"fyi, i believe that judges should stand for election every 4 years AND that NO judge should sit on the bench for more than a combined TOTAL of 10 years."
Not a bad idea, except maybe for the election part - too much politics in an already politicized judiciary. I think a set term of no greater than 10 years makes a lot of sense.
Let me respond to another comment you had just a couple of posts back, when you advocated a "dixie republic." As you well know the government of the CSA in 1860-1865 was a disaster. It was an ineffective "national" government, kept poor relations with the governments of several of the individual states, was full of sectionalism, factionalism, petty infighting, and long-held jealousies. Why do you think it would be different today?
When the parts of the CSA west of the Mississippi were cut off from the rest of the south in 1863, Kirby Smith became the virtual military dictator of Texas. Jefferson Davis today would be called a "micro-manager." Maybe the best leader the South had, at least toward the end, was John Breckinridge.
Ask yourself, today, in 2003, what advantages does the South (and by that, I mean the deep South, which excludes Texas, the border states of Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Maryland - but if you wish, refer to the traditional CSA) hold over other regions of the USA? I have my own ideas about that, and how those strengths could work well with the mores and attitudes of the southwest, midwest, and pacific states (outside of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle), but I'd like to hear your ideas.
(I've been "recovering" from the Recall election here in CA, so I'm just now catching up on the older threads.)
also i like to think that a new dixie republic would be better than either the CSA or the USA government we have now. face it, the 19th & 21st centuries aren't the same in any measure AND let's hope we've learned a little bit in 150 years.
free dixie,sw