Of First Importance

Today marks the 225th anniversary of signing of America's Constitution. On September 17th, 1787, delegates to the convention met for the final time to sign the document they had spent four months crafting. The Constitution is quite possibly the most remarkable secular text ever written despite being a mere 7,200 words-- or perhaps because it is a mere 7,200 words. This blueprint simply and succinctly lays out a system of government providing three branches of government--an executive branch, a bicameral legislature, and a judicial branch. This provided a solid, but not overreaching, federal government that the Articles of Confederation failed to do. Additionally, the Constitution extends powers to the states, provides the process of both amending and ratifying the document, and denotes the Constitution's legal status. All of these functions are outlined in just seven relatively short articles. There's beauty in succinctness and simplicity, yet too often ugliness in obfuscation and complexity.

It is interesting what the Founders chose to mention first in this document and its various sections, as often, what is mentioned first is what writers or speakers deem most important. The preamble to the Constitution begins with three simple words "We the people". It wasn't "we the delegates" or "we the states". It was "we the people". The individuals at the constitutional convention were delegates from their respective states, but they decided to begin the document as we the people. They did not give special credence to themselves as delegates, although they could have.The Founders were all well versed and intelligent. They did not necessarily even say we the states, although those delegates were representing the states. James Madison, often called the Father of the Constitution,  thought that the document was of "the people" because it was ratified by the state legislatures which represented the people. This is what separated a constitution from a league of states or a treaty of states.. A constitution of "we the people" is what made the states truly united as opposed to a loose confederation of states.

Additionally, the Founders chose to begin the Constitution by outlining the legislature, not the executive branch. James Madison often referred to the legislature as the "first branch". The legislature is responsible for making laws. However, through abdications over the years, executive branch agencies and bureaucracies have been given powers by the legislature, except they are usually called regulations when implemented by those outside the legislative branch. In 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was formed out an executive order from President Nixon and was ratified by Congressional hearings. While its role is to implement laws passed by Congress, the specific regulations themselves--from light bulbs to power plants-- are dictated by the EPA. More recently, with the passage of Obamacare in 2010, Congress again abdicated much of the control of Medicare spending to the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) --"death panel". As Independent Women's Foundation policy analyst Hadley Heath notes:

Each year, the CMS director will submit to IPAB the per-capita growth rate in Medicare and the target per-capita growth rate. Undoubtedly, as health care costs continue on their upward spiral (fueled by government regulations), the growth rate will be higher than the target rate. The mission of IPAB will be to make the two rates match, by drafting a proposal for changes to the Medicare program. This proposal will become law unless Congress, by supermajority in both houses, votes to stop the proposal and comes up with its own plan to match IPAB’s savings. 

Through the passage of Obamacare Congress essentially ceded their ability to provide necessary changes to Medicare to an agency director and an unelected panel appointed by the President. Despite these abdications of power, the Constitution provide a blueprint for what part of government was of first importance--Congress-the body given the power to make laws.

When it comes to the executive branch, the Founders saw one role of the executive to be most important--that of commander-in-chief. The second article of the Constitution describes the executive branch. The first section of this article focuses on the election,qualifications, and oath of office for the president. However, the second article, which lays out the role of the president, begins by laying out the president's position as commander-in-chief. This is something that is unfortunately, for the most part,  lost on our current president, as Andrew McCarthy noted at National Review over the weekend:

Defense against foreign enemies is the primary job of the president of the United States. The rationale for the office’s creation is national defense — not green venture capitalism, not rationing medical care, not improving the self-image of the “Muslim world,” not leaving no child behind, not blowing out the Treasury’s credit line. Yet, though we are entering the late innings, foreign policy and national defense have not been factors in the 2012 campaign.

President Obama has not fulfilled his primary job--commander-in-chief-- as is easily seen by the fact that he has attended less than half of his national security briefings. On the heels of the report of President Obama's lack of attendance at national security briefings came the attacks on US embassies in Egypt and Libya and other areas throughout the Middle East. Attacks that resulted in the death of four Americans including an ambassador and two Marines. Mind you, this consulate that was attacked was in an unstable, Muslim country where there wasn't sufficient security, and the attack occurred on the first September 11th following the killing of Osama bin Laden.

Both parties are guilty of rejecting the ideas of "first importance" espoused by the Founders. Clinging to power, leaders have felt that their role should be "we the government"--that  they know better than us (we the people) how to run our lives and spend our money. At the same time, Congress has too frequently abdicated their role as a legislative body to a power thirsty executive branch. Presidents have acted as if meddling domestically in individuals lives is of first importance than the securing the nation, not in the sense of nation building or military overinvolvement, but of vigilance and deterrence. There is no reason to despair, however, the Founders knew quite well the imperfections of men.

 Of second importance in the Constitution's preamble was to "form a more perfect union"; a perfect or complete union was not possible, but getting closer to completion was indeed possible. They knew that perfection was impossible of a government of men, but they did not succumb to pessimism. Although he was not part of the constitutional convention, Thomas Jefferson once noted (emphasis added):

We owe every other sacrifice to ourselves, to our federal brethren, and to the world at large to pursue with temper and perseverance the great experiment which shall prove that man is capable of living in [a] society governing itself by laws self-imposed, and securing to its members the enjoyment of life, liberty, property, and peace; and further, to show that even when the government of its choice shall manifest a tendency to degeneracy, we are not at once to despair, but that the will and the watchfulness of its sounder parts will reform its aberrations, recall it to original and legitimate principles, and restrain it within the rightful limits of self-government.

We have the opportunity--both through our voice and our vote-- to help reform the aberrations of our government and recall it to those original and sound principles--those first principles of self-government. It started with "we the people", and that is how it should continue.

There's More than Simply Keeping Your Powder Dry

With a Palin presidential announcement on the horizon (Lord willing), a lot of Palin supporters have grown understandably anxious. It seems that nearly everyone who is going to run for President has already announced. There are primary ballot deadlines in the not-so-distant future. Then, there are those things that the "smart" people tell you are needed for a "serious" campaign like spending months and months in the early primary states, hiring lots of intellectuals (because they say that's who they are) to comprise your staff, and the like. Governor Palin has not done these things. Nevermind that Governor Palin's Tea Party speech two weeks ago is still driving the debate--crony capitalism, anyone? Nevermind that Governor Palin has the strongest grassroots support of any declared or potential candidate. The punditocracy do not include this factors in their political calculus. Of course not, you cannot put intangibles into an algorithm.

To be sure, there are certain necessary steps that need to be taken in order to launch and run a solid campaign. There are campaign events to be planned. Policies to be more fully fleshed out. Strategy to be devised. When presidential campaign strategy is concerned, personally I try my best (sometimes unsuccessfully) to try to not play armchair campaign manager. My presidential campaign experience comes only from an unsuccessful bid for student council president my senior year of high school. I don't have the credibility to criticize.

When it comes to Governor Palin, my inside-the-box brain has to come to terms with the fact that Governor Palin rightfully acts as if there's no box at all. In retrospect, I can see how great her political strategy has been, even if I can't grasp it at first. She's an savvy retail politician who has become one of the first people to grasp the idea of being a new media retail politician. Who else lays out a brilliant critic of the Obama administration right along side new Facebook pictures of your grandkids or right in your twitterfeed next to your favorite musical artist or sports' team? She is policy wonk who has an uncanny ability to make the policy equivalent of the quantum physics of seem like elementary school science. This is why people underestimate her--she speaks plainly, but understands deeply. Her political instincts and timing are second-to-none. Many supporters have attempted to guess when she'll announce her bid for the presidency-- from Tax Day to the 4th of July to Constitution Day. At the beginning of 2011, I guessed she would announce on Tax Freedom Day before guessing sometime in August that she would announce perhaps on Constitution Day. Of course, I was wrong both times. With the declared candidates sparring and the potential for the media to shine a bright spotlight on the scurrilous books by men whom I won't name, perhaps Governor Palin has chosen to wait to announce a presidential bid. After all, in Going Rogue, Governor Palin noted a quote from Napoleon Bonaparte during one of her mayoral races, "never get in the way of your enemy when he is making a mistake". Also, she is hunter. Hunters are very patient. You have to wait for your prey, and you have to wait until they are in the optimum position for you to shoot. You also have to be quiet and still enough that the prey does not know that you are there. Only then do you go for the kill. I mean that in a non-violent, new tone kind of way, of course.

So, Palin supporters, let's keep our powder dry.However, it's more than that. The idea of keeping your powder dry as a mindset or an attitude comes from a quote from Oliver Cromwell where he said, " trust in God, but mind to keep your powder dry". The "trust in God" part is crucial. I'm one of those bitter clingers, so faith in God is of utmost importance. One thing that I've always looked to is a verse in Romans 13 in the Bible: " [e]veryone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God". This gets to the idea of providence. Authorities are set in place by God, even when we can't fully grasp what purpose God has in placing them there. To me, that means if Governor Palin is to one day be President Palin, it will happen. That's not to say that as supporters we should just twiddle our thumbs prior to or after her announcement. No matter what the political terrain looks like, supporters will have to do all that we are able to get out the vote, make phone calls, etc to help make a President Palin a reality. As my grandpa (one of the hardest working men of faith I've ever known) is fond of saying, "work as if everything depends on you; pray as if everything depends on God". All this means that there is something at work far greater than any one of us, greater than President Obama, greater than Governor Palin, and greater than anyone else. Besides, as much fun as politics are and as great a country as America is, faith in God and His grace extended to us transcends all of that.

Governor Palin will state her decision at one time or another. One of the things about such an announcement is that it is dichotomous. It's either "yes, I'm running for president" or "no, I'm not running". There's not a gray area. For Palin supporters, that means we don't have to worry about the announcement itself. Doing what we can to support her prior and, Lord willing, after an announcement is not contingent upon whether or not the announcement were to come on Independence Day, Constitution Day, or any other day. If the decision for some reason is to not run for the presidency in 2012, then we go forward, come what may.

Take heart. Trust in God. As Constitution Day comes to a close, we have opportunity to show support for a woman who, if elected and swears the oath of office to uphold and defend the Constitution, won't perjure herself by taking that oath. With that oath, "so help me God" will not be empty words from a pandering politician, it will be the conviction of her heart. We don't have to worry about a decision because it's not ours to make. It's only ours to support.

So, "put your trust in God but mind to keep your powder dry".