I'll say it again, rather than focusing too many of our resources making sure that the federal government doesn't abuse its powers, focus on reducing the scope of the federal government's powers. Do that and the failure to prevent abuse just isn't as bad.
And perhaps the battles for control of the federal government won't be so all-consuming because of the stakes involved. Are we really fine with an executive branch that can use its tremendous powers and the vast bureaucracy that enforces rules to undermine political opponents?
In the long run, having a federal government that is both too powerful and prone to doing the bidding of those in power will alienate Americans from our own government.
President Obama famously said that government is the only thing we all belong to. I think that is a ridiculous statement, but under his own frame of reference he is destroying what he believes we all belong to (tip to Instapundit):
I feel that almost everyone who talks about America for a living—politicians and journalists and even historians—is missing a huge and essential story: that too many things are happening that are making a lot of Americans feel a new distance from, a frayed affiliation with, the country they have loved for half a century and more, the country they loved without every having to think about it, so natural was it.
This isn't the kind of thing that can be quantified in polls—it's barely the kind of thing people admit to themselves. But talk to older Americans—they feel they barely know this country anymore. In governance its crucial to stay within parameters, it's important not to strain ties, push too far, be extreme. And if you think this does not carry implications for down the road, for our healthy continuance as a nation, you are mistaken. Love keeps great nations going.
A more restricted federal government is less of a threat to the civil liberties of Americans and less of a prize for those who would use the government's powers to crush opponents in the gears of a vast state that has the power to grind you down even when you win--the process is the punishment, as Mark Steyn often notes.
But our government does best watching the easiest targets. And the do-gooders can inflict great harm focusing on the compulsion of "doing" long after they forget about the "good" part.
Love of country is not the same as love of government. When the government is too big, it smothers love of country because too many people only love their country when their own people are in charge of the government. And too many fear the government when their own people aren't in charge. You can run a perpetual campaign that way. But you can't run a country that way.
