Are you a victim of an illusion?

To begin, I'm sure we all agree and share similar passions regarding 9/11? It was an evil act committed by evil people. And the political rhetoric by most contenders for national office is warranted and necessary. I believe we can all agree on that.

However, it is also important to remember, 9/11 happened even though we had the most powerful military on the planet.

Truth be told, some attacks just cannot be stopped even though the "illusion" of perfect security is a very common tactic used by a national government to pry liberty from its citizens and obtain additional power.

For example:

We’re well aware that the evil-doers used commercial aircraft to commit their evil deed. In response, the national government began to immediately institute new “screenings” in order to protect us or so they say. Now, for those of you old enough to remember, there was a time when arriving for your flight early meant getting there before they closed the cabin doors!

Currently, we’re told to arrive two hours early, take off our belts, shoes, jewelry and declare anything else that might be composed of metal. But that’s not all. You’re also now being asked to willingly allow yourself to be x-rayed, or felt up, or in some cases, strip searched and it is even being reported that some are subjected to a body cavity search.

Have you ever stopped and asked yourself this question; is this really the only way to secure commercial air travel? The Lords of the Potomac would have you believe so!

Hint, the answer is and should be from all Constitutionalists…NO!

Ponder this for a moment. Do the airlines have a vested interest in providing a secure and safe travel experience to the general public? If you answered yes; ding ding ding, you’re correct!

Imagine if you will, Southwest Airlines holding an executive leadership meeting after 9/11, the topic being how do we keep the terrorists off our planes so we can ensure our customers a secure and safe travel experience. Do you think they would really immediately implement as part of the contract you make with them when you purchase a ticket from them to force you to pass through an x-ray machine, be felt up by a Southwest Gate Attendant, or perhaps even be subjected to a body cavity search? I doubt it; especially of United Airlines can get you to the same destination without any of those types of methods.

Yet we dutifully follow along with our masters in DC and allow them to put their hands on our wives and daughters, sometimes under their skirts. Or allow them to x-ray my disabled son who has had WAY too many x-rays in his life already. All so they can create the illusion that the government will keep us safe.

This in my view is why Santorum-like statements, really from all of the candidates, such as "I'd bomb Iran" resonate with people; they give a sense of security. Yet when you dig a little further into the statements, they betray a desire by the candidate to entrench themselves as a warrior of sorts. Thus perpetuating the illusion that the "strength" they project on the campaign trail will somehow translate into our being safe. And do you really believe blustering on about how so and so is going to bomb Iran is actually making us safer?

Terrorists are not attacking us with terrorism right now because they don't want to for whatever reason. Don't think for a moment that they couldn't muster the tactics to walk into a local mall and set off a suicide bomber vest and scare the crud out of everyone. If they've demonstrated anything over the decades, they're incredibly patient and fight using very non-conventional tactics that our military cannot even stop if they wanted to. There simply are not enough military personnel to station at every Mall, Wal-Mart, stadium, restaurant. They just haven't chosen to hit us yet and perhaps a more valid set of questions that should be asked are; why haven't they yet, and why did they in the first place on 9/11? One answer I can assure you it isn't is because we're free.

Also, no candidate that is espousing an attack on Iran has yet to state that they'd even seek a Congressional Declaration of War as called for by the Constitution. One must ask why not? Well in my opinion, they would not seek it because they would not obtain one from the Congress as 70% of We the People are pretty tired of wars that we're unclear even why we're in them at this point. So, by condoning this type of extra-constitutional banter by the candidates, we actually give them all the cues they need from We the People that we're willing to accept a greater expansion of government power under this premise. Like the TSA. I know you well enough to know that's not what you want to do.

So, what to do?

1. Don't buy into caricatures of Paul's foreign policy without first critically examining it. His views are much closer to the Founders/Framers ideas than you've been told by the media and his own party.

2. Don't get caught up in the focus group tested rhetoric of most candidates. Each of them has a sort of pathological desire for power, granted, some are worse than others. Of the bunch, Santorum and Gingrich cause me the greatest alarm. I guarantee you this, if either of them makes it to the White House, you will see an incredible clamp down on personal liberties.

3. Finally, use the Constitution as a filter to think about the people asking for your consent to govern you. This is not an easy task; I concede that as it will most likely lead you to some very uncomfortable conclusions about many candidates you're interested in. That said, imagine the freedom you will feel not having to defend one of them who will raise his right hand and pledge an oath to God and We the People to uphold the Constitution and then immediately violate it with one of their policies.

So, are you willing to see the truth about government and not the illusion they create? It won’t be easy to break generations of thinking about government…but it will be necessary.