Another dictator is born

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has convinced the City Council to alter the two-term limit on public service in that town and allow himself and the councilmembers to run for a third four-year term, changing the rules in the middle of the game and completely undermining "the fact that term limits were enacted through public referendums in 1993 and 1996".

"Emotional and often outspoken council members voted 29-22 in favor of the extension that now allows officeholders three consecutive four-year terms. About two-thirds of the City Council is currently in their second term." (Emphasis mine)

Gee, I wonder why the vote came out the way it did?

Bloomberg and the councilmembers who voted for this change apparently wish to emulate the careers of equally entrenched (and also as rabidly anti-gun for the law-abiding citizen) King Emperor Mayor-for-Life Richard Daley and the aldermen of the epicenter of corrupt politics that is the city of Chicago.

It's certainly the prerogative of the council to set whatever limits they wish on the terms of elected office, but any changes should become effective when the next mayor and councilmembers take office, as doing it this way is blatantly ignoring the rules in place when the previous election was held. Actually, the whole scheme is really nothing more than a naked and unfair power grab on the part of the incumbents, who seem to feel that only they and no one else can accomplish the task of running the city government.

"'In challenging times like this, the voters should have the choice of keeping the current leadership, the current mayor, the current City Council,' [Council President Christine Quinn] said."

That's a straw-man argument, ma'am. When is there not "challenging times" when running a large city? One could make the case that this is the perfect time to make a change, as it shows that no one citizen is irreplacable and above the law, contrary to the wrong-headed thinking of the Big Apple politicians.

It's historically dictators such as Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and Fidel Castro in Cuba who attempt to game the system while they cling to power, not big-city officals in the U.S..

But they're sure learning fast, aren't they?