Hello Richard,   
      
    DD>> Same deal on term limits for elected officials. Many of them seem to   
    DD>> think that holding elected office is a lifetime sinecure. Which   
    DD>> certainly is *NOT* what the framers of the Constitution envisioned.   
      
   RW>OF course, but then the framers of the constitution never   
   RW>anticipated professional politicians.  Their thought was   
   RW>that average folks would seek office as well as vote.   
   RW>Their efforts were geared toward eliminating a professional   
   RW>perpetual ruling class.   
      
   The Framers of the Constitution were wealthy white men who owned   
   property (including slaves).  As such, they had a vested interest   
   in protecting what was theirs.  If you study the Revolutionary   
   War, you will find it was not really a revolution but rather   
   a war to protect the status quo.  It was rich man's war, not a   
   poor man's uprising.  Only wealthy folks could afford to own   
   muskets, much less musketballs and the powder to fire them.   
   George Washington was a wealthy old coot who really did not   
   want to get involved, but for unknown reasons decided to join   
   the fray.   
      
   Jimmy Carter (yes, the former president) wrote a fictional account   
   of the Revolutionary War.  He put a lot of research into that book,   
   and it is quite revealing, especially the details.  Understanding   
   the Revolutionary War and what it was all about is essential to   
   understanding what went through the minds of the Framers of the   
   Constitution.   
      
   One of the most basic things is the difference between the British   
   perspective and the American perspective in regards to the purpose   
   of government, more specifically where rights are derived from.   
   The British view is that all laws are derived from government (laws   
   can be given and taken away).  IOW, rights do not exist.  The American   
   view is that people have rights, especially in regards to certain   
   inalienable rights, in which is the duty of government to protect   
   those rights.  Thomas Jefferson (along with others) expressed the   
   American view in a most forthright manner in the Declaration of   
   Independence.   
      
   Term limits are anti-democratic, limiting the choices voters have.   
   That is one of the reasons why term limits were not included by any   
   of the Framers in the U.S. Constitution.  It was not until the 22nd   
   Amendment was passed and ratified that any form of term limits were   
   included, and that was a Republican idea.  It was a bad idea then,   
   and is a bad idea now.  The amendment is poorly written, and can be   
   interpreted/misinterpreted/abused in a variety of ways.   
      
   All the 22nd Amendment does is limit a President to serving two   
   consecutive terms.  Once a President has left office after having   
   served two consecutive terms, he/she is free to be elected to a   
   new first term, and subsequent second term.  See how that works?   
      
   Had Bill Clinton been a wise man, he would have had his wife Hillary   
   Clinton run for President in the year 2000, with Bill as Vice President.   
   With Bill being from Arkansas and Hillary being from New York, the   
   Republican team of two Texans (George W. Bush and Dick Cheney) would   
   have cried foul, falsely claiming that both Bill and Hillary were from   
   Arkansas.  And then, in 2008, Bill and Hillary could have swapped   
   places, with Bill Clinton as President and Hillary Clinton as Vice   
   President.   
      
   Now that is the stuff that dreams are made of.  :)   
      
   --Lee   
      
   --- MesNews/1.06.00.00-gb   
    * Origin: news://felten.yi.org (2:203/2)