Rick Perry will not be president. That much is certain. And Rick Perry’s ideas — the flat tax, elimination of government agencies, bellicose foreign policy, etc. — deserve to die with his candidacy.
Except for one: The proposal he announced today to impose term limits on federal judges. Since the appointment of the 43-year-old Clarence Thomas by President George H.W. Bush to what is likely to be a 35- 40-year reign on the Supreme Court, it has been clear to me that lifetime appointments come with the potential for disaster.
Perry is proposing an 18-year term, which seems too short to me, but why not limit terms on the federal bench to 25 years, which would guarantee some turnover and give presidents of both parties a chance to influence the work of the bench and could help ensure that changing mores are reflected by the men and women who sit.
It’s jut a thought, but just because Perry is, well, batty doesn’t mean we can’t at least discuss some of what he offers.
- Send me an e-mail.
- Read poetry at The Subterranean.
- Certainties and Uncertainties a chapbook by Hank Kalet, will be published in November by Finishing Line Press. It can be ordered here.
- Suburban Pastoral, a chapbook by Hank Kalet, available here.
Hank Kalet 
Why, when \”messing\” with term limits, do we avoid the Congress? And, why did we move from a \”republic\” to \”democracy\” with the \”direct\” election of Senators? (Directly elected by special interests and allowing the phenom of \”unfunded mandates\”!)The Supremes are the 'Dead Old White Guys' after thought. They didn't anticipate lifespans into senility. Any more than they anticipated the Uberpowerful President, corporate coruptocracy, Congressional lawlessness, or \”regulatory capture\”. For all their wisdom, they really left \”we, the people\” screwed.Of course, Gooferment Skrules make the voters so dumb they don't even know they are getting screwed. But, as is demonstrated by the OWS people on TV, they know something is wrong, can't express it in words, but are sure they are getting it up the !!!BTW did you notice the Fannie and Freddie bonuses as they and FHA need bailing out. Argh!The problem isn't term limits for the Supremes; it's getting back to original intent.
A republic is a democracy, it is a form of democracy. A republic is a representative democracy, repeat after me, A REPUBLIC IS A REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY, THEN SAY THREE Hail Marys (Ave Maria), atone for your libertarian sins and do several hundred acts of contrition for goofertarianism gone wild. Goofertarians hate government, want to limit government and yet they want state governments to select our senators, as they did before the 17th amendment? They want to increase individual freedom by repealing the 17th amendment and have state legislatures select our senators? Huh?
I don't don't about you, but I don't feel very represented.A republic is NOT a democracy. And we can quibble about semantics. A democracy in essence is everyone has an equal voice. A republic, in both theory and practice, makes no such assertion. The characteristic of a republic is representatives and that minorities have \”rights\”. Us little L libertarians hate the Gooferment because it's the tool of oppression. Gangs compete for control of it so that they can profit and use its illusion of legitimacy to apply force to everyone else. Look at the OCCUPY and the TEA PARTY. See force being applied to them; clubs in the case of OCCUPY and discrimination in the case of the TEA PARTY. The Seventeenth was created by the Dead Old White Guys to keep the Federal Government under control. The States would have a big club should the FEDERALS get out of control. Notice the unfunded mandates once the STATES lost their club. And, while State Gooferment is bad, it's closer and smaller to get your arms around. Is it a perfect solution? Maybe not. But it was working before \”We, The Sheeple\” got in and mucked it up.Think about the Amendments and Executive Orders, do you think we are trending towards more freedom or less. Everything points to a lot less. Sad to say, but we're on a fast slide to Hell unless we start to repair some of the \”improvements\” we've made on the Dead Old White Guys' work. Income Tax, the Federal Reserve System, Presidential Term Limits, Drug Prohibition, … the list seems endless.