Missing the Point

Once again the pundits and the pols continue to miss the point of the 2012 primaries leading to the election. For the pundits on the eve of the New Hampshire primary the news is all about who is leading, who is insulting who, and how much money each candidate is spending. Meanwhile the candidates are attacking each other's history and discussing who is more moral or more conservative or more electable. The so-called debates follow the same agenda. The entire exercise seems to miss the point of what should be a monumental event, the bloodless peaceful revolution of the people to retake the control of the government of the people.

The Constitution of The United States of America is a plan that imposes a strong government that is limited in scope and power in order to maximize individual liberty. It also provides the first and only means in the history of the world for the governed people to stage a non-violent revolt against their government when it exceeds its limits and infringes on personal liberty. That non-violent revolution is called an election.  A revolution is defined in Wikipedia as

"... a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time."

The United States needs  "a fundamental change in power or organizational structures". Historically revolutions have been bloody violent overthrows of oppressive regimes. The original American Revolution was a protracted war that destroyed lives and fortunes in order to replace the ruling English king and Parliament. After the bloody war the Founders of this country designed a governing system with divided powers and explicit limitations on its actions. They also knew that the tendency of governments and bureaucracies is to accumulate power and control. Subsequently they provided for an orderly overthrow that allows extensive change that is spread over time by the various terms of office applied to the three branches. Today we have a government that makes George III look like a libertarian. The Obama administration represents a high point of government control and intrusion on individual liberty. It is the peak of a trend begun 50 years ago with The Great Society. Elections in 2010 represent the first skirmishes in the 2012 revolution and established a beachhead in the House of Representatives. Like the militia on the road from Lexington to Boston, a few brave Congressional souls have been fighting a delaying action.

 The need for revolution is seen in the the ballooning government debt, voluminous regulation at all levels, and the polarization of society into those who depend on government for existence versus those who want to be independent. Nearly all of the campaign rhetoric has been aimed at these symptoms rather than elaborating the strategy for conducting a revolution to overturn them.

• Yes, we do need to reduce our expenditures and our debt. But the problem to be solved is the gigantic size of a government which is consuming our financial resources and infringing on the individual rights gained in the fight over two centuries ago. 
• Yes, illegal immigration is a problem. But it is a symptom of government failing to protect and manage the borders of the country, one of government's primary tasks. 
• Yes, we are engaged in too many foreign entanglements. The government  must defend the country but it should do so by declaring war if we are under attack and not by finding clever ways of circumventing the limits set by the Constitution.
• Yes we are over regulated. It requires an incredible stretch of logic to use the Commerce Clause to justify federal interference in my medical treatment, where I build my house, and how my private debts should be paid.

I do not want candidates telling me how they will build the economy and create jobs. First, the only effect government can ever have on economy is negative. They can always make it worse but the only way they can improve it is by removing their heavy thumb from the scale. Government produces nothing and any time it interferes with real business it reduces productivity and profits. Secondly, it is not the job of the President of the United States to create jobs.That is the job of the presidents of Intel, Alcoa, Ford, and Joe's Carpentry Shop, and all their colleagues.

I want to hear candidates' views on the Constitution. I want to hear them speculate on how they will defend our borders and how they will eliminate unnecessary and freedom destroying agencies and regulations.

We do not need new faces extending a government that has outlived its usefulness as it has veered away from the grand design of the Founders. We need leaders to fight the non-violent revolution that is the keystone of what has made the USA so different and so successful in the affairs of men and nations. Let's hear the tactics for winning and the strategy for governing instead of the latest morning line on who is going to win each state race.