April 05, 2004

During the early 1930’s, FDR and his New Dealers conducted a savage attack on the Constitution and system of limited government established by that document. Newspapers across the country responded with editorials that castigated the Roosevelt Administration for their unconstitutional power grabs. Many of these editorials took the form of civics lessons on the Constitution. Even political cartoonists stepped forward to defend the Constitution from the New Dealers. Since most of these newspapers have become advocates of the big government policies they decried 70 years ago, educational articles on the Constitution have long since faded from their editorial pages. As a result, there has been no media watchdog to alert the public when the federal government attempted to unconstitutionally expand its power. This helped open the door for conservative talk show hosts to step forward and make the claim they stand for the system of limited government established by the Constitution. This raises a question. Are conservative talk show hosts making good on this claim or have they sold out the Constitution for the Republican Party?

When a conservative media commentator professes fidelity to the Constitution and the system of limited government established by that document, party affiliation and party ideology should always take a backseat to the Constitution. Thus, when these individuals discuss a political issue involving the federal government, they are bound by their pledge of fidelity to alert the audience when that government steps outside the scope of its constitutional powers irrespective of consequences to their political party. If conservative commentators fail to perform this basic duty, they are reduced to the status of political apologists because they have put the defense of a political party and its agenda before the Constitution.

Sean Hannity, speaking on his nationally syndicated radio program about the record amount of federal spending for domestic programs under the Bush Administration asked if there is anyone in Washington D.C. who stands for the system of limited government established by the Constitution. Rush Limbaugh, the father of modern talk radio, has also broached this subject on several occasions. While I applaud these gentlemen for bringing up this subject before a national audience, the mere mention of a constitutional principle in a commentary is not enough because most listeners only have a vague understanding of the system of government established by the Constitution. The lack of a basic understanding of the Constitution is so serious that many Americans cannot distinguish the Constitution from the Communist Manifesto. When conservative radio personalities do not incorporate the Constitution into their commentaries on federal legislation, they become more dangerous than those who seek to dismantle the Constitution because their failure to speak out reinforces any usurpation of power.

For example, at a recent campaign stop, President Bush promised to expand federal spending for k-12 programs from $35.5 to $36.7 billion; an increase of $1.2 billion from the previous year. Democrats immediately went on the offensive and asserted that Bush’s proposed $1.2 billion increase is actually a cut because according to their accounting methods, federal spending on k-12 programs was suppose to increase to $37.9 billion. How did most conservative commentators respond to this political wrangling and mathematical nonsense? They defended President Bush’s numbers as a true increase, not a cut, and applauded the increase as a sign of “compassionate conservatism.” By failing to inform the audience that the Constitution does not grant the federal government any general authority over education within the several States in the first place, these so-called defenders of the Constitution validated the federal government’s unconstitutional intrusion into the field of education in the minds of the listeners.

Several leading conservative commentators, including Mr. Hannity, do a lot of interviews with individuals concerning legislation pending in Congress. Other than an occasional reference to one of the amendments in the Bill of Rights, have you ever heard a conservative commentator ask a guest to identify the provision of the Constitution that grants the federal government the power to enact the legislation being discussed? Since the Constitution created a federal government of limited enumerated powers, the first thing a conservative commentator should do, if they truly support the Constitution as they claim, is establish the federal government’s authority for the legislation before they engage in a discussion of its merits. If the legislation is outside the scope of the limited powers granted to the federal government, then focus the discussion on that issue and use it as an opportunity to educate the audience. Debating the merits of a usurpation of power only benefits government and is a gross disservice to the American people.

The popularity of talk radio has presented conservative commentators with the opportunity of a lifetime. Since they have the ear of millions of Americans on a daily basis, these commentators have the power to help reverse the massive usurpation of power being advanced by federal politicians. However, in order to help effectuate a return to the system of limited government established by the Constitution, conservative commentators will have to make a choice. Either criticize republican politicians when they support legislation outside the Constitution or continue acting as a republican cheer leading squad. If conservative commentators do not reverse course and start defending the Constitution from democrats and republicans alike it will be proof positive that conservative commentators have sold out the Constitution for the Republican Party.

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