Loud music, whippings, thousands of dancing bare-breasted virgins

Swaziland, of all places, is in the news again:

The king of Swaziland's daughter was whipped by a palace official at a party of teenage virgins ahead of a festival where more than 50,000 maidens are available to become her father's 13th wife, media said on Sunday.

Princess Sikhanyiso, 17, told the Times of Swaziland a palace official whipped girls, including beauty queen Miss Swaziland, at the party as a punishment after they refused to turn down the music.

Can you imagine our democratically elected President having a government official give a whipping to his obnoxious daughters the next time they misbehave? Of course not, and their lack of manners indicates neither can Bush’s daughters. While disappointing, it is not surprising. Unlike Kings, who are instinctively concerned with custom and decorum, in a democracy not only is there no incentive for a leader to promote manners, doing so is actually a liability, as in order to be elected a head of state must grovel before the mob of ordinary voters most of whom have no manners themselves. Can any reasonable person continue to deny the superiority of monarchy, that democracy is a fad (the polyester leisure suit of political arrangements), and like all fads destined to be laughed at by future generations?

The culmination of the above mentioned festival is called the Reed Dance Ceremony. It’s sort of a combination of spring break, speed dating, and the reality show ‘The Bachelor’, at which "Thousands of bare-breasted virgins will dance" in front of Swaziland’s King for the fun of it and for the chance of marrying him.

Further reading: photos of the Reed Dance Ceremony and the thousands of bare-breasted Swaziland virgins.

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