It's the Constitution, Stupid!

          The 1992 Clinton Campaign motto was “It’s the economy, stupid!”  A pointed but effective strategy, it focused everyone on real and perceived economic woes until the electorate was convinced to throw out an otherwise popular president.

          Again, some pundits over simplify current voter anger as frustration with a bad economy, so otherwise good politicians will unfairly lose their jobs by a vengeful electorate.  Others think we are seeing the typical ebb and flow of politics, so when the Democrat tide goes out a Republican flood is inevitable.

          This is not a Republican wave.  Ask establishment Republicans in Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Utah, and other places, where voter outrage has handily ousted big government loving career politicians.

          Republicans may at least have recognized the popular groundswell, but most do not understand it.  Eager to harness this unbridled election enthusiasm, they worry the beast will run away with them. 

          Democrats spent a year denying a popular movement even existed.  Whenever they did acknowledge the throngs at the capital gates, they decried it as artificial grassroots, “Astroturf” per Pelosi.  Mired in partisan politics, Democrats demonize the Tea Parties has fringe crazies with not so subtle Nazi like comparisons.  In a desperate attempt to avoid electoral disaster, they are trying to cast the Republicans as extremists infected by the Tea Party.

          Once again, the press has failed.  There has been little or no coverage of literally thousands of events across the country.  They occasionally seek out the single kook in any crowd and then paint the Tea Parties in broad strokes of intolerance, xenophobia, and racism. 

          Since the Tea Parties started, all politicians have been suspicious of the unwashed masses that freely and spontaneously assemble.  Quite happy to leave all the accusations and slander unchallenged and the truth undiscovered, the press has no curiosity about the real motivations of angered average Americans.

           It is not the economy, the war, or the environment.  And, it’s certainly not whether Democrats or Republicans win.  It’s the Constitution, stupid!

           Millions of Americans are getting our seminal document and READING IT!

           Obvious to anyone that bothers to read the Constitution, our Congress has grossly exceeded the enumerated powers in Article 1, Section 8.  Our founders enshrined self-government with local control and a heavily restrained federal government because they knew the oppressive dangers of a strong central regime.

           Congress passes innumerable laws with ever more creative ways to confiscate the fruits of our labor.  They demand our money to ostensibly care for our needs, but like mafia dons they dole it out to favored groups or only after coerced state and local concessions.  We no longer work for our interests but are forced to pay tribute to a tyrannical government inimical to American values.

           Too strong?  Congress forces education curriculum contrary to common morals and absent American history.  They pile on tax laws to ensure they can find anyone in violation on a whim.  And now, they will tell us how and where to purchase health care and then ration it.

          The administration routinely skirts Constitutional checks and balances by appointing bureaucratic Czars beyond Congressional accountability.  The EPA without law tells us our every breath (CO2) is pollution seeking to control every aspect of our lives.  The IRS is commanded to scrutinize Veterans organizations seeking to rescind their non-profit status.

          Is this what the founders intended?  Is this what we fought for?

          More and more Americans are realizing the answer is NO!  None of this nonsense is Constitutional.  Americans led by the Tea Parties are discovering the erosion of our Constitutional rights is directly proportional to the growth of out of control government by both Democrats and Republicans for the past century.

          If you are still skeptical, listen to the politicians; they talk about money and programs.  The people talk about rights and the Constitution.  The electoral wave heading to Washington is both wide and deep, sweeping both parties and seeking to dismantle the federal leviathan threatening our republic.

Mobile Free Press  :  Pete Riehm