Anyone who saw the Democratic debate Thursday night can envision the new future on their horizon: identity politics and self-congratulation over race and gender; tax increases (back to estate tax hikes, income tax rates go up, payroll tax caps lifted, etc); internationalism for the sake of internationalism (defer to the U.N., E.U., apologies for past conduct, contextualizing terrorism), more government (teachers, the poor, the middle class, etc. all need new government programs to add to those we have), and legislating judges (more Ginsburgs and Breyers).

Those who feel tugged toward the old Founding wisdom often use the word "beacon." It is our place in the scheme of things, it is our fate and duty, to be a beacon of liberty. To stand tall and hold high the light. To be an example, to be an inspiration, to encourage. We do not invent constitutions and impose them on other countries; instead they, in their restlessness, in their human desire to achieve a greater portion of freedom, will rise up in time and create their own constitution. And because they created it, and because it reflects their conception of justice, they will hold it more dearly.

So we are best, in the world as it is now, the beacon, not the bringer, of freedom. We are its friend, not its enforcer.

About 130 million people, many of whom know nothing about football, will watch a portion of the Super Bowl on Sunday. About 122 million people, many of whom know nothing about issues, voted in the 2004 presidential election. Four years ago, some 78 million eligible voters stayed home. How, then, should candidates woo the disinterested voter? Barbecue, probably. It’s the lack of food in the democratic process that is keeping the electorate away.

Some people say a fat man can never be elected president in high-definition America. Of course he can. He just needs Virginia hams and New England hamstrings, and a couple of good photo ops in shoulder pads.