WAPO OP-ED: End Presidential Term Limits … Let’s Have a King Again Instead … We Should Have Senate and House Term Limits

End presidential term limits, are you insane? We should implement US House and Senate term limits as well.

In what might be one of the most foolishly thought out premise, NYU history professor Jonathan Zimmerman inked a WAPO oped titled “End presidential term limits,” suggesting that the 22nd Amendment limiting presidents to two terms of office should be repealed as a way to assuring a more effective presidency and protecting democracy from a leader without fear of voters’ wrath.  Why is it so important now, because Barack Obama is president? Hell, it’s not like he follows the US Constitution now, watch him run for a third term anyhow and call those oppose racists.

Sorry, but if our countries first president, George Washington, thought multiple terms was a bad thing, that is good enough for me. As it was Washington had to be talked into a second term. Ending term limits was wrong when it was discussed by Republicans during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, it was wrong when Democrats brought it up with Bill Clinton and it is still wrong with Barack Obama. The office of the President is bigger than any one man, that includes Obama. There is a reason why America fought a War of Independence against King George and it was not to replace one tyrant with another.

In 1947, Sen. Harley Kilgore (D-W.Va.) condemned a proposed constitutional amendment that would restrict presidents to two terms. “The executive’s effectiveness will be seriously impaired,” Kilgore argued on the Senate floor, “ as no one will obey and respect him if he knows that the executive cannot run again.”

I’ve been thinking about Kilgore’s comments as I watch President Obama, whose approval rating has dipped to 37  percent in CBS News polling — the lowest ever for him — during the troubled rollout of his health-care reform. Many of Obama’s fellow Democrats have distanced themselves from the reform and from the president. Even former president Bill Clinton has said that Americans should be allowed to keep the health insurance they have.

Or consider the reaction to the Iran nuclear deal. Regardless of his political approval ratings, Obama could expect Republican senators such as Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and John McCain (Ariz.) to attack the agreement. But if Obama could run again, would he be facing such fervent objections from Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.)?

Probably not. Democratic lawmakers would worry about provoking the wrath of a president who could be reelected. Thanks to term limits, though, they’ve got little to fear.

Nor does Obama have to fear the voters, which might be the scariest problem of all. If he chooses, he could simply ignore their will. And if the people wanted him to serve another term, why shouldn’t they be allowed to award him one?

Nothing to fear eh, what would you call the approval rating in the 30′s and the panic that Democrats are presently experiencing? Also, Zimmerman says, “If he [Obama] chooses, he could simply ignore their will.” Just curious, when did Barack Obama or Democrats ever care about the will of the People?

That being said, not only should the 22nd Amendment not be repealed, there should be term limits for Senators and House members as well. As a matter of fact there should be a limit as to how many years that some one can serve in over-all political life. These people need to understand who they work for and the laws they pass will eventually effect them too. That does not happen in today’s politics.

America Remembers John F. Kennedy 50 Years Later after that Fateful Day … “Anybody here seen my old friend John?”

November 22, 1963 … the day that shook America in Dallas, TX.

For those that were alive on that fateful day, yesterday most Americans remembered where they were the day that President John F. Kennedy was shot and assassinated while traveling in his presidential motorcade in Dallas, Texas. It was the day that shocked America, the world and forever changed the United States with innocence lost. In a time in which few can even conceive or remember when there were three news channels, no-24-7 news, no internet, no social media, no Twitter … the nation was rocked with the unthinkable, the death of a president as all watched in horror.

At 12:29 pm CST, as President Kennedy’s uncovered limousine entered Dealey Plaza, Nellie Connally, then the First Lady of Texas, turned around to President Kennedy, who was sitting behind her, and commented, “Mr. President, you can’t say Dallas doesn’t love you,” which President Kennedy acknowledged. Then life changed, everything changed as we knew it. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 pm CST, Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas. JFK was taken to Parkland Hospital, Trauma Room 1 where he was treated for his mortal wounds to his head.

At 1:00 p.m., CST President John F. Kennedy was pronounced dead. As one doctor was reported to say, “We never had any hope of saving his life.” And sadly we were presented with another good man who died too young. 

Anybody here seen my old friend John?
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
He freed a lot of people,
But it seems the good they die young.
I just looked around and he’s gone.

50 years later we remember President John F. Kennedy, a life taken far to soon and his vision for America that was cut short  that Day in Dealey Plaza by an assassins bullet. We remember the man who is frozen in time because of the tragic nature in how he was killed and we can only wonder how things, so many things would have been different in America had he lived. Too many focus on the “conspiracy” theories of how JFK died or his affair with Marilyn Monroe, but there was so much more to a president who captured the imagine of the country. I was not alive the day JFK died, but being a history major I had read much of his life. I have attended the Kennedy Library and been to grave, the “Eternal Flame,” at Arlington National Cemetery as well as grew up in New England so was surrounded by the lore of the Kennedy’s most of my life. JFK was a unique man, an inspirational individual who knew how to communicate with people, bring them together and make people feel good about themselves. But he was much more than that, he was a leader, a man who had big goals as seen by is efforts to get the US into space and he was the one who asked us,“ask not what your country can do for you can do for your country” (VIDEO). Where are those leaders today?

‘Abraham, Martin and John’ - Dion

U.S. President John F. Kennedy was remembered as a transcendent leader of a rising nation at a ceremony in Dallas on Friday, the 50th anniversary of his assassination, while bitterness remained for many who disbelieve the official story of how he died.

“Our collective hearts were broken,” Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings told a crowd of about 5,000 who came to a frigid Dealey Plaza, near where Kennedy was slain, for a commemoration marked with prayer, song and tears.

Remembered fondly for his youthful vigor and his glamorous wife, Kennedy remains one of Americans’ favorite presidents for his handling of the Cuban missile crisis, his call to public service with programs such as the Peace Corps and a promise – later fulfilled – to land an American on the moon before the end of the 1960s.

“A new era dawned and another waned a half century ago when hope and hatred collided right here in Dallas,” Rawlings said.

The assassination cut short “Camelot,” as the 1,000 days of the Kennedy presidency became known. He was 46 when he died

This is how I remember John F. Kennedy, as a leader, a unifier and a man with a vision of big ideas and one’s that made America better, not just a political party. Take a good listen to what a true leader sounds like. I hear an awful lot of “WE”, not me or I. JFK wanted the United States to be a leader in the world, number one, not a follower. Where has my old friend John gone, it is true that the good so die young.

“The exploration of space will go ahead, whether we join it or not. And it is one of the greatest adventures of all times. And no nation which expects to be the leaders of other nations can expect to stay behind in this race for space”.

“We Choose to go to the moon, not because they are easy, because they are hard”

Daily Commentary – Friday, November 22, 2013 – Did You See George W. Bush on Jay Leno?

• The former president looked good, relaxed and he’s not a bad artist!

UPDATE I: Check out the VIDEO below of what Dana is referencing in his daily commentary. Leno brought up GWB’s recent health scare. Laura Bush responded that she was scared; however, W said that he was not. Leno then hit him with the money line and asked, “You got Obamacare?” and the audience erupted in laughter. The best part is that W and J actually got a good, honest chuckle out of it. GWB had some interesting things to say about dealing with the tough times.

President Obama Leaves Out An Important Word In His Reading Of The Gettysburg Address … “Under God”

Why should anyone be surprised at anything he does anymore?

As if it was not bad enough that President Barack Obama did not attend the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address, even though Obama claims that Lincoln is one of his heroes. A snub was not enough for this president, in a he managed to leave the word “under God” out of his reading of Lincoln’s great speech.  From NRO, in a recorded recitation uploaded to YouTube on November 9, President Obama read the address in its entirety. However, when it came to the line “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom,” the President left out the words “under God.” Of course he did. Because this is what community agitators do, cause division, chaos and turmoil at every turn.

One nation under God?  Under President Obama, maybe not so much.

As first reported on WMAL’s Chris Plante Show Tuesday, the Commander-in-Chief joined a cast of 61 other noted lawmakers, politicians, news anchors and celebrities, including every living President, in reciting the Gettysburg Address, which President Abraham Lincoln delivered on November 19, 1863.

The dignitaries all delivered the address as Lincoln had written it, including the phrase, “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom.” (Click to listen).  Curiously, however, in his version of the address, President Obama omitted the words “under God.”

You can see the President’s reading of the Gettysburg speech here -  his omission is at the 1:35 mark.

But of course this was probably the first time Barack Obama was made aware that “under God” was actually in the Gettysburg Address. And it makes no matter as he was too busy fixing the Obamacare website to have noticed. Oh, and it was Bush’s and the GOP’s fault.

The irony of it all is best pointed out by the Heritage Foundation. It is a stretch for a big government, socialist liberal like Barack Obama who believes in the ‘nanny state,” seems to not have a grasp of the US Constitution, the separation of powers and that Our Government is supposed to be of, by and for the People. However, under Obama, he thinks that the people work for the government. The final line of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is, “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”.

Weasel Zippers has much, much more.

150th Anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln Gettysburg’s Address: “this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln commemorated a Civil War battlefield in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by vowing that “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS, is one if not the greatest speeches ever from one of the United States greatest presidents ever. The key word there is “UNITED”.  This is what leadership looks like and it is comical if not disrespectful to ever make comparisons to Lincoln and his accomplishments. Never has a US president ever resided over more troubling and divisive times in the United States, NEVER!

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this
continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the
proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that
nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.
We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to
dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who
here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether
fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate— we can not conse-
crate—we can not hallow— this ground. The brave men, living and
dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor
power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remem-
ber what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It
is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished
work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining
before us— that from these honored dead we take increased devotion
to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—
that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in
vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of free-
dom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the
people, shall not perish from the earth.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
November 19. 1863.

And a small and irrelevant President Barack Obama does not show for the anniversary even though he used references to Lincoln during elections. Obama announced his candidacy in 2007 near Lincoln’s law office in Springfield, IL abd tried to tie himself to Abe. In the end, Obama was a no show. Some how Barack Obama can play 150 rounds of golf, but not show up on such an important anniversary of a president he claims to respect. Hmm, think it is because it would make Obama look even smaller than he already is? Did Obama really not go to this event because of the Healthcare.gov debacle?

But Obama, unlike his predecessors, stuck to his decision not to go to such an anniversary commemoration. His decision is doubly surprising because he has so often tied himself to his fellow Illinoisan Lincoln. Obama announced his candidacy in 2007 near Lincoln’s law office in Springfield, Ill. Both in 2009 and 2013, he took the oath of office with his hand on Lincoln’s Bible. And in 2009, he replicated Lincoln’s 1861 route from Philadelphia to Washington for the Inauguration.

“It didn’t work schedule-wise,” was the explanation tweeted Tuesday morning by Dan Pfeiffer, the president’s senior adviser. The schedule released by the White House showed the president at 10 a.m. in the Oval Office receiving his regular daily briefing. Then, at 10:45, he welcomed to the White House a group of senators to brief them on the latest developments in Iran. That briefing was not scheduled until Monday, well after the White House declined the Gettysburg invitation. Later in the day — after he would have been back from the planned ceremony at Gettysburg — he goes to the Four Seasons Hotel to address The Wall Street Journal CEO Council’s annual meeting and talk about the economy.