Katty Kay has it right.
A noted European historian decades ago said of the American Revolution that it was the replacement of a foreign aristocracy with a domestic one.
There is a great deal of truth in that observation. Men like Washington, Jefferson, and Adams behaved in many ways, from the beginning, as the former colonies’ new aristocrats. Washington insisted on carrying a sword and sash at ceremonies and was mortified if anyone touched him or got too near him. He only shook hands when he did the offering. A cold, aloof man. Adams wasn’t satisfied with being addressed merely as Excellency, as Washington was, he wanted a long and pompous form of address at all occasions.
To this day, all American official ceremonies are bloated beyond belief. For example, anyone watching the impeachment of Bill Clinton could only come away with the impression that it was an effort at opera buffa without music and without acting talent. It was simply pompous beyond belief, laughable at times
Also, the American President is both head of state and head of government, so a good deal of the ceremony associated with the Queen goes to a politician. In general, I don't regard it as a wise system. If you feel little regard for a particular political leader, it is unfortunate to feel the social pressure to treat him with the formality of a royal figure.
The ceremonies also reflect another fact. One of America’s undisputed contributions to ideas is the manipulation of marketing. This stuff is a huge marketing promotional for the American system.
Yet another contributing factor to bloated celebrations is America’s current position as the new Imperial Rome, and Rome as we know was not shy about parades and spectacles, rather embracing them as a way to speak of its power to the world.
"The adulation accorded Mr Obama is way overdone. It is also very dangerous."
An absolutely silly comment, that.
We've just left behind eight years of authentic danger and actual destructiveness with the Bush/Cheney thugs. Cheney assumed powers he did not have, and the incompetent, weak-minded Bush went along for the ride.
The Constitution's protections were ignored and trampled on. The beginnings of a police state were put in place with everything from wiretaps to checking what people read at the library. International law was broken time and time again. On top of it all, there was a genuine threat of the imposition of military law with one high-ranking general suggesting just that a couple of years ago and the White House never contradicting him. And then there were the countless lies and abuses of power.
Leaving that hellish nightmare behind is exactly why people are so joyous over Obama. That and the fact he is so clearly intelligent, genial, graceful, and charming.
Who wouldn't celebrate leaving the Texas and Wyoming bozos behind for that? Just a few right-wingers, some Aryan-nation types, trailer-park habitués, and a mob of tent-revival preachers.
