I suppose you know that the emperor of Japan is suppposed to be descended directly from the sun, and that it wasn't until after world war II that a Japanese emperor was actually made to declare that he was not a god.
Well today is the 72nd birthday of the current emperor of Japan, and for the occasion, I've decided to change how I think about royalty in democratically elected countries. I'm now vaguely "for" them.
In a country without a non-democratically-elected leader, all the leaders are politicians. So when people think america, they think of this guy.
All of the great things he does reflect on us as a country, and there's no neutral face to counter-balance President Bush. There's no leader, national or international who has a right to stay out of the fray on bitter, bitter issues.
There's also no face that says "America" today, and will say it tomorrow. Clinton America and Bush America are two very different places when seen from the outside... or when you watch TV. But our lives haven't generally changed that much.
Regardless of how you feel about Koizumi, the Emperor is there. He will be there until he dies. When he does die, his children will take over... the literal face won't even change much even then. He doesn't need an opinion on postal reform. Today in his birthday address, the Emperor spoke of the harsh weather striking northern japan, and said that he hopes that it doesn't continue for long. I think his words will give people occasion to think about the people suffering in Niigata from power outages in the middle of the biggest blizzards in 80 years. In a couple weeks, you can be sure he'll be touring the affected cities.
But if Bush had said the same thing, the response would likely be "why isn't the government doing more? does the recent harsh weather have to do with global warming? why has it taken you so long to make a pronouncement?" not to mention all the questions about his other hijinx.
The emperor is really just a non-political "good man". While Koizumi is charged with keeping Japan running, the emperor is charged with keeping Japan Japan.
There's also no face that says "America" today, and will say it tomorrow. Clinton America and Bush America are two very different places when seen from the outside... or when you watch TV. But our lives haven't generally changed that much.
Regardless of how you feel about Koizumi, the Emperor is there. He will be there until he dies. When he does die, his children will take over... the literal face won't even change much even then. He doesn't need an opinion on postal reform. Today in his birthday address, the Emperor spoke of the harsh weather striking northern japan, and said that he hopes that it doesn't continue for long. I think his words will give people occasion to think about the people suffering in Niigata from power outages in the middle of the biggest blizzards in 80 years. In a couple weeks, you can be sure he'll be touring the affected cities.
But if Bush had said the same thing, the response would likely be "why isn't the government doing more? does the recent harsh weather have to do with global warming? why has it taken you so long to make a pronouncement?" not to mention all the questions about his other hijinx.
The emperor is really just a non-political "good man". While Koizumi is charged with keeping Japan running, the emperor is charged with keeping Japan Japan.
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