It hardly seems possible for one person to win the award twice in such a short period of time, but fair is fair. With the rampant epidemic of stupidity in Washington, the field should be wide open; but Kristi Noem — current head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security — still leads the pack . . . for today, at least, or until the next indecipherable mouthful of mush issues forth from the Oval Office.

Already famous for carrying $3,000 in cash in her purse around Washington, D.C., and not holding onto said purse while dining in a Capitol Hill restaurant, she has now further displayed her lack of mental acuity by stating — nay, by insisting — that the definition of that most basic of Constitutional rights, habeas corpus, is the polar opposite of its actual meaning.

During a Senate hearing on May 20th, Noem was asked by Senator Maggie Hassan: “What is habeas corpus?” To which the woman in charge of our nation’s security replied:

“Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country.” [Rex Huppke, USA Today, May 20, 2025.]

No, you didn’t misread that — those were her actual words.

Fortunately, Senator Hassan knew better, and offered the following correction:

“Habeas corpus is the legal principle that requires that the government provide a public reason for detaining and imprisoning people. If not for that protection, the government could simply arrest people, including American citizens, and hold them indefinitely for no reason. Habeas corpus is the foundational right that separates free societies like America from police states like North Korea.” [Id.]

But that wasn’t a sufficient clue for Noem to keep her mouth shut. Instead, she continued:

“President Lincoln used it. I support habeas corpus. I also recognize that the president of the United States has the authority under the Constitution to decide if it should be suspended or not.” [Id.]

Well, she did get one thing almost right: Lincoln did suspend (not “use”) habeas corpus during the Civil War. And therein lies the difference between Lincoln’s suspension of the provision and Trump’s proposed “use” of it. Article I of the Constitution makes it clear that only Congress has the right to suspend habeas corpus . . . and only “when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion [i.e., war] the public Safety may require it.” [Id.]

May I further point out to Ms. Noem that we, the United States, are not at war. We have not been invaded, nor have we declared war upon another country. There has been no rebellion (not since the attempted one on January 6, 2021, when Trump’s MAGA friends stormed the Capitol . . . but that’s a whole other story).

Noem needs to wake up and smell the lies. Trump would subvert the Constitution for his own purposes . . . in this case, to justify his illegal deportation of immigrants without due process. And she, along with her fellow lemmings in the administration, would blindly follow him anywhere in order to keep their jobs.

So yes, she gets the Golden Dunce Cap Award for this week. Our government, and our tax dollars, at work.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
5/21/25