day no. 17,012: dirty politics and dirty diapers

“Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason,” — anonymous

A dead fish is good for eating if you get to it right away, but a dead fish left in the kitchen does not take long to stink up the rest of the house. A good politician is one who gets things done or better yet, leaves things alone, because he has a life back at home. Once he has made politics his career, however, he often begins to get less done or worse yet, finds new things to tinker with. Running for office becomes part of the job and keeping your career becomes part of the campaign strategy. Getting things done or leaving things alone now takes a backseat to leaving things undone and getting back into office. After all, if things got done, what would be left to do? And if there was nothing left do, who would pay you to not do it? 

“I am a [proponent of democracy] because I believe in the Fall of Man. I think most people are democrats for the opposite reason. A great deal of democratic enthusiasm descends from the ideas of people like Rousseau, who believed in democracy because they thought mankind so wise and good that every one deserved a share in the government. The danger of defending democracy on those grounds is that they’re not true… I find that they’re not true without looking further than myself. I don’t deserve a share in governing a hen-roost. Much less a nation. . . . The real reason for democracy is just the reverse. Mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked power over his fellows. Aristotle said that some people were only fit to be slaves. I do not contradict him. But I reject slavery because I see no men fit to be masters.” — C.S. Lewis, Present Concerns

While the law of God does not forbid a people from keeping a governor until death do him part from office, it does provide a rationale for embedding an off ramp into the office by way of the doctrine of radical corruption (a.k.a. total depravity). People are stinkers and if left unchecked, their odor only grows more rancid. 

"It is hard to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it" — Thomas Sowell

Presbyterian governance provides the basic checks and balances of decentralized power, a principle picked up by our founding fathers in the construction of the American Constitutional Republic. But term limits also provide a great check and balance against individual corruption by keeping the politician keen to the idea that he will be back under someone else's governance soon enough and to do unto others as they will soon be able to do to you.