I also never imagined any politician would so bluntly state the terrible truth as uttered by President Bush #41. Given that he was once the most powerful man in the world, an ex-head of the C.I.A., (not to mention his son's presidency becoming an absolute disaster) the implications of his candid statement are revealing, frightening, and a lesson in perverted democracy.
In one simple sentence Bush 41 and Mitch McConnell have validated my thesis that all re-elections, particularly for the presidency, are a terrible mistake. Reelection, particularly of the president, can now be seen as our worst national disaster with a second-term psychosis clearly serving as the nexus-point of corruption. All manner of corruption, legislative trickery, obstructionism, and economic mischief are driven by the view toward the second term by winners and losers alike.
Its a well-known strategy that, early in the first term, the economy is purposely driven down so recessions occur early in order to set up the economy for an upswing at re-election time. So, we elect a new president and the first thing they do is slow down and stagger economic progress - all because of the ability to run for a second term. The ugly stuff, and all the ruling elite fascist imperatives, are then saved for the second term.
In short, in "our" political system, its all about ego, the ego of one person and their legacy and wanting desperately to avoid being a one-term president Why should we, the people, endure this screwed up ego-maniacal process when it is nothing less than a blatant call for anything that serves the interests of the president and administration in power. The people's needs clearly come second as the real priority given the two-term setup is re-election.
The obvious fix for this political disease is one, single-term, of office. Unfortunately, a time-consuming and lengthy Constitutional amendment process is required to rescue our republic from the cancer of political ego and a virulent reelection syndrome. However, it would be well worth the effort, particularly given the history of presidential second terms is not good.
Increasingly, what many are realizing today is that our political and fiscal chaos is endemic to our electoral system as presently constituted. With presidents willing to do anything, including war as a distraction, to become re-elected, it is apparent that our political and financial demise is inevitable, built-in, and guaranteed by the reelection circus we call our tradition.
Sometimes tradition is rotten. Yes, the founders of this country did make both compromises and mistakes... a great start but the document is not perfect, and the results prove it!
Only radical systemic change will save this country from an ever-greater irresponsibility and social chaos brought about by generations of re-electable, compromised, money-hungry, legislators. Unfortunately, we do not yet have a National Initiative process to reign in Congress and the Presidency but we could definitely utilize a Constitutional Amendment to change the presidency to a single term, however difficult and lengthy the process of getting the required number of states approval may be.
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