By Mike Bibb
"The notion that rights don't come from laws and don't come from the government, but come from the Creator—that's what the Iranian government believes. It's a theocratic regime that bases its rule on Shi'a law and targets Sunnis, Baha'is, Jews, Christians and other religious minorities. They do it because they believe that they understand what natural rights are from their Creator. So, the statement that our rights do not come from our laws or our governments is extremely troubling." — Sen. Tim Kaine (VA-D) remarked during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Wednesday, Sep. 3, 2025.
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Sometimes, I just have to scratch my head and wonder if some of our representatives in Congress are really as stupid as they sound, or are they just poking fun of their own ignorance?
With Virginia's junior Democrat U.S. Senator, Tim Kaine, it's difficult to tell.
Supposedly, here's a guy who is familiar with our country's Founding Documents, taken an oath to uphold the Constitution, and regularly lectures us on his presumed knowledge in things of national and international importance, yet goes on record as saying our rights and liberties originate from governments.
So, which is it — stupidity, ignorance or both? Maybe, it's as simple as Mr. Kaine hasn't a clue what he's talking about and is merely rattling on to make our heads hurt.
Even more baffling, how has he gotten elected to various public offices since 1994? He was even Hillary Clinton's Vice-Presidential running mate in 2016.
I believe Sen. Kaine is a lawyer, indicating he's probably above average in intelligence. Not an uncommon occupation within the chambers of the Capitol. Actually, they're fairly prevalent.
Having a Juris Doctor Degree, one would naturally assume Kaine must have taken at least one class in Constitutional Law sometime during his collegiate and law school days.
When he did, undoubtedly, he came across a line inspired by Thomas Jefferson: "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 . . ."
In case Sen. Kaine has forgotten, these are a few of the very first words penned within the Declaration of Independence. It specifically mentions an individual's rights come from a Creator — not from some government decree, concocted by the whims or selfish interests of human pursuits.
Actually, the very next sentence states "That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."
Then, we have the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, commonly referred to as the Bill of Rights, specifically stating what the government can and cannot do to an individual citizen.
Kaine sort of has it backwards; a person's rights come from a creator and protected by a just government. Not the other way around.
A government cannot grant something it doesn't have. It can only protect that which naturally occurs and has always been. For the simple reason if governments can permit the issuance of individual rights, it can also take away those rights whenever it decides.
However, governments can procure something which doesn't originally belong to it through acquisition, agreement or conquest.
Now, I really don't care what Kaine's opinions and comments are on particular topics or issues. Like anyone else, he certainly has the prerogative to express his views.
That's the beauty of the 1st Amendment.
He also has the right to be wrong or partially incorrect. Mistakes and errors happen. Especially, it seems, in a politician's life.
But, when an obvious misstatement is pronounced before an assembly of the nation's legislators, and that comment is in direct opposition to the words and meaning of one our premier documents, then Sen. Kaine owes us an apology and acknowledgement that his remarks were a slip of the tongue and not really based on reliable evidence.
Kaine may believe our rights are granted by a benevolent government, but testimony and 250 years of written history clearly prove otherwise.
Furthermore, if he really thinks Shi'a law and our Constitutional concepts are basically the same thing, then poor Mr. Kaine might be suffering from more problems than he may imagine.
Unfortunately, there's always the possibility he's drifted to the far-left side of the Democrat Party. If that's the case, no amount of reasoning and logical explanations will be of much help. He's become mired in falsehoods and deceptions and a political agenda promoting socialistic concepts.
The "We hate Trump and wish he would die!" chants seem to be the Dems' only counter argument. No solutions to the nation's current difficulties or explanations why they are losing voter support. It's always "Trump's fault!" and the folks are getting a little tired of hearing it.
If this is the situation, little wonder Kaine's publicly announced his disbelief in a supreme creator, or recognize he wouldn't be able to screech this gibberish in an environment void of constitutional protections.
In effect, condemning the very system that allows him the freedoms to denounce it.
Try that strategy in the government halls of Bejing, Moscow, Pyongyang or any other totalitarian managed country.
Sure, objectors are permitted to protest — for about 13 minutes — or as long as it takes the police to arrive and haul them to the nearest gulag.
Russia often doesn't even bother locking up their dissenters — it's much more convenient to toss them out the window of a 24-story building.
