rob Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 (edited) Considering the president actually holds very little real power, I disagree. Take Bush for example. He personally fucked up the US by being a bully. Lots of power. Obama could be more forceful. What kind of weed are you smoking these days? Any power he had was given to him by congress (Iraq War), and most of the completely heinous things of the Bush era (tax cuts, military spending, Patriot Act, TARP, etc.) were all acts of Congress. I suppose you could argue that he was responsible for several major executive blunders (lax FTC enforcement, extraordinary rendition, poor military execution, etc.) but these could have been reigned in by congress, had they even bothered. Hell, most of these things were only possible because of congress, who basically gave him a blank check. Edited January 26, 2011 by rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 If you ask me, we'd be better off without a president for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 Weeelllll, it's kind of midway between the two views. Congress did authorize Bush to use military force in 2001, but, for his part, the Bush Admin took that very brief authorization and ran with it to create illegal enemy combatant status, Guantanamo Bay prison, extraordinary rendition, secret CIA prisons, interrogation by torture, and a then illegal wiretapping program of enormous scale, to name a few. Oh, and the invasion of Iraq - which really had fuck all to do with any war on terror. The popularized idea that Bush and other presidents are puppets is complete crap, of course. Yes, Cheney was strongly behind these actions, but then, so were the rest of Bush's cabinet for the most part, as well as the president himself. Cheney did hide certain things from Bush - an unfavorable legal review of his wiretapping program, for example, but only for a few weeks. It does matter who is president, and our president, in particular, has a tremendous amount of power. Not unlimited power, of course - any elected official is extremely politically constrained, but, compared to most presidents and prime ministers in similar countries, our president is practically a king. Moreover, our presidents are either revered or hated by the public in a way that can only stem from a deep fascination for the office. After watching Obama in action for 2 years, I've come to the conclusion that he truly is an amazing politician - given his productivity and performance during what has been, by any measure, an extremely difficult period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevbone Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 What kind of weed are you smoking these days? Any power he had was given to him by congress (Iraq War), and most of the completely heinous things of the Bush era (tax cuts, military spending, Patriot Act, TARP, etc.) were all acts of Congress. Ever heard of a veto pen? He could have vetoed the Patriot Act. He was the poster boy for WAR WAR WAR!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 Hail Freedonia! Only pussies vote against going to war. Or at least, that's the usual argument. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prole Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 After watching Obama in action for 2 years, I've come to the conclusion that he truly is an amazing politician - given his productivity and performance during what has been, by any measure, an extremely difficult period. Skee, skee, skeet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mal_Con Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Hail Freedonia! Only pussies vote against going to war. Or at least, that's the usual argument. And has been true since Athens invaded Sicily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 "My country is the world, and my religion is to do good" ---Thomas Paine in The Rights of Man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.