PolicyGuy

Monday, June 30, 2003


President Bush, our Father Figure
Really? So says Babs Streisand.

In a news statement reprinted by James Taranto over at www.opinionjournal.com, the singer tells us that "The president is our leader, the figurehead of the country, a father figure." Head of government, maybe. (Though the Senate Majority Leader, the Speaker of the House, and most member of the Supreme Court would disagree.) Head of state, even, since we don't have a king or queen.

But "a father figure?" That's creepy. Yes, another George--Washington--has been called "the father of our country," but that was so long ago, it's more in the genetic rather than overseeing sense by now.

Still, you have to wonder if this symbol really does portray the attitude that some people have towards government, especially the federal government. I respect the office, and its current occupant. But a father figure?

Sad, what some people need to get along.

"Justice Louis D. Brandeis'?s metaphor of the states as "laboratories" for policy experiments ... had almost nothing to do with federalism and everything to do with his commitment to scientific socialism. .... To this day, it continues to inhibit a truly experimental, federalist politics." -- Michael S. Greve

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