Thursday, January 22, 2009

Coronation (er . . . Inauguration) Ceremony

Yes, I believe some forms of monarchy are a particularly good way to preserve liberty for the common man (more on why in some other post). But, no, the fact we treat modern US Presidents as monarchs does not make me favor them. Oh, you think we do NOT treat them as monarchs? Read here, here and here then say that again.

Certainly it is no secret the political ambition of the British Left is to abolish the British Monarchy, but how does one square that with the Kennedyesque tendency of the American Left to institute its own national dynasty? Probably because the Left wants untrammeled democracy, equality and "progress", and the Right wants limited democracy, liberty and constitutionalism.


That is why an elective monarchy is intuitively fine for an American Democrat, whereas hereditary monarchy is an insufferable anachronism for the British, Canadian and Anzac lib-laboury. What right does a hereditary monarch have to say no to an elected government, they chime.

And there is reason to believe that this contradiction at the heart of the American soul, which has in recent years led several congressman, including Rep. Barney Frank and Sen. Harry Reid, to introduce legislation to repeal the Twenty-second Amendment, may continue to evolve towards monarchy USA. In each of 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2009, Rep. Jose Serrano introduced a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the 22nd Amendment. Each resolution, with the exception of the current one, died without ever getting past the committee.

But with Congress going formidably Democrat, and President Obama assuming Office, one has to believe they now have a fighting chance.

Hurray for . . . what is going on here?

Ancient and medieval monarchies protected and encouraged the liberty of the common man. Modern monarchies did the opposite. Then came modern "republics". Now we are moving back to modern monarchs? Or is it really just a new form of the Imperial Presidency?


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Serrano did, in fact, recently introduce a measure to repeal the 22nd amendment. Is this because he wants Obama to be "president for life"? No. Serrano has introduced this exact same measure a half-dozen times, starting 12 years ago. It has nothing to do with Obama -- Serrano just happens to believe presidential term limits are a bad idea."

http://freethinkers.groups.vox.com/library/post/6a00d4142cb7986a4701101627ea44860c.html?_c=feed-atom

verily prosaic said...

OK: but where did I suggest Serrano wants Obama to be President for life? The thrust of my point is less about Obama than it is about the the modern American form of government.

Thanks for reading!