8. Is It Over Yet?

Is it over yet?

By "it," I mean the royal wedding over in England.  Is it safe to turn on the TV or radio again?

Now, I have nothing against the happy couple.  I wish them well, and I especially hope that they escape the predations of the cockroaches of the Fourth Estate that plagued the groom's late mother.

Having said that, I will now state for the record something that I believe I have at least implied in my prior entries.  I am an American.  I do not have a monarch; I have a president.  Admittedly, the current holder of that office is an extremely pathetic one, but he is still a president.

If I remember correctly, America had a slight difference of opinion with Britain back in 1776.  As a matter of fact, it was that little disagreement that led to this country having a form of government headed by someone chosen by the governed, and not by someone who holds the post by circumstances of birth.

In other words, while it is entirely possible that a future leader of America is getting married today, that wedding most certainly did not take place in Westminster Abbey.  So why is the American media devoting so much coverage to the event?

In all honesty, I have never understood the fascination that the British monarchy has for some of my fellow Americans.  I will concede some measure of nostalgia on the part of those who have emigrated from Britain, and possibly the same for those with some British ancestry.  But why does a good part of the rest of the country hold such a fascination for something that has little if anything to do with America?  It would be nice if some of these people showed the same amount of interest next year during the presidential election campaign.

While I think I have managed to avoid most of the journalistic excess, I have encountered my share of coverage.  There was one story that I found particularly amusing.  A young member of the Buckingham Palace Guard had made some, shall we say, less than complimentary remarks online about the bride.  Cameron Reilly was relieved of all duties connected with the wedding.  One of his fellow soldiers called him "incredibly naive," saying that it was a huge honor to serve at the Royal Wedding.

Yes, it does sound like a case of engaging the mouth (or the keyboard) before the brain, but part of me thinks that he just wanted to stay at home and watch the whole thing on TV.


***jn***