If I were king, I mean, president

Jon Chait: "If you looking for an anthropologically perfect sample of the cult of the presidency, check out the feature of the Sunday New York Times, entitled "If I Were President." The feature asks a series of leading lights to outline their vision for the country. But the entire concept makes no distinction between the notion of 'if I were president' and 'if I were king.' If you were the president, of course, you would need a course of action that could be accomplished either through an executive order or that could be passed through both the House and Senate. The proposals generally make no allowance whatsoever for Congress." Damn. What on earth were the Founding Fathers thinking when they invented this "separation of powers" stuff? Chait thinks people long for "a monarch." He could be right. And it may not be a half bad idea. The Constitution notwithstanding, the King's way is looking better and better given the deepening morass in Washington.