is the first 10 amendments to that founding document. Indeed, Jefferson was out of the country, serving as minister to France at the time of both the Constitution convention and the congressional debate over the Bill of Rights. His fellow Virginians, James Madison and George Mason, are usually credited with being more influential in the process - Mason for being among the most forceful in demanding the protections of such a Bill of Rights, and Madison for being the political muscle that got them approved. "Madison's support of the bill of rights was of critical significance," the National Archives writes on its web page. "One of the new representatives from Virginia to the First Federal Congress, as established by the new Constitution, he worked tirelessly to persuade the House to enact amendments." The Archives goes on to recount Madison's efforts to shepherd a package of 17 amendments through the House in 1789 - a number that was later trimmed to 12 in the Senate, before being submitted to the states. Of those, 10 were ratified fairly quickly. An 11th was ratified two centuries later, becoming the 27th Amendment. Though he wasn't involved in the writing, Jefferson was a fan of adding a bill of rights to the Constitution, telling Madison in a Dec. 20, 1787, letter that it was a glaring hole in the Constitution that emerged from the convention. " bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular; and what no just government should refuse or rest on inference," Jefferson wrote. The new constitutional amendment Mr. Schumer is pushing now would grant government the power to control all campaign spending, including from individuals, candidates and outside groups. Republicans argue it is an assault on the First Amendment's protections of free speech, but Mr. Schumer says the First Amendment isn't absolute - it allows for laws banning pornography or endangering public safety. FAIL: STUPID LIBERAL CLAIMS THOMAS JEFFERSON WROTE THE BILL OF RIGHTS AND CONSTITUTION IS A DEMOCRACY ****************************************************************************************************************** ******************************************************************************************************************* ======================================================================== Schumer is not alone in his historical gaffe. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D., Tex.) incorrectly said that the United States Constitution is 400 years old. FAIL: STUPID LIBERAL CLAIMS CONSTITUTION IS 400 YEARS OLD AND A DEMOCRACY******************************************************************************************************************* ******************************************************************************************************************* Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D., Texas) declared the U.S. Constitution to be 400 years old on the House floor, which would mean it was signed in 1614. "Maybe I should offer a good thanks to the distinguished members of the majority, the Republicans, my chairman and others, for giving us an opportunity to have a deliberative constitutional discussion that reinforces the sanctity of this nation and how well it is that we have lasted some 400 years, operating under a constitution that clearly defines what is constitutional and what is not," she said. That would be seven years after Jamestown, Virginia became America's first permanent English settlement. Lee is off by only 173 years. It was adopted on Sep. 17, 1787.



from Liveleak.com Rss Feed - Search results for 'fail' http://ift.tt/1tIWm9R

v

Harvard Grad Chuck Schumer Fails History, Credits Jefferson For Bill of Rights And Thinks The Constitution Is A Democracy

Uploaded by: jironde

Views:

Category: Liveleak.com Rss Feed - Search results for fail

Share

Tweet