Insular, Scared, or Both?

In my hometown of Iowa City, Iowa, there is a well-known and well-loved breakfast/lunch diner-type joint called the Hamburg Inn No. 2. It has great cheap food (scores of different omelets, including my favorite, the Iowa Omelet), and is always crowded. Two U.S. Presidents, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan, have eaten there. You can see pictures of Clinton here (oh my, Bill, you are seriously overdressed for the Hamburg Inn); I guess the political sensibilities of the owners preclude putting Reagan's picture up, but trust me, he was there.

George W. Bush spent last Friday night in Wine Country, and he most definitely did not go anywhere near an establishment like the Hamburg Inn #2. As the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported:

During his 17 hours in the Napa Valley, Bush had been something of a stealth president -- landing unexpectedly at the Angwin airport after dark Friday, then traveling via back roads to St. Helena's exclusive Meadowood Resort, and Saturday taking a two-hour bike ride in Las Posadas State Forest under tight security.

The Meadowood Resort, in case you were wondering, is a very exclusive resort; according to is website, rooms in the high season run from $525 per night (for us common folk) to $3,925 (for a suite). Not very Hamburg Inn No. 2-like. Well, at least the President took a bike ride with some locals. Oops, check that, he rode with the Travis Air Force Base Cycling Team. No decent mountain bikers in Napa County, presumably.

The President seemed to consider his trip to be on par with an excursion into enemy territory. As the PD reported:

Napa County Sheriff's Lt. Jean Donaldson said about 175 officers from the CHP, local police departments, and the Napa, Sonoma and Solano county sheriff's departments had been called in to help with security for the president, who never traveled with fewer than 25 cars, including numerous Secret Service vehicles, a bomb truck and an ambulance, as well as dozens of CHP units.

Even the Parrott Field airport was equipped with special antennas and communications equipment for the visit.

Three or four Blackhawk helicopters joined Marine One and a second aircraft as Bush left.

Sneak in, sneak out, accompanied by a small army, surround yourself with sycophants ... truly, what's the point of even coming in the first place? One has to wonder: Is Bush scared of a few protesters? Or has he become so insular that mixing with the great unwashed masses is an inconceivable burden? Either way, it's a sad state of affairs, not good for Bush, and not good for the country.

Like them or hate them, to the end it always seemed as if Reagan and Clinton genuinely respected, liked, and wanted to do right by the little guy, even though they had dramatically different policy means of getting to that goal. Bush no longer seems that way, if in fact he ever was. He seems imperial, in a bad way.

Next time you come for a visit our way, Mr. President, come into town, come in the daylight, find the closest thing you can to the Hamburg Inn No. 2. It'd be good for your soul, and the country's.