Firedoglake has another report on Schmidt’s blackout performance last night in Loveland. They caught this little gem of a quote from the Congresswoman:

At one point she called on an apparantly sypathetic blond-haired, conservatively -dressed cornfed Ohio man who asked a question that seemed to intrigue her: “I’m troubled,” he said, “By this unwarrented wiretapping program not just because of the Fourth and Second and First Amendment issues it raises but because the bad guys might get off on a technicality. That this might actually be aiding our enemies and my question is what, if any, do you believe are the limits of Presidential power in wartime and what is you duty as a member of Congress if those limits have been exceeded?”

“Wow!” she said after a new moon phase had come and gone, “that’s a big question…privacy rights…(she seemed to cock her head for better reception)…we’re at war…suspending the Constitution is sometimes necessary…if someone is going to attack us, we shoud know that and go after them…” To which she received some applause.


REALLY?

First off WE ARE NOT AT WAR. Man, I hate politicians using that phrase like it doesn’t have any meaning. Secondly, you swore an oath to defend the Constitution. I know you have a hard time remembering that day since it was also when you promised to “refrain from name-calling or the questioning of character“. Let me remind you of it, and point out that you took it AFTER 9/11:

The SPEAKER. Will the Representative-elect and the members of the Ohio delegation please present themselves in the well.

Mrs. Schmidt appeared at the bar of the House and took the oath of office, as follows:

Do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that you take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you are about to enter. So help you God.

The SPEAKER. Congratulations, you are now a Member of the 109th Congress.


Not Tom Delay… not George Bush… not the Republican Party… THE CONSTITUTION. Nowhere in that document does it say anything about suspending your oath whenever you feel like it. If you do not believe in the Constitution then you need to follow through on your oath and defend the Constitution from yourself. RESIGN. If this report is true, you have declared yourself an enemy of the cornerstone of our great nation and violated the very oath that allows you to represent the 2nd district.

BTW, Ohio Democrats Dann, Redfern and Fingerhut are not winning any love from this blog for voting for SB9. Choose who you represent, the Constitution or yourselves. I only support candidates that fight FOR the Constitution.

ADDED: Word has it that the Enquirer’s Howard Wilkinson was there recording the event.