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Tuesday
August 17, 2010

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Is this really necessary? At least 40 motorcycle cops gathered and waiting
in Pioneer Square, a small fraction of visiting President Obama's motorcade
and security detail. Sidewalks were barricaded, streets and highway exits
closed without warning, a big expensive mess of pomp and circumstance
all for just one man. Hard to imagine it not going to a person's head. How is
any of this excess consistent with the ideals of democracy? What does a
democratically elected representative of a free people have to fear? Psychos?
Terrorists? Rightwing assassins? Perhaps. Even so, mightn't there be a less
ostentatious way to ferry his eminence from photo op to fundraiser? Instead,
it's a grand parade fit for an emperor which pre-empts the lives of the citizens
who subsidize the spectacle, some of whom might even take foolish pride in it.