Ronald Lauder, the driving force behind New Yorkers for Term Limits, says he opposes an amendment to the term limit laws to allow three terms. He says he only agreed to a one-time exception for this mayor at this moment. Of course, if term limits don't apply in difficult circumstances or to excellent public servants (and I think we have both in the current situation), they serve no purpose whatsoever except to prevent bad to decent public servants from making their case for additional servants.

This has put Mayor Bloomberg in the awkward position of denying that he's after a self-serving exception to the rules (which he obviously is) as he pursues term limit reform. It's a tough illusion to maintain, especially since Bloomberg has been holding strategy sessions on how to extend his tenure for about a year.

I'm only going to be able to post on this occasionally, but if you're interested, check out my childhood friend Matt Dreyer's Provisionally Titled blog. He's been winning arguments since age 6. Plus we see eye to eye on this Bloomberg business and he says he'll be tracking it pretty closely.

In the meantime, check out these folks if you're as strongly opposed to the change as I am. As an aside, I've found out that the staff in the legislative office of my City Council simply don't answer the phone.

I'm headed offline for the Jewish holiday but check back Friday for a great Law of the Sea nugget. It's pinging around the internet now among supporters so it won't be breaking, but it's a good one. Even you folks who think you've had enough of UNCLOS might be interested.

-- Scott Paul