Do the Republican presidential candidates understand the gravity of the moment? In 2012, the nation must choose between inevitable (and possibly abrupt) economic collapse and a return to a modicum of prudence by the federal government.

Maybe it’s the nature of these cattle call debates, and, surely, it is partly the result of instigation by the liberal press, but viewers watching the last several debates will not come away with a sense of the seriousness of the moment. Instead, they will have been treated to the candidates’ views on Rick Perry’s decision to mandate Gardasil vaccines (delivered by what Rep. Bachmann histrionically called “a government needle”), a spirited discussion about whether Mitt Romney was quick enough to fire a lawn mowing company when he learned that some of their employees might be illegal and seemingly endless discussions about how best to build a fence on the southern border. Should it be steel and barbed wire or should it be virtual? Should we deploy drones in Texasstan and Arizonastan? How about “boots on the ground”? Should it be electrified with enough juice to fry anyone who touches it? (Cain says that was a joke.)