I thought I'd take advantage of the timing and commence my published rantings with some token remarks on the State of the Union Address. So I will--but I hope to be brief.

First of all, if I were President, I'd ignore latter-20th-century precedent and replace the Big Speech with more frequent informational sessions in Congress--more like the traditional Prime Minister's Question Time. I read such a proposal somewhere recently, so it's hardly original. At any rate the Constitution doesn't require the current format. Of course, there's a whopping great deal else it doesn't require. Admittedly the prospect of my assuming the office appears remote!

Secondly, I confess I like Dubya. It seems I intuitively favored the Bushes going back about 23 years. Like most libertarian/conservative types, I acknowledge some disagreements and misgivings, too. Most obvious is the matter of _expanding_ government. Wouldn't it be nice if every new department set up meant that one or two old ones had to be abolished?

Not that there's anything wrong with homeland security per se. Security (and I don't mean "Social Security") is government's basic function. Most of us are aware of the chronic conflict between security and liberty, so I won't belabor the point. One thing I'm reminded of, though, is a TV movie that must have come out some three decades ago, depicting life in a fascist US. Even back then, when the flaming Left maintained a widespread popularity, thoughtful types knew that tyranny was like nothing we'd ever seen here. In this dark vision an _Internal Security Force_ dominated the country, its flag even replacing Old Glory (an unlikely theatrical touch). Naturally the slight similarity between our new department's name and that of the fictional ISF caught my attention--but I can't make too much of it. In fairness I wish to add that if we had an ISF, and I was offered a position there, I'd accept--assuming the requirements weren't personally annoying! Presumably, if their preferred parties were in power, so would many of our typical lefty academics.

On the subject of annoyances: circumstances have handed me something conveniently controversial to embellish this post with. A relative drew my attention to an HBO program about the famous "Virtual Corpse," which I believe is online somewhere. It turned out to be largely a disguised piece of propaganda sympathetically portraying the one-time murderer, allowing relatives to romanticize him (showing a photo of him as a kid with a Christmas tree in the background) and offer excuses, while his victim, an "old man," was never even named. Meanwhile those who carried out the project were cast in a less flattering light. The credits revealed a possible clue: Swiss and German production. Well, I've long admired Switzerland, and the Continentals are entitled to their opinions of Texas--but this was dishonest.