Angry that President George W. Bush is defying both Congress and the American people with his policy toward Iraq, Senator Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., huffed last week that “this is not a monarchy.” That’s like the parent who stuffs her child full of Cheetos and donuts and then complains because she has a 100-pound toddler. What do members of Congress expect when they give a president power and privilege the world’s monarchs can only envy?
As queen of 16 sovereign states, Elizabeth II is the world’s most powerful monarch. Yet compare the way she treats her subjects with the way Bush treats his fellow citizens. Although she, too, is a terrorist target, the queen remains accessible, persisting in the “walkabouts” that allow her direct contact with the people. But Bush appears publicly only among carefully screened supporters; intruders are subject to arrest and prosecution.
It is nonsense for members of Congress to complain that Bush pays no attention to dissenters as long as they keep laws on the books that allow him (via the Secret Service) to keep his critics at bay. When Lyndon Johnson had to hear protesters on Pennsylvania Avenue chanting incessantly, “Hey, Hey, LBJ: How many kids did you kill today?” it changed how he viewed the Vietnam war.
Consider, too, this pathetic contrast: The White House remains closed to visitors — except for limited tours to groups who apply to their congressman for admission and are pre-screened by the Secret Service. Yet the queen opens her residences on scheduled dates for anyone who buys a ticket. Shouldn’t the White House be at least as accessible as Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle?
Indeed, history has come full circle: A prince in line to the British throne is going to war in Iraq, while the president’s daughters fly around the world in a manner surpassing royal treatment.
Air travel for the queen and her family is provided by charter services, commercial flights, or — when not needed for military operations — aircraft from the No. 32 Squadron of the Royal Air Force. Next year, the British government will begin providing two planes for the exclusive use of the royal family and senior government officials.
Meanwhile, an American president has at his disposal the entire inventory of the 89th Airlift Wing at Andrews Air Force Base, including not only the two planes that alternate as Air Force One, but 24 other jets to ferry around his family and other VIPs.
The White House, of course, always claims that security is the issue. But the president’s family would be in no more danger on a commercial flight than they are in a Georgetown restaurant. Moreover, if Bush is truly fearful, he could charter private planes for his family’s travel, as the royals do. Or what about assigning first family transport to the Civil Air Patrol? They can put planes in the air for about $100 an hour, as opposed to the Air Force jets that cost taxpayers around $22,000 an hour.
Clearly, the president’s priority isn’t safety; it’s luxury. Although he will be out of office when they are delivered in 2009, Bush has ordered new helicopters for presidential transport at a cost of — are you ready? — $7 billion. The new choppers will feature a sophisticated communications suite, sound-proofing, and a bigger cabin with a lavatory and galley. But how often is he going to need a shower and a hot meal between the White House and Camp David?
As long as Congress continues to fund this imperial lifestyle, it can’t complain about an imperious president.
In better days, Americans would not have tolerated such behavior. President Woodrow Wilson and his family shared in the sacrifices necessitated by World War I — eating “meatless and wheatless” meals, growing vegetables in their victory garden, and bringing sheep to graze on the White House lawn to produce wool for the Red Cross.
When food was rationed during World War II, Eleanor Roosevelt applied the nation’s restrictions to the White House kitchen. And President Jimmy Carter kept the heat turned down so low during the energy crisis of the 1970s that his wife, Rosalynn, said she huddled in the kitchen just to stay warm. But today’s presidents spare no expense for themselves or their families and friends.
Ironically, in the past 15 years, the British monarchy has become more democratic. Head of State expenditures are less than half what they were in 1992. If Hagel and others truly want to stop the president from behaving like a monarch, the first step is to stop providing him with the trappings of royalty.
Melanie Scarborough is an Examiner columnist who lives in Alexandria.
