I thought this was still America, not a police state. Or is Øbama’s America a poliice state?

Michelle Obama - with Sasha, 8, and Malia, 11, and about a dozen other people in tow - took in the matinee performance of "Memphis" Sunday.

Security blocked off 44th Street outside the Shubert Theatre when their motorcade arrived. Obama, the girls and their friends were hussled in through a side door to seats reserved in the first four rows of the theater.

"They didn't make an announcement but when they came in, everybody noticed and started taking pictures. Then people started clapping too and there was a standing ovation for them," said Terri Mertz, one surprised audience member.

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Secret Service members, alarmed by the rash of audience members who reached for cellphones and digital cameras to photograph the First Gals, warned at intermission that they would confiscate anyone who tried to take anymore pictures.

Excuse me? Since when is it a matter for law enforcement when citizens take pictures of public figures in a public place? And how do such pictures constitute any sort of security threat that would necessitate intervention by Secret Service? Under what authority would the Secret Service claim the right to confiscate cameras and cellphones of citizens legally taking pictures of the First Family in public?

Somebody needs to remind the Øbamas that they are not royalty, and that the Secret Service is not their personal Praetorian Guard that can violate the rights of Americans for their personal convenience. Too bad we can’t count on the Øbama-fellating media to express the same sort of outrage they would had the Secret Service ever taken such actions regarding the Bush family. And having been at several theatrical performances here in Houston attended by George H.W. and Barbara Bush with the twin daughters of George W. & Laura Bush during Dubya’s presidency, I can assure you that no such orders were issued even as theater-goers snapped photos, shook hands, and sought autographs from them. It would be nice to see the no-class occupants of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue learn something about how real public servants conduct themselves in the presence of their employers from their predecessors.