To the editor:

I was flabbergasted to learn that Britain’s queen has great importance to maintaining its democracy (May 24 column by David Gelernter of Yale and The Weekly Standard).

Here I had foolishly thought of the royal family as nothing but high-class parasites feeding off the taxes of working folks to continue amassing vast wealth. But no, according to the Yale guy, the monarchy provides the invaluable contribution of stability. Apparently the Parliament would tumble into the Thames without the Queen to demonstrate decorum.

“The monarchy’s main business is entertaining the public,” wrote Gelernter. Hmmm, really? What is the main business of entertainers then? Oh, to be governor of California, where Republicans adopted Britain’s capricious call for elections, only because they’d just lost the one before. Gelernter also says “American government is transparent.” Wish it were true.

The reason for going to war (the weapons of mass destruction) was not transparent. It was false. The vice president’s energy task force wasn’t transparent because it was kept secret from the public.

OK, I get it now. Republicans LIKE ceremonial leaders who present a pleasant, if befuddled, front to the public while the real decisions are made offstage, such as President Bush’s strings being pulled by Vice President Cheney.

If The Journal-World really wanted its Opinion page to serve its readership, instead of an absurd defense of royalty, it would provide insightful commentary about the most important story of the year – coincidentally from Britain – that of the diplomatic memo proving that the Bush administration fabricated intelligence reports regarding the WMDs.

Frank Lingo,

Lawrence