Presidential Power: The Final Frontier

LONDON (Reuters) - It¹s unlikely to occur by swallowing a pill or donning a special cloak, but invisibility could be possible in the not too distant future....Dr. Ulf Leonhardt, a theoretical physicist at St. Andrews University in Scotland, believes the most plausible example is the Invisible Woman, one of Marvel Comics superheroes in the "Fantastic Four." "She guides light around her using a force field...This is what could be done in practice," Leonhardt told Reuters in an interview. Leonhardt said scientists are making advances in metamaterials--artificial materials with unusual properties that could be used to make invisibility devices. --News item 7/31/2006

ANNOUNCER: We interrupt tonight's regularly scheduled programming for an urgent, nationwide address from the White House. Speaking from the Oval Office, here is President George W. Bush.

PRESIDENT: "Good eve-nin. Wanna thank the networks for givin' me this chance, to, uh, to talk about some major developments of importance. Got a situation here that could tip the scales in our favor as we fight dangerous enemies, people who hate us, hate our way o' life, and must be defeated. Must be stopped. Stopped, and defeated.

"Every weapon in this fight is crucial, and tonight I¹m askin' Congress to immediately pass a special, supplemental appropriations bill, for developin' and puttin' into reality a powerful new weapon, new power. Power of becomin' -- invisible. You probly heard about this, heard the, uh, the science people talkin. Lotta chatter goin' around in the past year or so. I hear the voices. Which leads to--it is within our grasp to make this real, a real, usable power, executive power, and I believe the time to do so is happening right now, without delay.

"See, not to belittle the strides already achieved by my administration, spreadin' freedom, enabling democracy, real important stuff. But-- with the added capability of invisible-ness, for a president to be, um, not see-able, is just an enormous step toward final victory. Huge step.

"Now---it's not just me, either. For any future president, yuh have to think of how this changes the whole range of options, in a global world.

"Not in an overt way, as such. I mean, it's a--you gotta look at this in terms of behind-the-scenes outcome. The--if you ever read--see, when the Fantastic Four get out there, you got the Human Torch on fire, the Thing tossin' cars around, Mr. Fantastic stretchin' out in all directions. Team effort, which is good.

"And then, Sue Storm--she's just workin' away, you know, outta sight, sneakin¹ up behind bad guys, or, uh, being the disrupter of evil planning. Not splashy, see, we¹re talkin' about a level of, um, sophistication.

"Or--look, okay. Here's another case: go back to Star Trek, original series, third season, episode called The Enterprise Incident. Lotta you may remember this, see--it starts with Captain Kirk acting kinda off kilter, doin' strange stuff. Then he orders the ship into the Romulan neutral zone, and whammo!--they get surrounded, and Kirk gets beamed over to the Romulan ship.

"And, so, this is all a ploy. See, Spock pretends to kill Kirk with some kinda Vulcan death grip, then he starts romancing the Romulan captain to distract her from the, um, the bigger picture, you know, as the plot unfolds. Great lookin' woman, by the way, can't recall who that actress was.

"But, what happens--Kirk disguises himself as a Romulan and this whole set-up is to steal the cloaking device the Romulans have invented, and Kirk takes it back to the Enterprise and Scotty gets it hooked up and--um, huge victory for the Federation, to have that device. To possess it, but also for Scotty to know--to have the knowledge required to make adjustments, see, is crucial.

"What I¹m sayin' -- this is an example of it -- Scotty taking a piece of alien equipment, makin' it work, lotta skill involved -- it's how science, um, blends with technology, and creates -- progress. And you cannot have progress without a first step, which is where we stand right now. That first step is here, now.

"Some critics may say, ŒWell, invisible capability, great idea but this is expensive, this is too high a cost, you know, to pay for developing this incredible power. We can't afford it. I disagree. Strongly disagree with that thinking. That's another form of saying 'cut and run.' And--listen--you know that¹s EXACTLY what happened in another episode, season three, the one called All Our Yesterdays.

"See, this planet is about to get roasted by a super nova, and Kirk beams down with Spock and McCoy and finds everybody gone, and, come to find out, they've all fled back into the past. Mr. Atoz sends everybody through the atavachron machine. See, they cut and ran, instead of confronting the problem, and I won't do that. Is not going to happen while I'm president.

"And yes, it sounds good, running into the past, but -- here's the point-- you end up making it worse. See, the landing party gets sent through the machine by accident, and Spock ends up with McCoy in this ice age place, way far back, and starts reverting into prehistoric Vulcanism. Terrible situation. Anyway, we're goin' forward here. We need to be collectively future-looking as a society.

"Can't forget, though, the girl who rescued Spock and McCoy and took Œem to her ice cave. Zarabeth. Wore a big heavy bearskin coat out in the snow and then, once they got in the cave, she took off the coat and had a furry bikini outfit underneath. Mariette Hartley. Very memorable. Woman like that should never become invisible. And so long as I'm the decider, she never will.

"So, tonight I propose to do whatever it takes, allocate the funds, inspire our scientists, all of us together, a team, call it Fantastic Four Hundred Million, to cross the line where none has been before. Now you see me, someday you won't. And when that happens, when I am beyond all viewpoints, you'll know the homeland is getting safer, and the world is a better place."