GROUND
HOG DAY -- THE SEQUEL Although I have no evidence to prove it, other than having the same last name, I must be a distant cousin of the actor, Bill Murray. At least, I seem to be living the life of the character he played in the movie, Groundhog Day. In this movie, the character keeps waking up to live the same day over and over again. It sure seems I must be stuck in some sort of time warp. See what you think. I keep thinking it is election day. As a good citizen, I go to cast my vote, and there is the same amendment on the ballot. It asks me to place limits on the number of terms a person can be elected to the same office. This sounds good to me, as I think I am living in a country that believes in government of the people, by the people, and for the people. With this belief, I take my pencil and fill out that little oval that says "yes." Later that night, after the polls close, I turn on the TV…and, guess what. By a large margin, the majority of the people felt as I did and cast a vote to establish term limits. I rejoice at the wonder of democracy in action. I go to bed feeling safe and secure in the knowledge that I live in a free state and nation. The next morning, I woke up refreshed and invigorated from our wonderful political process only to discover that it is election day again -- two years later. I go to cast my vote, and there again is another ballot measure asking me to approve term limits. I vote "yes" again, go home, turn on the TV and, sure enough, democracy worked again. The people, by an even larger margin, have passed the term limits measure. I go to bed feeling safe and secure in the knowledge that I live in a free state and nation. This time, I don’t sleep so well. I dream of nine Darth Vader figures in black robes that are tormenting me. They seem to have unlimited control over my life, and I can do nothing to stop them. Then, it gets worse. Seven more of these Darth Vader figures join in my torment. Then, a large group of forty-nine evil-looking creatures proclaim the death of that evil tool of democracy called the ballot initiative. My subconscious mind starts recalling images of Stalin, Hitler, and Pol Pot. I am running as hard as I can, trying to escape the tyranny and oppression, when I am shook awake by my wife. Thank goodness! It was only a bad dream -- or was it? This week, supporters of term limits will start a new initiative drive to place term limits on the State Legislature and other statewide offices. The voters passed a similar measure in 1994 that included term limits for the United States Senate and Congress. First, the United States Supreme Court declared that the Constitution declared that term limits for Congress and the Senate was unconstitutional. Last time I read the Constitution, it was silent on this issue. Then, the Nebraska Supreme Court saw its chance. It declared that the constitutional amendment to the Nebraska Constitution was unconstitutional. In their brilliant minds, they couldn’t separate the difference between the clear language that talked about state officials from the words that talked about national officials. Whether liberal, moderate or conservative, practically all Americans have always held the concept of constitutional government with reverence. The Constitution is the highest legal authority. We have allowed judges to interpret it, but not write it. Amendments are the way we have to check abuses of judges and legislatures. The Nebraska Supreme Court, at least, came close to going over that line in 1994 when they threw out term limits for state offices. In my mind, they did cross the line. People expressed a little anger, but then we just let it pass and went on with our lives. Would we do the same thing, if the United States Supreme Court declared the first amendment unconstitutional? It is essentially the same thing. Let’s send a clear message to both the Nebraska Supreme Court and the Legislature that the people still run this state. We can do this by passing a state constitutional amendment to limit the terms of State legislators and other statewide office holders in 1998. The Governor and State Treasurer are already term-limited. If we pass this, the courts will have no legitimate claim to invalidate the measure. Any ruling to do so will be a clear signal that they consider themselves to be the law. What if this happens? Either bow down and pay homage, or dust off that old history book. Open that old book and read some words written in 1776 by some dead white guy named Thomas Jefferson. It will have to be an old one because he might not be found in a new one. Maybe "Cousin" Bill will cast me in Stripes II.
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