What is it with the First Amendment? Basking in its fearsome presence, bright minds flicker and fade into murky obscurity.

Ellen Ratner is a news analyst on The Fox News Channel, the Chief Political Correspondent for TalkAmerica Radio Network, and their White House Correspondent and Bureau Chief. She's an online columnist at TomPaine.com. Clearly, Ellen Ratner must be an intelligent and successful member of the media, yet her intellect crumbles in the face of the First Amendment.

Today I came across her rant entitled Roy Moore and The Constitution, dealing with the case of the judge who put a legal monument including the Ten Commandments in his courthouse. Ratner writes,

I won't devote much time to the legal argument as embodied in the Separation Clause of the U.S. Constitution. In their hearts, everybody knows what "separation of church and state" means and, most of us are glad it's there.

Apparently there's an official "Separation Clause" in the Constitution. Strangely enough, I can't find the word "separation" anywhere in the body of the Constitution, let alone a heading by that name. Maybe it's in an amendment. Nope, the word "separation" isn't there, either. That's strange. It looked like she was quoting right from that clause. After all, we're supposed to be "glad its there," yet I can't find it, despite her assertion that I should know in my heart just what it means. She must be referring to Amendment I. Let's read that:

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.

In their hearts, everybody knows what "prohibiting the free exercise thereof" means, and most of us are glad its there. Now if only liberals would get around to reading the First Amendment rather than quoting their misperceptions...

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