I am totally in favor of term limits. The term limits, that is, that the founding fathers gave us. We call them elections.
That’s right. Those are the only term limits I think we need. If we get tired of the varmints, vote ‘em out. Go organize a campaign to convince your fellow citizens to help get rid of whatever rascals you don’t like. Beat ‘em in the primary or beat ‘em in November.
Yes, I agree that there are people in office who are wrongheaded, or complete fools. Maybe even senile.
But if this is really a democracy, and that’s who the voters want, that’s who they should get. Besides, my idea of an idiot may be your idea of a statesman, and vice-versa.
The idea of treating us voters like children whose choice has to be limited by those who know better is deeply offensive.
There is nothing wrong with voluntary term limits. George Washington set the standard when he left the presidency after two four-year terms. Nobody even tried to stay longer until Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to not only a third term, but a fourth.
This whole term limit nonsense began after FDR died. Angry Republicans promptly rammed through a constitutional amendment saying that no president could ever again serve more than two terms.
Two terms is more than enough for most presidents. But think about what was going on in 1940, when FDR was elected to his third term. World War II was raging. The Nazis were winning.
We weren’t in the war. Roosevelt was in favor of giving Great Britain, which stood alone, all the help we could, short of going to war. Most Republicans were isolationists. If FDR hadn’t won that third term, where might the world be today?
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