I am grateful that Ron Paul has stepped up to address the issue of overbearing airport security. As he well says in his remarks, “…enough is enough.”

To me the direction our airport security has taken is symbolic of a greater problem we face in America. It was a problem forseen by our founding fathers, particularly Alexander Hamilton.

From Federalist Paper No. 8:

“Safety from external danger is the most powerful director of national conduct. Even the ardent love of liberty will after a time give way to its dictates…and [the] alarm attendant on a state of continual danger will compel nations the most attached to liberty to resort for repose and security to institutions which have a tendency to destroy their civil and political  rights. To be more safe, they at length become willing to run the risk of being less free.“

Prophetic words. I am grateful to see we still have those back in DC who value freedom.

One of the benefits of being a GOP delegate is that I get to see a lot more material from the candidates than the average voter. Over time, the mass amounts of emails, mailers, etc. invariably lead to little nuggets of insight about the “real” candidate.

Today I found one of those nuggets in an email communication from Senator Bob Bennett:

“Obama’s proposal to cancel NASA’s Constellation program and the Ares I rocket booster will not only devastate the economy of northern Utah; it will also weaken our missile defense and our national security.”

So what’s the nugget?

Bennett’s first priority is bringing home the bacon for Utah.  Coming in second is national defense/national security.

Frankly, I agree with Bennett that the Constellation program needs to continue, because it is of prime importance to our national security.

However, the fact that it brings jobs to Utah should not matter, because while it’s nice that Utah has some job benefits, we may find that the most cost efficient model puts those jobs in Texas or Florida, where we currently have launch sites.

Bottom line, “job creation” through congressional deal making is not a conservative leadership, but the prime modus operandi of the DC deal maker.