I live in a banana republic
The head of a political polity, faced with the legally-mandated end of his time in office, cites extraordinary circumstances as justification for changing the rules to allow him to 'legally' continue in office.
Hugo Chavez? He wishes.
Welcome to the Democratic Republic of New York.
Back in the mid-1990's, NYC voted for term limits. Twice. It was simple: two terms and you're out.
The first time it came up in any major way was November 2001, when Mayor Giuliani, who'd led us (and the nation) through 11 September and the aftermath, was unable to run for a third term. There was talk about changing the rules just this once for extraordinary circumstances, or at least extending Giuliani's term for 90 days (11 September 2001 was primary day, which had to be rescheduled anyway), but in the end it was decided that the rule of law was most important. Giuliani gave way to RINO candidate Mike Bloomberg.
Seven years later, Mayor Mike, who (in one of the city's most peculiar mysteries) has high poll numbers despite nobody actually approving of him, has decided that he likes being mayor. He wants to still be mayor after November 2009, when he'd be term-limited out. So while he'd once been a strong supporter of the policy, he proposed a change to the term limit rules -- instead of two terms, let's make it three.
His justification? The economic crisis, which he insisted was more demanding of leadership continuity than the aftermath of terrorist attacks. Because terrorism is someone else's problem, not NYC's. (Which might explain why the World Trade Center is still a hole in the ground seven years after the fact.)
Mind you, Mayor Mike's reign of error has been pretty much all about making life in NYC more expensive for everyone and a blatant disregard for anyone not living in Manhattan. His solution to almost every problem is to raise taxes or find other ways to pass on the burden of his grandiose imagination to the taxpayers. Except here -- he said it would be too expensive to have a special election on the matter, so instead it should just be a decision reserved for the City Council... most of whom were about to be term-limited out.
Yesterday, the City Council -- who normally spend their time banning things like high-calorie food and aluminum baseball bats -- voted to support Bloomberg and changed the term limit policy. Permanently. Council Speaker Christine Quinn, whose lust for the mayorlty would've been hampered by getting term-limited out this fall directly after getting caught in a scandal (she earmarked Council money to fake non-profits), was effective in rounding up the necessary support. Two of the most notable opponents suddenly switched votes last night. The measure passed by two votes.
What makes it even more disgusting is that Bloomberg is smug about it. He's pretending modesty, like he's making a great and scary sacrifice for his beloved people. And the fucker's going to get re-elected because city politics are what they are and there aren't any legitimate candidates in any party (Bloomberg is a liberal who ran as a Republican but later changed his affiliation to Independent).
A pox on all their houses.
eta: ‘Mr. Big’ in the Big City: Shut out as a national candidate in 2008, Bloomberg buys his way back into City Hall.
Hugo Chavez? He wishes.
Welcome to the Democratic Republic of New York.
Back in the mid-1990's, NYC voted for term limits. Twice. It was simple: two terms and you're out.
The first time it came up in any major way was November 2001, when Mayor Giuliani, who'd led us (and the nation) through 11 September and the aftermath, was unable to run for a third term. There was talk about changing the rules just this once for extraordinary circumstances, or at least extending Giuliani's term for 90 days (11 September 2001 was primary day, which had to be rescheduled anyway), but in the end it was decided that the rule of law was most important. Giuliani gave way to RINO candidate Mike Bloomberg.
Seven years later, Mayor Mike, who (in one of the city's most peculiar mysteries) has high poll numbers despite nobody actually approving of him, has decided that he likes being mayor. He wants to still be mayor after November 2009, when he'd be term-limited out. So while he'd once been a strong supporter of the policy, he proposed a change to the term limit rules -- instead of two terms, let's make it three.
His justification? The economic crisis, which he insisted was more demanding of leadership continuity than the aftermath of terrorist attacks. Because terrorism is someone else's problem, not NYC's. (Which might explain why the World Trade Center is still a hole in the ground seven years after the fact.)
Mind you, Mayor Mike's reign of error has been pretty much all about making life in NYC more expensive for everyone and a blatant disregard for anyone not living in Manhattan. His solution to almost every problem is to raise taxes or find other ways to pass on the burden of his grandiose imagination to the taxpayers. Except here -- he said it would be too expensive to have a special election on the matter, so instead it should just be a decision reserved for the City Council... most of whom were about to be term-limited out.
Yesterday, the City Council -- who normally spend their time banning things like high-calorie food and aluminum baseball bats -- voted to support Bloomberg and changed the term limit policy. Permanently. Council Speaker Christine Quinn, whose lust for the mayorlty would've been hampered by getting term-limited out this fall directly after getting caught in a scandal (she earmarked Council money to fake non-profits), was effective in rounding up the necessary support. Two of the most notable opponents suddenly switched votes last night. The measure passed by two votes.
What makes it even more disgusting is that Bloomberg is smug about it. He's pretending modesty, like he's making a great and scary sacrifice for his beloved people. And the fucker's going to get re-elected because city politics are what they are and there aren't any legitimate candidates in any party (Bloomberg is a liberal who ran as a Republican but later changed his affiliation to Independent).
A pox on all their houses.
eta: ‘Mr. Big’ in the Big City: Shut out as a national candidate in 2008, Bloomberg buys his way back into City Hall.