I have grown tired hearing of term limits for political office holders. The phrase "term limits" in common usage refers to fixing the number of times a person may be re-elected to a particular office.
The idea of term limits has a lot in common with many other snake-oil cures for our governmental problems. The support of term limits is illogical. A fixed tenure simply restricts the exercise of political power to a certain period of time, be it short or long.
How does a fixed tenure affect the mind of the politician? Will a vampire at dusk refrain from seeking a victim because he must retire before the sun rises? Will a Good Samaritan decide to rob a weary traveler because he will never see him again? Does anyone really believe that term limits will turn serpents into saints? Or that term limits will prevent a saint from turning into a serpent?
The idea of term limits has a lot in common with many other snake-oil cures for our governmental problems. The support of term limits is illogical. A fixed tenure simply restricts the exercise of political power to a certain period of time, be it short or long.
How does a fixed tenure affect the mind of the politician? Will a vampire at dusk refrain from seeking a victim because he must retire before the sun rises? Will a Good Samaritan decide to rob a weary traveler because he will never see him again? Does anyone really believe that term limits will turn serpents into saints? Or that term limits will prevent a saint from turning into a serpent?
