The Constitution. The Bill of Rights. The Declaration of Independence. To some these are little more than historical documents, but to conservatives these are the law of the land. It is clear as one reads them, the foundation of our country was built with limited government and the free market in mind.

However, Washington is out of touch. Special interests throw money at career politicians. These same politicians fail to lead and simply react to the latest controversy to gain a spot on Sunday morning talk shows.

With congressional approval at an all time low, it’s easy to understand why some would prefer to appear on television sets rather than face their constituents back at home.

President Reagan once said “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction,” that we must fight for it, protect it and hand it down to future generations.

Yesterday South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham endorsed President Obama’s intrusive arm of big brother regarding the collection of data and phone records:

“I’m a Verizon customer. I don’t mind Verizon turning over records to the government if the
government is going to make sure that they try to match up a known terrorist phone with somebody in the United States. I don’t think you’re talking to the terrorists. I know you’re not. I know I’m not. So we don’t have anything to worry about.”

Senator Graham went on to challenge Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. In his attack, Graham leads us to believe that “In Senator Paul’s world” those who value the constitution would leave America in a weakened position against its enemies. However, true conservatives believe that we can follow the constitution and defend our country against the enemy without sacrificing our freedom.

One week Senator Graham wants to debate the rights granted in the Second Amendment and another he questions the First Amendment rights of American citizens. And yesterday he tells us it’s ok for the government to search our phone records even if we are law abiding citizens.

Most would agree with Senator Graham that radical Islam is the foremost threat to our nation’s security. However, if we are truly protecting Americans from this grave threat, then how does it make sense to supply arms and aid to countries who support radical Islam, bring harm to our allies, burn our flag, hate our culture and allow terrorists to plot against the United States and her friends?

In Senator Graham’s world, arming al-Qaeda in Syria is a good idea.

In Senator Graham’s world, your rights as an American citizen are granted by the ruling political class and not by our Creator.

In Senator Graham’s world, government should always be trusted but never the American citizen.

In Senator Graham’s world, the Constitution doesn’t exist.

In Senator Graham’s world, the entire Bill of Rights is negotiable.

In Senator Graham’s world, our constitutional rights seem constantly up for debate.

In Senator Graham’s world, he says we’re fighting for freedom but is the first to surrender all of them.

In Senator Graham’s world, America is going broke, and taxing hard working Americans while spending more money the country simply does not have.

In Senator Graham’s world, I am concerned about the future of our country.

Maybe Senator Graham has been living in a world of his own for too long.

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Nancy Mace is the first woman to graduate from The Citadel, the military college of South Carolina. She is the author of In the Company of Men published by Simon and Schuster. She is a small business owner of a public relations and marketing firm, The Mace Group, based in Charleston, South Carolina.