Ben Sasse and Conservatism
Over the last few weeks, Nebraska senator Ben Sasse has been using Twitter to ask presidential candidate Donald Trump some pointed questions. After about a week of these, Trump decided to answer with a short insult rather than address some of the important constitutional questions.
This led to an interview Chuck Todd on MSNBC did with Ben Sasse in which he asked him to define conservatism. The Senator’s short answer has gone viral because it is succinct and profound.
He said: “America is the most exceptional nation in the history of the world because the U.S. Constitution is the best political document that has ever been written. It says something different than any people or any government has believed in human history. Most governments in the past said might makes right and the king has all the power, and the people are dependent subjects.”
“The American founders said no. God gives us rights by nature, and government is just our shared project to secure those rights. Government is not the author or source of our rights. You don’t make America great again by giving more power to one guy in Washington, D.C. You make America great again by recovering a constitutional republic where Washington is populated by people who are servant leaders who want to return power to the people and the communities.”
Ben Sasse concluded by saying: “What’s great in America is the Rotary Club, small businesses, churches, schools, fire departments, and Little Leagues. It’s not some guy in Washington who says that if I had more power, I can fix it all unilaterally. That’s not the American tradition.”
Senator Ben Sasse isn’t the only person calling for America to return to its constitutional foundation. But he has become one of the most articulate voices doing so.
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