Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) is one of those Democrats on who it is so easy to dunk that you almost resist the urge to do so. But considering his penchant for moralizing, preaching, and lecturing others about how their rights are infringing on his ability to infringe on yours, calling him out when he behaves badly (which is often) is something that must be done at every opportunity.

The latest case in point came Sunday when Swalwell took a swipe at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. As we previously reported, DeSantis triggered Swalwell when he noted during a speech that students in public schools “need to understand that our rights come from God, not from the government.”

As per the norm, Swalwell proceeded to commit a rather embarrassing self-own in response:

It’s not like separation of church & state is in the Bill of Rights or anything … https://t.co/mB9P0wFO2x

— Eric Swalwell (@ericswalwell) August 22, 2022

“Separation of church and state” is, of course, not in the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment doesn’t have such a provision, though the text of it is clear on what the state can’t do as far as the church and religion are concerned:

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.

Perhaps because he was so thoroughly refuted in the comments section and in the quote RTs, Swalwell dug a deeper hole a couple of hours later with this:

The meltdown happening on the right over this is both predictable and also hilarious.

Let’s keep it going shall we… pic.twitter.com/xMY1epTx8O

— Eric Swalwell (@ericswalwell) August 23, 2022

The discerning reader will note that, again, the First Amendment prohibits the government from both establishing an official religion and infringing on religious freedom. But there is no “separation of church and state” provision there.

Further, the First Amendment does not prohibit government officials like DeSantis from referencing from where our rights came. As my colleague Nick Arama observed:

[Some on the left don’t seem to] understand that we’re founded on the concept of natural rights — inalienable rights you have, that do not come to you from the government. We see this, perhaps most famously, in the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The Bill of Rights in the Constitution is further recognition of those fundamental rights.

We shouldn’t be too surprised that Swalwell, who makes it a point to push for laws that will intrude upon those rights, is making a dumb argument. What we should be alarmed about, however, are that there are people in positions of power like Swalwell who have a law degree and yet spout of nonsense like he did about the Bill of Rights.

In any event, this is just another day at the office for Eric “Fang Fang” Swalwell who, quite frankly, really should just take the “L” here on this one and and move on.

Flashback –>> Eric Swalwell Demonstrates Gross Constitutional Ignorance in Tweet Supporting the ERA