Inaugural Marked by Emigration

As the President is sworn in for another 4 years, one news source, The Independent, marks the occasion with an article about Americans leaving America. 7.2 million Americans have already chosen to live overseas, and more are to follow. It is a poignant counterpoint to Washington's festivities with more fire power encircling the President than can be found in much of Iraq. The President's route was wall to wall uniforms, looking more like Mushaaraf's police state, than the United States.

If this emigration movement grows in a big way, the day may come when a President like GW Bush can walk down Pennsylvania Ave. without even secret service to be found. That will be due to all dissenting voices and opposition to such a president having migrated to Canada or Mexico and beyond. What kind of America would that be? Surely, many Bush supporters would regard such a futuristic scenario as heaven on earth. But, it would also create a group think, America: an America not dissimilar from China or Cuba today. An America where the people speak with one voice, one patriotic voice coming from one person, the President.

Where would be the need for a Constitution or Bill of Rights where all the people think with one voice? What need would there be for Congress, filibusters, and Jeffersonian parliamentary rules. It does indeed sound like the political heaven enunciated by Mao Tse Tung, Stalin, Hitler, and Ho Chih Minh. One people, one voice, one policy for all.

May God Bless America by withholding such dreams from fulfillment.