The Founding Fathers Are Turning Over In Their Graves.

The First Amendment of The Constitution of the United States says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The Fourteenth Amendment adds, “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” (including the first amendment)

So how well has Republican presidential hopeful and Governor of Ohio John Kasich defended the first amendment?

As the Ohio Republican explained it, he believes teachers congregate and, while talking among themselves, express concerns to one another about lost benefits and pay cuts. Kasich “apparently sees this as a problem – not the threat of lost benefits and pay cuts, but rather, the fact that teachers have these ‘negative’ conversations, driven by “the unions.”

He said, “I’ll tell you what the unions do, unfortunately, too much of the time. There’s a constant negative comment to, “They’re going to take your benefits,” “They’re going to take your pay.” And so if I were not president but king in America I would abolish all teachers’ lounges where they sit together and worry about how “woe is us.”

It seems, therefore that Governor Kasich wants to prohibit “the right of the people peaceably to assemble” in teacher’s lounges as well as in unions, and wants to end the freedom of speech to say, “woe is me” and to therefore to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo also seemed to have issues with the First and Fourteenth Amendment rights of parents via his proxies NYSDOE Chancellor Merryl H. Tisch and Commissioner MaryEllen Elia who said, “The opt-out issue is very problematic.” She added, “The law exists so that there could be ramifications.”

So parents are being threatened with ramifications for their use of the First Amendment rights to “free speech” and “to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

All of this is taking place while the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision to say, “Spending is speech, and is therefore protected by the Constitution — even if the speaker is a corporation.”

The Founding Fathers are turning over in their graves.