Receiving the Tablets.

At View from the Right, today, James N. makes a good point, namely, that Mr. Obama made repeated demands last night before Congress that "this bill" must be passed when, in fact, no bill is in existence.

It made me think of what Obama's reaction might have been had Mr. Boehner then and there raised that point, about there being no bill in existence, let alone an uncontroversial bill.

There's something odd about any president's ability to hide behind a wall and never have to face persistent questioning. In the odd circumstance that some malcontent slips through and asks a pointed question, the president has control at all times and can simply supply an empty answer and move on to other questioners or move into a friendlier part of the crowd. The lap dog press will not, of course, back up the citizen as they are committed to not asking such questions by definition. WH press conferences are jokes.

Unlike Britain, we have no question time for the chief executive -- and no other opportunity for him to be quizzed without handlers, staff imams, or teleprompters with an uplink to SEIU, ACORN, and Soros, Inc. Consequently, presidential maneuvers are examined and fought over second hand on TV, in the press, or by means of leaks and trial balloons.

The State of the Union is rightfully only a moment for the president but, when he calls for a special session of Congress to float his absurd proposals, there ought to be an understanding that this is a convocation of the two equal political branches and that there will be questions.

Mais, non.

Obama gets great theater by having hundreds of congressmen obediently gather meekly to receive the tablets. From on high -- and, hopefully, not from someone who is high.

A conservative fellow once said that Executive Branch witnesses before congressional committees ought to refuse to testify unless their seats are on the same level as those of the congressmen. That points the way toward an equalization of roles. Executive Branch officials should sit higher and congressmen shouldn't participate in rituals where they are seen to be sitting at the feet of The Greatest Intellect to Ever Occupy the Office of the President.

The time has long since passed for Obama to answer some basic questions about his doctored long-form birth certificate, his determined and expensive campaign to close off access to his records, the passport he used to travel to Pakistan, and his odd Connecticut Social Security number, let alone answer simple questions about how his campaign to protect Libyan civilians morphed into a full-bore regime-change effort. (Lord help Mr. Cameron if President Obama ever thinks that his efforts to control more London riots are excessive.)

Apparently, Mr. Boehner and Mr. McConnell would rather die than raise any kind of inconvenient questions for Mr. Obama. Granted Obama is an intellectual giant, but all the more reason to see him questioned where he does not control the agenda.