This is a political opinion.
I am not a machine. I am not a pet. I am not the class of some, or the class of all, or a poll, or a survey or a statistic or a foreigner. I am human and until my death, I am a being – born with American rights. When I cease to have these rights, rights granted me solely by my existence as a citizen and not by such merited favor or any favor to me solely, but a right extended to every American, when I cease having these rights, I also cease to exist as an American.
When independence was declared in the US it was written:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…
…That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends…
…it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form…
…when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”
The abuses are mounting. Healthcare, Special Interest Government, Sex Scandals, Ethics Violations, Uncontrolled Spending are some of the issues in an escalating list of schemes, usurpations and conduct unbecoming of the elected official both in federal and in state. These score keepers, rules makers, fair play umpires become spoiled dictators absent personal discipline and must be thrown off.
Henry David Thoreau wrote Civil Disobedience while jailed in 1849 for refusing to pay a tax and argued that government rarely proves its usefulness. ”He heartily accepted the motto government governs best when it governs least.” Unlike Thoreau, I would never classify myself a transcendentalist, a “frogpondian”, but I fear it would suit me better than the Bipartisan. I cannot cloak myself in the “either/or” doctrine of Democrat or Republican, that is to say, the spendthrift and the thief, and dare I proclaim the Constitution to outlive its usefulness. It is the “and/both” doctrine of common sense government to which I prescribe.
Power has a corruptive influence on the human condition as mortal entities for which there are no cures but death, a post worthy of its own. The reform of which I speak is term limits for all offices of government, federal and state. There should never exist a career politician. These are dangerous creatures. It is far better to be an incompetent than a schemer. Into the second term, the intoxication of power takes hold and concern for their fellow becomes callused. These men and women should return to their families in good moral health. It is our only hope for a government that governs best.
I agree. Term limits. One and done. Period.
The “and/both” doctrine of common sense government was what I was going for, but in the spirit of Neither This Nor That I changed my political party affiliation from Republican to Independent before the last election. You see where this is going, don’t you?
Yeah. I accidentally became a member of the American Independent Party. That sounds oxymoronic to me, and NO, I still haven’t remember to switch to Decline To State. *Sigh.* Mrs. Audubon is a lucky woman, and Mr. Foolery is an unlucky man.
Yes, Mrs. Audubon is a lucky woman, and fortunate, and blessed and hit the husband lottery. Now would SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL HER THAT!
I’m sure Mr. foolery doesn’t have it so bad. AND, now that you have tremendous gumbo, you are now a total Cajun wife.
Term limits are definitely a good idea. I think most people deserve more than one, since it can take a term just to get the hang of things, but three is probably the outside limit. Now, that being said, we get to vote every so often to change who is in office, so even without term limits, it is possible to make a change. And all of these options still leave things in the hands of the people. People who are smart, stupid, loving, abusive, generous, greedy. I am constantly amazed at what people don’t know, what they believe in the face of flat out evidence to the contrary and how they can be sold by packaging.
I am just going to sit in my corner now.