More Dumb 10 Commandments Tricks

One would think that after the then-Justice Roy Moore's folly with his 10 Commandments monument this summer that politicians would think twice about doing something similar. Oh, if only that were true. Sadly, low level politicos with delusions of adequacy all over the country continue to demonstrate that a working knowledge of the US Constitution is not a qualification for office.

In Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a city councilman snuck and installed a 10 Commandments monument on the steps of city hall early yesterday morning. He must have known the jig would eventually be up, as he made a complete end run around the council's procedures for erecting things in and around city hall. He claims ignorance of the procedures. Which either means a) he is a bad liar, or b) he has managed to serve six years on the council without learning how it works. I'll let you decide.

Meanwhile, in Maryland, Republican lawmakers are trying to put together a resolution in favor of the deposed Mr. Moore. The resolution would also call for Congress to "pass a law" protecting displays of the 10 Commandments. Showing, once again, that these folks just don't get it - the Constitution trumps everything, and the Supreme Court's interpretation of it is binding on us.

My main beef with Moore wasn't even his position on the Commandments themselves. He was wrong, of course. To claim that the 10 Commandments are the basis of United States law is to completely ignore English common law and Enlightenment philosophers that are really the basis of our law. Exactly which commandment demands the separation of powers? A representative republic? Two houses of Congress? Tell me when you figure this out.

Anyway, back to my main beef with Moore - his complete and utter inability to understand Constitutional Law 101. You see, the Constitution is the supreme law of the land. It trumps acts of Congress, presidential orders, and state statutes. It even, gods forbid, trumps Moore's blessed Alabama state constitution. If there is a conflict, the US Constitution wins. That's why slavery was illegal in Mississippi after the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment even though the state constitution still permitted it (until very recently). It's why West Virginia's public schools were desegregated after Brown v. Board of Education, even though the state constitution (again, until very recently) mandated segregated schools.

In the end, Moore embarrassed himself and his state with just about everyone. Except for ultra-conservative Christians, whom he no doubt views as an important constituency for his future political career. Let's hope they're number is not large enough to matter.