the thing is pat, i agree with you on the former but not the later - fucksakes, he knows at least as much about gov as me - i'm sure he could manage to ramble off the top of his head most of the amendments and the articles by subject, etc - ya know, demonstrate knowledge of the constitution in an academic sense  
  
what's frightening is the first part - your take on separaton of powers is crap, and it's evident in your presidents of choice - you favor folks like teddy roosevelt exactly b/c they did whatever the fuck they wanted, convinced of the justice of their calling, never really even seeming to question it in retrospect, so assured they were of the Almight's Blessing - it's fucking scary - perhaps the worst thing lincoln (who i think keenly felt the wrongness of his actions but had to justify them) did was actually fucking win the war, b/c it's convinced his less apt students they can all do that too, so long as god whispers to them 
  
obama bringing to atention w/ members of the other branches in a highly formal public setting his displeasure with their actions is checks n' powers in action - it is the very essence of the concept - for fucks sake, its not like (to my reasonably sure knowledge) that he's tapped thier phones, put mickeys in their drinks, kidnapped their ex-girlfriends, abducted them, sodomized them with plush-toys, etc. 
  
if you actually believed in the causes he's for, you'd be excorciated him for being a pussy and not being assertive enough!