Another Friday morning rush hour in L.A. Commuters travelling to or from some appointment or other. One hundred kindergartners dressed in costumes for a field trip to see The Wizard of Oz. George W. Bush scheduled to be in Simi Valley for the dedication of the Air Force One Pavilion. But what’s this? The skies are too foggy to be navigated by helicopter. And so a motorcade is put together and the order given: stop all traffic. King George doesn’t walk among the rabble. For the children of Kenter Canyon Elementary, there will be no play.

Just minutes before the impromptu parade began, police were told to lock down the route. The freeway was closed and cars already on it were forced off.

“If he can sneak in and out of Baghdad without anyone knowing it, it seems he could slip in and out of L.A. without disrupting rush hour,” opined one motorist. Most disappointed, though, were the children who arrived to their play 90 minutes late, having missed the last show of the run. They were not refunded.

» Scott Saxon