Tuesday, March 14, 2006

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.

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10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I thought the Amendments were the guys who sang "My Girl."
What does that have to do with President Bush? I thought he liked the Archies.

benmerc said...

Oh, the Scalia approach..."If I hear someone refer to the Constitution as a "Living Document, again why, I'll, I'll..."

What, what?? shoot someone?...(opps, that was Cheney)

At any rate, if these guys applied half the "strict constitutionalist" effort to the rest of that "Only a god damn piece of paper" (GWB) hey, maybe , just maybe the Republican party could actually be considered "Conservative" again. (not that I care)

They also seem to cherry -pick other ideological values, like Scalia's "I'm a State's Rights guy" ( oh, like the time when it ment the most, and your court over ruled the Florida Supreme court claiming Federal jurisdiction, stopping the re-count to select the next president).

Yea, I can believe these guys need more time, they just don't know what they stand for from one day to the next. And I for think we could use a little more incompetence and mis-step. After all, don't you know: "It's hard work".

benmerc said...

My last sentence corrected: ""And I for one think..."

(It may have been the Archies,but I think GW was "past" them by that time... I believe it was the Troggs, or maybe the Monkeys, other neo-con favs that pre-date the Archies)

LP said...

Bush isn't going to repeal the 22nd amendment - do you think that he looks forward to going up against Bill Clinton? Remember, Clinton won by margins much, much larger than Bush.

Anonymous said...

Your suggestion also has great possibilities for bridging that nasty partisan divide.

Consider the looming mayorial election in New Orleans on April 22. Although Nagin has already exceeded his original term of office by several months, the NAACP (and others) are hoping to delay elections in the city.

If the NAACP (and Rev. J. Jackson, et al) were to support the repeal of the 22nd Amendment - and it passed - precedent would then be set for extending the mayorial term of office for New Orleans!

Surely a small sacrifice, and a whole new political vista opens...

Anonymous said...

only an insane will think in give this president onother term!!!

Anonymous said...

Ah, -- Andrew Marvell--nice quote. I guess I'm the only English major who got it? probably the only geek to point it out. Odd reference: "To His Coy Mistress" --Bush (or Twig as we like to refer to him) truly doesn't deserve it. Maybe the last 2 lines apply: "the grave's a a fine and private place, but none, I think, do there embrace." Guess King George thinks it's okay for folks he doesn't know..

Anonymous said...

I want some of what you're smoking. I've never been that out of it before...

Stop & think about why the 22nd amendment exists, and then contemplate the potential consequences in some unforeseen future.

Imagine (happily for me), bringing Bill Clinton back. Permanently. Especially with technology that lets him live another hundred years.

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