In ancient Rome, offenses against the dignity of the emperor--criticizing him or making fun of him--were punishable by death. In our own country, the Federalists' Sedition Act punished offenses against the dignity of the president or other high officials with a jail term. Even worse, to be present when the monstrous policies of the dictator Lincoln were criticized, and not to defend them, was punishable by secret trial and jail.

We haven't reached those depths under George II, though a joke about a burning bush got a man arrested in a Denver bar. But as Pete Stark found out, the majesty of the president may not be questioned. And today on MSNBC's "Morning Republican," Joe Scarborough excoriated the lieutenant governor of California for saying that rather than a PR visit by Bush, he wanted the California National Guard back from Iraq. Oh, the shame of it.

First nationalized by the president Mencken called "the Apostle Woodrow"--a process finished by the Apostle George--these forces are supposed to be the California Guard, the Alabama Guard, the Massachusetts Guard, etc. under the command of the governors. They are not supposed to be second-class GIs in an imperial presidential war. But saying so, in the land of the unfree, definitely counts as lèse majesté.