Limits to Logic

Just waking up from a nice nap, some please pardon the errors.

The Nevada Supreme Court has made a decision enforcing term limits in the state, so that means that several incumbents- be they commissioners, council people, school board members- will no longer be allowed to hold those positions because their time will essentially be up. The people who embrace the concept of term limits do so because they say the fresh blood is always needed to keep the machine working honestly. What's lost in this theory is the simple fact that sometimes the people who can't run for office anymore due to term limits are precisely the type of people we need holding office. Freshman office holders are often treated like freshman in school, or like fraternity pledges. In other words, they're not respected and need to work years to develop that respect. By the time that happens, they are no longer allowed to run. Un-American.

Isn't it ironic that the only line of work where a limit is placed on a term is in a job that's based on the public's choice? I could go to work at McDonald's and stay there for the rest of my life if I wanted. Can you imagine having term limits at other jobs? You can only be a company CEO for five years. A cop for seven. A teacher for ten. An auto machanic for 12. Lunacy. It would never happen, right? A politician repeatedly elected by the people should be respected, if simply because it's much harder to win than it is to lose. Yet, the "throw the bums out" crowd wins again.

The candidates running for president this election show that the pool is thinning as far as quality politicians goes. The answer for why this is, is a simple one. Why would anyone of even average intelligence go to work as a public servant? The pay is lousy, the hours long, the constituents impossible to please...and in Nevada, at least, you'll get thrown off the wagon after you've succeeded. Nice, huh? It's no wonder most are saying "Private sector, here I come". That, or they'll stay on as a fry cook a little while longer. Much better benefits.