Had Bush But World Enough and Time

President Bush has only three years left in his term and it's already becoming clear that he is probably going to need more time to fulfill his goals. At the rate things are going by the time Bush's term ends we will still be in the middle of the War on Terror, Osama Bin Laden will still be on the loose, we will still have troops in Iraq, New Orleans will still be suffering from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Supreme Court will still be evenly divided and the wealthy will still be paying taxes. That's why I think we are going to need to give President Bush more time to see things through. But in order to do that, we are going to have to repeal the 22nd Amendment.

The 22nd Amendment limits Presidents to two terms, something that might have made sense before 9/11. It is one of a number of Amendments to the Constitution that were all passed before 9/11 and exemplify a "pre-9-11 mentality." In fact, when Democrats who opposed the Patriot Act referred to "rights" in the Constitution that they claim were violated by the law, they weren't actually talking about the Constitution itself but about these Amendments, which were tacked on to the Constitution long after it was ratified and therefore do not actually express the original intent of the Founding Fathers.

The 22nd Amendment is a perfect example of how these Amendments contradict the will of the Founding Fathers. Now, I have not actually read the entire Constitution and I doubt very many other people have either, but I do know that originally there was no limit on the number of times that white male property owners could elect electors to elect someone President. No doubt the Founding Fathers anticipated that the country might one day experience a crisis like 9/11. They probably knew that it's never a good idea to change a horse in midstream (although, I must admit, I'm not sure why it's a good idea to take a horse into a stream in the first place, but you get the idea).

It takes a long time to repeal an Amendment to the Constitution, which is why I think we should get started now. It might also be a good idea to extend the term of the President so that Bush won't be distracted by a divisive election and can concentrate on the work at hand. Already, some people are calling Bush a lame duck, which is just making us look weak in the eyes of the rest of the world. It would be a shame if President Bush had to leave office just as he was beginning to make progress.

Jon Swift, Constitution, 22nd Amendment, Iraq, War on Terror, Terrorism, Bush, Supreme Court, Politics, Bin Laden, Foreign Policy