When I’m president

I’ve occasionally joked about being president before. We’ll play “God of Thunder” by Kiss, not “Hail to the Chief,” when I walk into the room, for example. Heh.

Of course, there are many practical and logistical reasons I’ll never be president, but even if there weren’t, I don’t particularly want to.

I’ve had a superficial desire to do it from an unexpected quarter recently, though. I would certainly pursue my policy initiatives with vigor, but I would also like to be President of the United States to deflate some of the office’s excessive celebrity.

I would like to see a President of the United States learn from the example of Pope Francis, and occasionally just show up someplace and visit with the people.

Now I’m certainly not discounting the need for substantial security around the president, but has it ever occurred to you that the magnitude of it right now is largely because the president’s agenda is known so far in advance? If I want go to Des Moines on 4 hours’ notice, do I really need anything besides my limousine, a couple of Secret Service Suburbans, and a few local officers to help me with traffic? Dangerous plots are largely dependent on foreknowledge, are they not?

How cool would it be for the President of the United States to show up at your son’s Cub Scouts meeting?  Or your Rotary Club meeting?

How would you like the President of the United States to ask to stand next to your daughter’s high school principal and shake hands with her class as they graduate?

How about the First Family goes to Gatlinburg for a long weekend for $250K, instead of a $50-100 million junket to Martha’s Vineyard or the Spanish coast?

Are you laughing? Why? Is what I’ve said so ridiculous? Do you think what this office has become, in terms of how the president relates to the people, is the only thing it can be?

How about I never, ever have a star-studded gala? How about I host Garry Kasparov one-on-one instead, and talk about the Sicilian defense over a good steak?

How about you never see me with a golf club in my hand, but some candid footage of me bowling shows up in the bottom of the hour on CNN?

How about you hear me celebrating the power of the individual, not the expansion of the state?

How about more Calvin Coolidge, and less Barack Obama?

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