Let's hear it for non-political Heads of State!

Some of you may know of my preference for non-political (elected or non-elected) heads of state. In the case of the US, the head of state is a partisan politician. As a result, there were people after 11 September saying things like, "Well, I don't agree with Bush but he is our president and we must stand behind him as such, etc..." I can inform you dear readers, that there was none of that in the UK before the Iraq War part deux. Blair was slow clapped and ridiculed everywhere in the country because as prime minister, he is nothing but a politician -- not requiring any unthinking deference by the people. This constitutional arrangement whereby the head of state is above party politics, unclouds people's minds and allows them to judge a head of government as a politician and on his or her merits rather than on the office he or she holds. In the Guardian, in writing about the upcoming State visit on 19 November of Bush to the UK as a guest of the Queen, it mentions the concern in this distinction:

Despite Britain's proximity to continental Europe, there can be no argument which country exerts most influence on everyday British life. America's norms and practices are often held up as a model, as in the current fashion for hiring American executives to run British enterprises. As this week's reports by Julian Borger on the less-frequently observed, less attractive aspects of contemporary America show, there is much in US life that is not to be envied or emulated. And indeed, influence runs both ways. As those who have lived there can testify, Americans retain an abiding interest and respect for the British way of doing things.

None of this should be forgotten when George Bush blows into town on November 19 for a three-day state visit. But there is a distinct danger that it might be. In his capacity as head of state and current leader of a great people, the president deserves the glad hand of friendship. But in his other, inescapable capacity as George Bush, the fountainhead of perhaps the most controversial, confrontational and divisive US administration in living memory, one that is widely distrusted and feared abroad and at home, and one whose actions have caused great and painful dissension within our country, Mr Bush is very far from being universally welcome.