They are the gift that keeps on giving:First, Christine O'Donnell, candidate for the, um, United States Senate, gets a lesson on the Constitution:

"Where in the Constitution is separation of church and state?" O'Donnell asked while Democrat Chris Coons, an attorney, sat a few feet away.Coons responded that O'Donnell's question "reveals her fundamental misunderstanding of what our Constitution is. ... The First Amendment establishes a separation."She interrupted to say, "The First Amendment does? ... So you're telling me that the separation of church and state, the phrase 'separation of church and state,' is in the First Amendment?"

She got laughs, though apparently not intentionally.Then Ginny Thomas, wife of the, um, Supreme Court Justice and a major Tea Party organizer, raised eyebrows with her cold call to Anita Hill last weekend -- last weekend -- saying she'd accept an apology for all that business 19 years ago:

"I just wanted to reach across the airwaves and the years and ask you to consider something," Virginia Thomas said on Hill's school voice mail. "I would love you to consider an apology sometime and some full explanation of why you did what you did with my husband. So give it some thought and certainly pray about this and come to understand why you did what you did. Okay have a good day."

Needless to say, Hill at first thought it was a prank. Then she said thanks, but no thanks.This means I'll have to watch Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert tonight.

David Gibson is the director of Fordham’s Center on Religion & Culture.

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