The Downside of Elections as Term Limits (part two)
Now, for another installment of The Downside of Elections as Term Limits the featured freshman is GOP Congressman-elect Tom Rooney in Florida’s 16th district. Above all it is hoped that Mr Rooney will not follow the examples provided by his two predecessors. GOP Congressman Mark Foley caused a scandal by sending emails to Congressional pages that could only be viewed as inappropriate and along with other particulars in the story indicate Foley has some real problems Foley’s replacement proves once again that the truth is stranger than fiction by causing his own sex scandal in cheating on his wife and getting sued by the woman with whom he had an affair. So, enter one Tom Rooney here to save the 16th for the Republican party. But…..
With an impressive resume’ Tom Rooney’s brief blog post at The Hill dot com does him a disservice. A Florida native according to Wiki and an Army vet, a lawyer who served at the JAG, for a US attorney and as an assistant AG and a teacher at West Point as he indicates in the blog post, his entry at The HIll’s Congress blog is unimpressive with one exception. While his resume’ includes service as a children’s advocate his blog post advocates for veterans and providing necessary services especially for those who return from combat with serious health issues. That is commendable and to be supported. That is the exception to an otherwise poorly presented announcement on the blog.
For instance, why should the typical reader know that the 16th district in Florida is the panhandle and home to one NAS and two AFB’s? The lame opening to the single paragraph post gives a disinterested mention of the budget, fiscal policy and the ‘bailout’. Rooney quite ‘obviously’ indicates energy independence and the veteran’s issue is what holds his interest. Well, sir, without effective attention to those issues for which you show little interest your primary issues will never be solved. The odds seem long that a freshman representative would get a seat on the Armed Services Committee let alone a significant voice anywhere in Washington. It would have been better if the Congressman-elect Rooney would have postponed his announcement until such time as he could present an introduction that at least matches his resume’.
Given that there is no chance a Democrat would display conservative principles any GOP candidate or in this case Congressman-elect holds the only promise for supporting a reasonable agenda. For that reason success for Tom Rooney would be a benefit to his constituents and possibly the rest of America too. With that in mind and the recent history of the 16th district in Florida, Rooney falls somewhere between the up and downside of elections as term limits. No doubt it is good Mahoney and Foley were ousted or outed as the case may be. Only time will tell if Rooney is up to the task. The upside is the two losers were eliminated via election so term limits were indeed part upside. If Rooney doesn’t work out that would demonstrate the downside once again. Not only suggesting newbies are a risk but all the time wasted over the last few election cycles with losers and rookies. But not like that supports the notion of veteran lawmakers being a better choice by default.
This emphasizes the importance of selecting qualified candidates for public office. The Florida 16th is a perfect example. Two successive office holders, one from each major party violated the public trust and their oath of office by behavior which is unacceptable but not uncommon in politics or elsewhere. Party politics regularly sacrifices due diligence and proper vetting for political expediency if not just for the lack of interest in matters other than political strategy. You cannot govern if you do not win. But by selecting those with glaring personal flaws you can do nothing of value.
Do right Mr Rooney. Your district’s recent representatives seemed to be incapable of doing right.
Stanford Matthew
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