Writing about the future Asimov visualised a world ruled by an emperor which may seem a regressive vision but it already seems to be happening. Politicians every where are already behaving like kings and passing laws centralising power in their hands. They are also growing increasingly intolerant of dissent or the mildest of criticism. This is glaringly obvious in the US where the Homeland security, Patriot act and the insistence on disregarding or bypassing laws regarding treatment of suspects makes it more like a dictatorship. Bush and his cronies insist that they are right even when they are wrong and to say different is unpatriotic. Not much different from the divine right of kings. What of Britain? With no empire, rise of Asian power, marginalised in Europe and Churchill's ghost still haunting the corridors of Whitehall British establishment is terrified of being reduced to irrelevance. In a sad and desperate attempt to get some recognition in foreign capitals Blair has reduced himself not so much to a poodle but to a lackey treated with disdain ( as in ' yo Blair ') and exagerating a minor threat to a major crisis to gain a little recognition from his master. Britain is not the 51st state but more a neighbourhood of white trash grovelling to be noticed. How long before His Majesty the President of the US? In India politicians are already above the law and citizens have no rights.