On Mon, 04 Oct 2004 13:42:13 +0000, Gould 0738 wrote:


Did you know that a great many western democracies who otherwise modeled
their governments by the US experience restrict their executives to a
single six-year term?
It only took a few US presidential election cycles for the rest of the
world to see how
the most powerful man in our country can, and does, abuse the system.

I think the CSA had a heck of a policy. Jefferson Davis served two years
"probation" and then was subject to confirmation for an additional four.
Makes some sense, really. Elect a president, and then have a two-year
referendum on his performance. He wouldn't "run against" anybody at the
two-year point, we'd simply vote thumbs up or thumbs down on his
performance. If the nation voted thumbs down, a general election would
take place
six months later. The sitting POTUS could try to improve his rating enough
to save his
butt in the general, and if he succeeded he would get 3 1/2 more years for
a total of six.

In an ideal world, I'm not denying our system could use some fine tuning.
I'm saying I have more faith in our forefathers, than the crop of boobs in
Washington now. We can talk of more effective systems, perhaps a true
participatory democracy, but if *we* do our part, this system works.