Jim Deakin Vs. John McCain Vs. J.D. Hayworth : Liberty And The Constitution

Researching candidates can be time consuming...but wow, the results! You'd think Jim Deakin, John McCain, and J.D. Hayworth would all be 1,000% in favor of defending both liberty and the U.S. Constitution, wouldn't you? Perhaps in McCain's case that might only be for the duration of his Senate campaign, but still, you'd think he'd at least put something out there to make himself look good...eh? Naturally, Hayworth would be right up front with it, especially with his attempt to brand himself as "the consistent conservative".

But no.

Instead, as I was roaming these three candidates' websites this evening, just sort of seeing what might jump out and slap me upside the head...something did. At first I could barely believe it.

Uhhh....hold on. Gotta stop the mental stuttering here, pull a few thoughts together...reheat this morning's coffee, maybe.

Ah! All better.

So, here's the way the discovery went:

1. A word search was conducted, top to bottom, of each site's On the Issues page.

2. On Jim Deakin's page, there's an entire paragraph under that precise heading: Liberty and the Constitution. Here's the text:

"Jim’s passion is for the concepts of individual liberty and the Constitution. “We want to reduce the size of government. We want to repeal oppressive nanny state regulation. We need citizen legislators again. I’ll go and fix what needs to be fixed and I will come home. If Congress is not in session that requires my vote, I will be back in Arizona in the office working for you. The Senator should be accountable to the Arizona State legislature. I believe the 17th amendment should be repealed”, referring to the Senators being popularly elected instead of by the legislatures of the various states as was the case at the founding of the constitution."

3. J.D. Hayworth's page does reference the Constitution, our Constitutional Republic, and even its concept of enumerated powers.  A+ on that, no doubt about it, and kudos to you, J.D. 

But nowhere could I locate a single reference to liberty.  You know the closing line of the Pledge of Allegiance, right?  "...with liberty and justice for all".  Then of course there's the Statue of Liberty.  Justice is cool, all right, but it's also blind.  Liberty holds high the torch for all to see.  It's not a Statue of Justice we have standing out there in the harbor.   Where was J.D.'s reference to liberty? 

Maybe I missed it.  If you're a Hayworth supporter and know where that reference is located, please do let us know with a comment. 

4.  John McCain?  Not one mention of either liberty or the Constitution..

Wow. 

It made me think. I know I'm voting for Jim Deakin, and his clear position statement (as quoted above) makes a whole metric ton of sense. But could the entire concept of liberty be something other than what I believed? Sure, it's possible J.D. simply overlooked it, but a long term incumbent and former P.O.W. like Senator McCain who'd once been deprived of liberty...? I needed to check the definition.

Checking definitions is something I learned to do by making a fool of myself in high school. Having become disillusioned with the Sunday school of my elementary school years, I began 9th grade as a Freshman who called himself an atheist. Four years later, as a Senior close to graduation, I was known for being a sarcastic twit who--in the words of the prettiest girl in class, as overheard by my buddy--"...might not be bad looking, but ee-eww! What a personality!"

I also loved to tease the Catholic girls. Their buttons were easily pushed. Except...one day I tried that with Carol Ann, a great person and every bit as tough as Sarah Palin. When we'd been seventh graders, she'd taken down an Ichabod Crane-type 8th grade guy who'd tried bullying her and pounded his face into mush. She didn't take any prisoners in my case, either.

With a calm look, she asked quite simply, "...You do know that an atheist denies the possibility of God...don't you?"

Uh...no. I hadn't known that. With that brief sentence, Carol Ann had nailed my hide to the wall. Not a big deal? No? I was an ego-ridden 17 year old rodeo cowboy, smartmouth, upcoming Valedictorian of the class, with a former English teacher for a mother, and I hadn't even checked out the label I'd applied to my own forehead four years earlier? It was a very big deal!

Enough nostalgia, though.

Webster's Dictionary, it turns out, lists not one but ten definitions of liberty.

That's impressive. We won't list them all here, since every definition contains one common thread: The freedom of an individual to act as he or she chooses rather than as directed by an outside authority.

Pretty important feature of our system in these United States of America, all right.

 Our inner natures are revealed by our actions, yes, but also by our words.  Jim Deakin's website makes it clear where he stands on the defense of personal liberty.  The other two candidates do not.  I'm not about to tell you that voting for Deakin is the only way to go.  For you, it might not be.  If you'd rather have ORP (Obama-Reid-Pelosi) commanding your every health care purchase, GOM (Government Onstar Motors) tracking your every movement, and your hard-earned cash (what little there is of it) redistributed to welfare anchor babies, then you bet!  Vote for either McCain or Hayworth! 

Deakin 2010.