Sure, I'm a ... radical. BUT I'M ALSO A SUCKER FOR TRADITION. As I write, my touch-pad shakes as Queen (Elizabeth) is receiving about a 100-gun salute (maybe not 100, but far more than our 21 max), as she leaves Buckingham Palace and heads off to Westminster to open a New Parliament with the traditional "Queen's Speech." Of course, this nod to tradition is also a nod to Radicalism (especially after a return from the Middle East). The "radical idea" (ever so recent in the human journey) is ... DEMOCRACY! Problems with Old Georgey Three aside, we Americans are the descendants of the Great British Experiment with self-rule! Hooray for the Queen! Hooray for her symbolic importance! Hip Hip Hooray for her powerlessness!
