Lese Majesty—Off with Their Heads

Not many people are familiar with the phrase “lese majesty.” It is part of our hoary past. Once upon a time, when kings ruled the earth, this was a serious offense. Merely criticizing a sovereign could get a person thrown in jail or detached from his or her head. To violate the dignity of a monarch was simply not allowed.
Times have changed, but, as Representative Joe Wilson (R-SC) recently discovered, apparently not that much. A virtual firestorm broke out when he called the President of the United States a liar during his address to a joint session of congress. Wilson quickly apologized for his breach of decorum, but this wasn’t enough for Nancy Pelosi. She demanded that he be disciplined on the floor of the House.
This once more demonstrates the manipulative skills of Barack Obama. With his back against the wall after a summer of angry town hall meetings, he trumped his opponents by calling upon a prerogative of his office. His critics had expected him to defend his health care program with logical arguments. They were prepared to refute these, but not an emotional effort at checkmate. This latter enabled him to cross them up.
Obama understood that he could get angry at his opponents in a way that they could not with him. The very nature of his position entitled him to a respect not due them. Thus, he was permitted to “call them out” in a manner they could not directly challenge. Coming from him, anger was righteous indignation, whereas from them it was impertinence. In other words, he could call them liars, whereas they had to be careful in how they returned the compliment.
The situation is similar to that between a parent and a child. A parent can get angry at a child in a manner the child cannot reciprocate. To do so would disrespect the parent. As a result, a person with lesser power must be wary when criticizing one with greater power. For the former, the tone of voice matters just as much as the validity of the complaint.
This said, the president of the United States has been lying to the American people. Indeed, he continues to lie to them. Wilson was correct in accusing Obama of falsity when claiming that illegal immigrants would not be covered by the health care legislation as then written. He would have been equally correct had he challenged the president’s assertion about the costs of his favored program or whether it would lead to a single payer system. His problem was that he was a pygmy going up against an outraged giant. As long as the leviathan was deemed legitimate, he possessed an advantage it would be difficult for anyone to overcome.
Obama, it turns out, is an expert in communicating emotional messages. With his reassuring baritone voice, he can make it sound as if he is protecting people at the very moment that he is reaching into their pockets to steal their last penny. His comportment, rather than the content of his statements, allows him to pull off this magic trick.
Dog owners understand what is involved. They are aware that they can utter the most horrible threats to their pets as long as they do so with a smile on their face and sweetness in their inflection. They can literally promise to kill the animal and it will respond by wagging its tail and slobbering all over them.
Sad to say, many members of the American public are in danger of being reduced to a similar status. Despite on-going protests against a take-over of the one sixth of the economy, many people continue to trust the president. They still ask that his office be respected regardless of how draconian his programs.
The remedy for this timidity is for people to listen to what the president says. The substance of his messages, and not their emotional packaging, should determine their attitude. When he promises to spend trillions and still cut the deficit, they should be wary. When he claims that he will not interfere with anyone’s current medical insurance, but then endorses a multitude of legislative regulations, they should think twice.
The worst thing that enlightened citizens can do is be complicit in cutting off the heads of those who “tell truth to power.” To insist on absolute respect for a president merely because he threatens those who disagree with him, would sound the death knell for democracy.
Melvyn L. Fein. Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
Kennesaw State University