It’s a dirty job, kicking voters in the teeth. But somebody’s gotta do it.
I speak of the craven marionettes of the New York City Council, complaining how tough it is to abet Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s assault on democracy. Bloomberg demanded a third term in office. He pulled strings.
Polls show that voters like the two-term limit that they twice endorsed at the ballot box. So instead of asking voters to change their minds, city politicians connived to ignore them.
Council Speaker Christine Quinn explained that ignoring voters is demanded by these hard times. Weakening term limits is a “vote and a choice” that is “a difficult one,” but you know, the city is now, she says, “facing the worst fiscal crisis since the Great Depression.” Ergo voters must be treated like chopped liver. Sequitur, meet non. Non sequitur.
Councilman Simcha Felder concurs.
“Before us today is a very difficult decision, and one which we have been elected to make,” Felder told his colleagues.
You see, voters elected Felder to ignore the voters and keep himself in power longer against their wishes. So what else could he do? Why oh why can’t the stupid voters protesting this unilateral overthrow of term limits understand this?
The poor politicians. Nobody understands how tough they have it, serving their narrow political self-interest and sticking it to the citizenry. It is the weight of the world.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.