Good news for those of us who have never seen the power of a monarchy in action, and the servility it demands of its subjects. President Bush is extending his weekend trip to California, and will be visiting scenic Irvine on Monday.
According to the Register, “Bush will speak to the Orange County Business Council between 8 and 9 a.m. at the Hyatt Regency Irvine”. He'll be talking about immigration reform. So, if you want to get a look at the president… well, unless you're one of the preselected, you can pretty much forget it. What did you think this was, a democracy or something?
What you probably will be able to see is a “Free Speech Zone”– a small, restricted area, where you may exercise your First Amendment rights. Outside, the Zone, your right to free speech will not exist, unless you use it to praise the president. Such zones are a standard part of Bush's travels. The Queen of England wishes she could wring such deference out her subjects– but then, the English Inbreds lack the power of real monarchs these days, they're just tourist attractions. And according to a UC Berkeley law professor, the power that once existed in the English throne in the days of George III can now be found in our own George the Lesser.
As Jonathan Schwarz points out over on Tom Tomorrow's blog, John Yoo, who created the Justice Department's defense of torture before moving on to Berkeley, argues in a new book that Constitution “does give the president, particularly in matters of war and peace, exactly the same powers of the British king circa 1787!” (emphasis Schwarz) And, as Schwarz notes, “Yoo thinks this is a good thing.” Be sure to click on Schwarz's links to learn such things as the Bush administration position on whether it is legal for the president to order the crushing of a child suspect's testicles. (You're probably not going to like the answer.) It's only a matter of time before the president gives this man a Medal of Freedom.
