Teabaggers and the constitution

[graywarrior]

Do you think teabaggers have trampled on your constitutional rights? If so, how? I need to respond to a 20 year old republican who will not leave me alone in my online class and frankly, I'm getting tired of his shit.

[Catshrink]

1. I don't think teabaggers have even read the Constitution.

They are like flies, annoying, and just like flies, I swat them away. I can't think of how they've trampled on my Constituional rights. Maybe last summer when they were shouting down others at those town hall meetings, denying others the right to free speech.

The outcome, if they ever are successful and their rhetoric becomes the law of the land, it might be different, but to date - no.

Frankly, I'm more concerned about the Constitutional rights of that duck.

[graywarrior]

2. Hmmmmmm....

qwak

[cliffordu]

5. The fucked up thing about ducks is

they LOVE being waterboarded. Just love it.

[graywarrior]

6. That's because the water runs off their backs

[livetoride]

3. They have not

trampled my Rights, but given the chance they would rewrite the constitution and remove those rights from me. And that is why they are dangerous (Well, that and all the hate and rage)..

[elleng]

4. No, but some of their assertions suggest they (or some of them,

NOT a unified group, mistake to speak of them as such, imo) might want to. From what we hear on msm, many of them haven't the faintest idea about constitutional rights. (And I'll mention that it really is NOT A SIMPLE TOPIC.)

JUST POSTED, and makes my point: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8131001&mesg_id=8131001

[graywarrior]

7. Here is the one reference I made to teabaggers in my essay

As citizens of the United States we have duties that include obeying the law, paying taxes (sorry Teabaggers!) and defending the country.

His panties are in a bunch and he's accusing me of trashing teabaggers and that I claiming they are trampling my rights. I said no such thing. I merely mentioned that part of our duties, according to interpretation of the constitution, is to pay taxes which apparently, teabaggers do not want to do. Mr. 20-year old college republican's head is exploding and he is DEMANDING an explanation from me.

I just responded to him that I thought he bragged at the beginning of this semester that he took weekends off from the discussion board. He must be fuming to give up his Saturday and Sunday to spend time arguing with an old hippy online.

[Confusious]

12. You're falling into a trap

It's a straw man. You said no such thing, and he's making something up since he can't make a counter argument to your sensible statement.

Just tell him to stop being a republican and making shit up.

If that doesn't work, tell him you're sorry he was raised badly, and that lying is not acceptable.

[graywarrior]

14. I'm going to use my typical response when people begin to bore me

"z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z"

[madmom]

8. Yes I agree the thing with the town hall meetings over the summer was way over the top. They

kept us from learning what it was all about with all their screaming and demanding to be heard while at the same time not letting anyone else be heard. I wanted to know what our congress people had to say.

They also are trampling on the rights of women to reproductive information and care.

[graywarrior]

9. Thank you, that I can use!

[JDPriestly]

10. The Teabaggers have not trampled on my constitutional rights in any way.

They are too stupid to figure out how to do that.

Have the Teabaggers read the Constitution? Most of them have not read it in its entirety, that's for sure.

They have heard little quotes from the Constitution here and there, but that's usually the extent of their knowledge.

Do the Teabaggers understand the Constitution? No. Understanding the Constitution is a full-time job.

Why is it a full-time job? Because the Constitution is a very short document that was written over time beginning over 200 years ago. Because of its brevity, the Constitution has to be interpreted and applied. The Supreme Court has taken on the task of interpreting and applying it.

The interpretation of the Constitution is ever-changing.

Why? First, because the Supreme Court is composed of human beings who have, over the course of time, made mistakes and changed the institution's mind. For example, Sandra Day O'Connor was the first female justice on the Court. Although Roe v. Wade was decided by an all-male Court, in the decision Casey, Sandra Day O'Connor explained why a woman must have the right to make decisions about abortion at least up to a certain point in pregnancy. It will be difficult for any Court to overturn Casey because O'Connor's argument reaches into the very deepest part of the experience of being a woman -- the intimate and uniquely feminine joys, pain and risks of childbearing.

Second, because our country is ever changing. Did the Constitution specifically permit President Eisenhower to construct the interstate highways back in the 1950s? No, not in so many words. Did the Constitution state explicitly that the federal government would include a Food and Drug Administration? No. The Constitution grants authority to Congress, the president and the courts in very broad terms, and the Supreme Court ultimately decides whether certain federal actions or activities are within the Constitution.

I could go on and on about why the study of the Constitution is a full-time job. The Teabaggers, or most of them, are not experts on the Constitution. They repeat what their political heroes tell them about it.

Again, no. The Teabaggers have not taken away my Constitutional rights. But then, as far as I can tell, no one has taken or is taking away theirs either.

George W. Bush violated people's constitutional rights with his illegal wiretapping scheme and by depriving prisoners of the right to habeas corpus and permitting them to be tortured. I don't know to what extent Obama is continuing Bush's programs that violated people's constitutional rights.

[graywarrior]

15. You clarified beautifully what I just studied in the past two weeks

And thank you for that.

[dana_b]

11. your right to the pursuit of happiness is being

stomped on by this 20 y.o. person who won't leave you alone. I can see it doesn't make you happy. tell him to "fuck off", politely - of course. ;)

[graywarrior]

16. I may need to do that

[safeinOhio]

13. They want to trample my Seventh Amendment rights

with their tort reform for medical malpractice.

[lunatica]

17. They demand that religion be in government

They demand that the LGBT community be stripped of all their civil rights, even to the point of wanting to kill them. They also want to take womens' right to choose away at gunpoint and by murdering.

All of their thinking is anti-Constitutional because it's based on mixing religion and government. Even their right to own a gun is 'God given'.

[opihimoimoi]

18. just cause dey reed don meen dey unnerstan much less retain....dere vocab is pricelessly low

and often expressed wid many misspelled terms and phrazes.

Dey want another good ole guy dey can drink wid and relate too....dey want stoopid so dey can say our leader is jus like us...stoopid...

[guardian]

19. What class are you teaching?

If it isn't related (for example a mathematics class) then just tell him to keep his comments/questions on the subject matter and leave it at that.