In Security We Trust

The American Presidency is designed to disappoint.

After watching much of the Republican National Convention (mostly online, God bless the Interwebz), I am truly prepared for an underwhelming four years.

This is in small part due to the fact that my candidate is behind in the polls and unlikely to win the election. But also consider this;

For the past year we’ve been inundated by candidates from all parties with promises of change and other transformative programs that will take America in the direction necessary for prosperity, safety, international diplomacy and the future development of our nation.

Each candidate has made promises to improve the economy, education, healthcare and human welfare, our international citizenship, critical infrastructure and more.

Candidates have regaled their programs’ unique features, and proclaimed how they are exclusively qualified to carry out these duties.

And irrespective of which box you check on your Voter Registration Card, you’ve invariably heard about how one political party is superior to the other.

But the truth is, no matter who makes it into the White House – Obama or Romney, Democrat or Republican – they will fail to deliver on their promises.

And this is as it should be.

You see the Founding Fathers were pretty smart dudes, and they knew a little something about security. They could see Obama and Romney coming a mile away, and they knew that the rhetoric of change was just that.

So they instituted a system of checks and balances. They created institutions that limited the President’s power to specific charges and duties.

They built a system of trust that ensured the President’s ability to control was dependent upon what Congress, the Supreme Court, the Federal Reserve Board, other nations and reality will allow him.

In fact, one of the most important security controls we use today – segregation of duties – is built into the Constitution and nearly every other important document that this country was founded on.

So on election day, let’s all take a deep, collective breath.

You may take the Presidency seriously, but rest assured that regardless of who wins, our forefathers were smart enough to neuter the CEO of America.