An interesting choice of words

In the final paragraph of her latest column about the upcoming political conventions, "They're paying attention now," Peggy Noonan chooses a word I'm not used to seeing in what has come to be known as the mainstream media.

Of presidential candidates, Noonan writes: "The thing that makes them want to rule America is the thing that stops them from thinking of prudent limits."

The word I'm talking about is rule. Usually a pundit or reporter will write about someone who wants to serve America as president, to represent his/her district, or simply to "be" whatever the position might be.

Rule suggests power over the people, as opposed to whatever it is that a public servant serves. Rule suggests that the office seeker wants to be in charge of our lives. Rule, in short, is a more accurate description of what exactly it is these men and women want and plan, if elected, to do.

It's a perfectly adequate word, much more appropriate as the federation that had been the United States of America settles into middle age as the American Empire. I'm just not used to seeing the word out there in the "mass media."