keeping them honest and we start with a politician who claims to be guided by the constitution. talks about it all the time on the campaign trail. yet it turns out she might not be as familiar with it as she pretends. we re talking about delaware republican and tea party favorite christine o donnell who is running for senate. debating opponent chris coons in a delaware law school this morning. the two were sparring over teaching evolution and the separation of church and state. listen. where in the constitution is separation of church and state? oh, my god. a few beats later, someone in the crowd says unbelievable, ms. o donnell keeps smiling, and then a minute later, this kpai change. the first amendment. the first amendment establishes the separation, the fact that the federal government shall not establish religious and supreme court over many decades. clarifies and enshrines that there is a separation of church and state that our courts and our laws must respect.
supreme court over many, many decades. the first amendment does? clarifies and enshrines that there is a separation of church and state that our courts and our laws must respect. so you re telling me that the separation of first and state, the phrase the separation of church and state is in the first amendment? sounded like there was some scattered laughter there in the law school audience. but later on o donnell was asked to she came back and scored some points when asked if he could identified all of the five freedoms guaranteeded in the first amendment. coons identified that a government shall make no establishment of religion, but could not identify the others, freedom of speech, press, assemble and to petition. still o donnell s campaign released a statement say, quote, in this morning s debate, o donnell was not questioning the concept of separation of church and state as subsequentry established by the courts.
okay. with that, very good dialogue. we appreciate that. let s move on so we can get to all the panelists and cover a number of areas. if you could ask the last question, please? where in the constitution is separation of church and state? the first amendment, the first amendment establishes the separation, the fact that the federal government shall not establish any religion and decisional law by the supreme court over many, many decades the first amendment does? clarifies and enshrines that there is a separation of church and state that our courts and our laws must respect. so you re telling me that the separation of church and state, the phrase station of church and state is in the first amendment? the thing you don t get from just reading that exchange, that you do get from the tape, is that she thinks she s just won. she thinks she s got one over on chris coons there. giant political touchdown, she
it s in excellent point. hold on. hold on, please. that was embarrassing. the moderator moved on. coons went back to it about o donnell s support of griswold v. connecticut. despite the laughter she got earlier, o donnell kept at it. the answers from my opponent and in her attempt at saying, where is the separation of church and state in the constitution? reveals her fundamental misunderstanding of what her constitution is, how it is amended and how it evolves. the first amendment, the first amendment, establishes the separation, the fact that the federal government shall not establish in your religion and decisional law by the supreme court over many, many decades. the first amendment does? clarifies and enshrines that there is a separation of church and state that our courts and our laws must respect. so you re telling me that the
one of those indispensable principles is the separation of church and state. okay. with that, very good dialogue. we appreciate that. let s move on so we can get to all the panelists and cover a number of areas. if you could ask the last question, please? where in the constitution is separation of church and state? the first amendment, the first amendment establishes the separation, the fact that the federal government shall not establish any religion and decisional law by the supreme court over many, many decades the first amendment does? clarifies and enshrines that there is a separation of church and state that our courts and our laws must respect. so you re telling me that the separation of church and state, the phrase station of church and state is in the first amendment? the thing you don t get from just reading that exchange, that you do get from the tape, is that she thinks she s just won. she thinks she s got one over on chris coons there. giant political tou