The other day I went to Costco to see about getting hearing aids (Yes, it is that time of my life). Not only did Costco tell Trump to take a hike when he ordered them to cancel DEI, they also sell hearing aids for far less than most places. So, I really like Costco.
Anyway, while waiting to have my hearing tested I read that Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security, was asked by Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H, to define Habeas Corpus.
Her answer? “Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the President has to be able to remove people from this country.”
OK. Let’s pause right there.
If you think Noem was right, raise your hand. If you think she was wrong, go ahead and laugh at those with their hands up.
End pause.
I asked the hearing aid expert if she knew what habeas corpus was. “No”, she said in a tone that said “and don’t care.”
Fair enough. She doesn’t have to care, because the writers of the Constitution cared for her, as have most lawmakers since.
Republican Kristi Noem grew up in rural South Dakota. She got a high school degree in 1990, went to college, dropped out, then went back years later, graduating with a BA in political science in 2012, while also serving as a US Representative.
Let’s pause again.
She is a member of the President’s Cabinet, people who enforce and obey the law. She an ex-Governor, one who supports and enforces the law. She is an ex-Congresswoman, one who makes the law.
There’s no way she doesn’t know that habeas corpus is a Latin phrase meaning “you should have the body” and refers to a legal order to bring a suspect to a court. It’s origin goes back to the Magna Carta of 1215, which said that no free man (as opposed to slaves, I guess) can be imprisoned without lawful judgement. It is also a US Constitutional right that protects against illegal imprisonment. Article One, Section 9, Clause 2 of the US Constitution says: “The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.”
The last invasion of the US was in the Civil War, unless you count the British invasion of the 1960’s by the Beatles, Rolling Stones and others.
End pause again.
I understand how a hearing aid technician may not be familiar with habeas corpus. But how a person sworn to uphold the Constitution could describe it as a dictatorial tool floored me.
Then I remembered that Noem works for Donald Trump, the UPenn graduate who brags about his Penn degree, but blocked the school from releasing any of his grades. Did he and Steve Miller, Trump’s new Roy Cohn, come up with the new definition? (Remember Roy Cohn, Sen Joseph McCarthy’s and later Trump’s political hitman?)
And was it Trump or Miller who just inspired her to halt (or try to) Harvard’s ability to enroll international students?
Oh well, that’s Trumpworld, I thought.
Which brings up a bigger question: Does the average American know about Joe McCarthy. Or habeas corpus? Or the Magna Carta? Or basic American history?
It’s unfortunate for a hearing aid technician to be ignorant of her basic rights. But what about an elected lawmaker? Is Noem’s 16 years of education worthless? Or is she just a Trump toady and liar? Does she think we’re all so uneducated, we won’t notice?
If so, is she right?
There’s an old saying, attributed in essence to Thomas Jefferson. “You can’t have democracy without an educated populace.”
That should give us all pause.