What I'm really concerned about at the moment (as is the case whenever I read Tocqueville) is the democratic mob. The democratic mob always seems to want to have someone's head and seems to be placated these days by a resignation. The democratic mob has the shortest attention span imaginable and seems to be okay with people resigning for their indiscretions and reentering politics a couple of years afterward. I'm really not sure what the rationale is--it's as if because a politician resigns (even if it's for something he did several years earlier), everything is made better.
My questions with this policy: Will a politician be made to resign twice for the same offense (if new instances of the indiscretion emerge later)? Will a politician be allowed to continue his offensive behavior later if he's already served his time (his resignation-ment) for his offense? (I mean, really, I'm surprised that politicians could be so stupid as to continue the resignation-worthy behavior, but it seems that stupidity knows no bounds.) Why is it alright for the offender to resign their position and immediately get a new one? (Here I'm thinking of Larry Summers leaving Harvard to work for the U.S. government.) What exactly is the point of the resignation? To have the people feel like the politician is making nice with his wife? (Are we really so naive as to think that that is happening?) To convince ourselves that he has changed and is, a year or two later, a better, more virtuous character? (Are we really so naive as to think that that is happening?)
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