Welcome to America's "elected kingship," ... Constitution can't save us from Bush

Constitution can't save us from Bush | By RUPERT CORNWELL | THE INDEPENDENT

Imagine Britain had had a U.S.-style president in the dark times of May 1940. If Neville Chamberlain hadn't decided to step down after an unfavorable vote by the legislature, could he have been forced out within 48 hours, and replaced by a man who could lead a country at war?
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Had Bush been elected under a parliamentary system, as a prime minister at the head of the majority party or a majority coalition, he would have long gone the way of Chamberlain -- or most lately Tony Blair. Fearful of disaster in the next election, his erstwhile followers would have forced him out. Under the U.S. system, that is not possible.
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One way and another, the current political mess in the U.S. makes you see the virtues of our British system. Yes, the monarchy, with its foibles and its scandals and the stultifying class system it embodies, is a sitting target. It is fashionable as well to lament the elected dictatorship that single-party majority government in Britain, unfettered by the rules of a Constitution, has become. Oh for the egalitarian discipline of a republic, underpinned by a written Constitution that is almost 220 years old. Alas, this Constitution is now a large part of the problem in the U.S.

Welcome to America's "elected kingship," where Bush serves as both head of state and head of government. Ironically, what respect he commands today stems mainly from the monarchical side of his job. Despite Iraq and his many other incompetences, he remains "the president." His office represents the entire country, not a single party. This, too, is why even a president as bad as Bush gets kid-glove treatment here compared with an occupant of No. 10 in Britain.
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Yes, the Constitution, with its separation of powers, and checks and balances, is a remarkable document. But even the Founding Fathers thought it should be overhauled from time to time. ...