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Opinion

A Man of Power

By DOUGLAS LUMMIS


権力者

権力者とはどんな人のことを言うのだろうか。世界で一番権力があるように振る舞い、実際に各国の人々に影響を与えている米国大統領が果たして本当の権力を持つ人と言えるだろうか。

"Secret Service where everywhere. They were standing in the doorways, all along the street, on the top of buildings. They all had earphones in one ear, and they looked tense. And there was an ambulance at the end of the street, just in case, you know. I guess they always keep an ambulance nearby, since the Kennedy assassination."

My friend was describing a street in a U.S. city where the President, out on the campaign trail, was about to pass. What she didn't notice was the person with the black box - so it is said -may never be farther away than 17 feet (five meters) from the U.S. Chief Executive. This is so that in case he is called upon to launch a nuclear attack somewhere in the world, he can do so immediately.

Think of it: on one side, an ambulance in case someone shoots bullets into him: on the other side, a black box in case he decides to blow up a couple hundred thousand people.

According to my friend, when the president walked into the street from his hotel, people were wildly excited, their eyes shining. "He's shaking hands!" someone shouted. People surged forward, hoping to touch even a fingertip of this man of power.

Power, someone once said, is an aphrodisiac. People - some people, anyway - seem to get a sexual thrill just from touching it or even standing near it. Others - a fewer number, I hope - will give away money, principles, dignity, anything, to have a piece of it.

When the U.S. Constitution was first proposed, many democrats opposed it. They didn't want any person to have the kind of power that it gave to the president. We have just fought a revolution to rid ourselves of monarchy, they argued, so why should we establish this elective king?

And in fact, when George Washington was elected the first U.S. president he was treated like a king - "Your Highness" and such like - until the Congress passed a law that he should be called only "Mr. President."

But of course, the power of the U.S. presidency then was nothing compared to what it is now. I suggested above that he may be the most powerful person in the world. But is this so? Certainly recent U.S. presidents have seemed to think so.

They have spoken and acted as if they were president of the world. They have made policies that affect people all over the globe, and have treated the heads of other governments as if they were - or ought to be - their subordinates. If people in other countries began demanding the right to vote in U.S. presidential elections, they'd have a pretty strong argument, don't you think?

But whether the U.S. president is really the most powerful person depends on what you mean by power. If power means the ability to do something new, to break out of the mold, to bring into the world something that has not been seen before, then the U.S. presidency has very little of it. Look at what two major U.S. presidential candidates are talking about this fall - you'll see what I mean.


Shukan ST: October 20, 2000

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