"Gee...That Tune Sounds So Familiar."

Guess who came to lunch today? Euphemistically called "The Most Powerful Man In The Free World" (and I don't mean Donald Trump), George Walker Bush, our nation's president, is just down the road about a mile from where I pen this missive munching on luke-warm chicken and lumpy mashed potatoes at - stand by and grab your wallets and pocketbooks - a $25,000 a plate, VIP guest luncheon! Why I wasn't invited to be among such high-rollers has me profoundly disappointed. Far be it for me to disparage our President - I voted for him twice - but when he decides to drop by the neighborhood for a bite to eat, life, as we know, becomes a major inconvenience.

My office is located on the major byway on which the President's motorcade passed. The Union Army's General William Tecumseh Sherman had far fewer soldiers accompanying him on his infamous "March to the Sea" than were the number of police officers that swarmed over ever inch of the route that the President's convoy traveled. Every intersecting road along the route was blocked off and guarded by a police cruiser and orange traffic cones. The cones reminded me of Halloween candy corn. For a half hour before the motorcade got underway, the road was made void of any vehicular traffic. Commerce came to a virtual standstill.

On-lookers came out of their places of businesses, I among them, to get a glimpse of the President entourage as they passed by in a blur. A dozen or so motorcycle riding officers lead the possession, followed by an equal number of police cruisers, all with sirens blaring. I don't know who these police officers were trying to warn...there wasn't a non-convoy vehicle of any description within a half mile of the President's motorcade! Within the main body of the convoy were two vehicles containing the secrete service contingency, followed by two identical black stretch limousines, both festooned with fender-mounted miniature flags adorned with the Presidential Seal. There was no way to tell in which of the two limousines the President was a passenger, the windows being tinted dark. I took no chances...I waved at both. Following immediately behind the limousines were a couple of more vehicles containing additional secrete service personnel, a menacing-looking truck transporting the Sheriff Department's SWAT Team, then two ambulances, and finally several more police cruisers. Just as quickly as they came over the horizon to the east, they disappeared to the west. The road in front of my office wasn't again released to regular traffic for at least a half-hour. I guess the local authorities were hedging their options just in case the President decided he didn't particularly like the lunch menu and would want to be transported immediately back to Air Force One.

Everything has now returned to normal. The President will spend this evening in Miami at another grossly over-inflated dinner fundraiser. With any luck he'll arrive just in time to totally ensnare that city's evening rush hour traffic. Jeez...what is that tune that keeps floating through my brain? "Dum, dumdy-dum, de-dumdy, de-dumpty, dum, dum ..." Oh, yes..."Hail To The Chief." Have a nice flight, Mr. President, and good riddance.