The Unexpected Success

-omg

The worst is when it’s in your mouth and you have to swallow it and you’re like “OMG”!

-are you talking about tequila?

Too good to leave alone...

So yeah, you color in the ornaments then bake them, then they shrink and get hard and you put them on the tree.

- oh, they shrink and get hard? Sounds like my date last Thursday!

Why exactly are term limits bad?

We all love Bloomberg.  We love him because he’s smart, he cares deeply for New York and everyone that lives here, and he’s probably the least corrupt politician anyone could ask for.  The city has thrived under his leadership and most other politicians don’t have the focus or intelligence to answer our problems the way Bloomberg does.

So now he’s running for a third term.  Why exactly is that so bad?  People are saying they’re “against dynasties”.  This isn’t a “dynasty”.  This is an ELECTED representative who enjoys real popular support because of his tremendous dedication to the constituency and because he’s delivered real results.  Of course Bloomberg should be challenged by other candidates, but his success is nearly guaranteed because of what he’s proven over the past few years.

In the short time I was on a debate team in college, this was a topic we tackled.  Term limits create lame ducks.  They push out leadership before they can do some of their best work.  True leaders determine their own fates and inspire others to follow their example.

There’s one great argument for term limits that I have trouble reconciling; they force an organization to develop institutions which outlast the individual leader.  A great example is the former Yugoslavia, where Tito was able to stitch together a nation through his charisma, foresight, and will, but which rapidly fell apart without his direct oversight.  Furthermore, a torrent of African dictatorships illustrate how a lifetime in office can destroy a consolidating democracy (although we should remember that such leaders are kept in power through violent coercion or through sham elections).

The ultimate goal of any organization or idea is to create lasting institutions which are adhered to long after they are created, because everyone within the organization agrees that the rules benefit everybody.  An insightful observer could name the political philosopher from CC who made this argument… I can’t remember.  Nonetheless in the United States, and perhaps even more so in New York, we have institutions and elections which keep our leaders accountable to their electorate and which set the rules of the game.  I don’t see any convincing reason to keep Bloomberg out for a third term.  He wins because he’s the best, and I think that’s a damn good reason to vote for him.

Bob on Biggest Loser

I love when people say “You know Bob on Biggest Loser? Do you think he’s gay?”. Um, is the pope catholic? Yes he’s totes gay.