Obama's Tragi-Comedy: "Honey, I Shrunk the Presidency"

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/robert-becker/33145/obamas-tragi-comedy-honey-i-shrunk-the-presidency


Prescient even for Gore Vidal, as early as 2002 he nailed W.'s exit, "Mark my words, he will leave office the most unpopular President in history." Unfortunately, we won't need Vidal's cheeky brilliance to imagine Barack Obama's finale, short of a miracle, as the most bloodied and compromised president in decades. Did Mr. Obama not have a clue what the president does, namely lead with vision, for he knows not how to do it? How in a political moment did the "fierce urgency of now" dissipate into the false currency of then?

Few begrudge the whimper had it followed some real, systemic bang. Okay, miracles happen but right now Obama looks ripe (overripe) to reduce the power, range, and efficacy of the American presidency. No small irony emerges here. For a president beholden to Bushthink and its policies (on war, deficits, terrorism, TARP, and tax rip-offs), Obama's legacy contrasts with Bush's unarguable, historic triumphs (policy aside). Yeah, I finally can answer my tiresome taunt -- how Obama is NOT Bush.

Thug or hero, W. and Cheney propelled the main contour of American politics and history since Lincoln or TR. No administration since FDR condensed more power in the presidency, seizing not just imperial but tyrannical, torturous command -- invading at will, dispatching subsidies and tax favors, crony deregulation, Constitutional violations, invasions of privacy (phones, banking), and stripping church/state separation. Like Nixon, they even sabotaged their own regime (outing a CIA agent for political revenge).

And the historic measure of this unfettered, basically unimpeached power? No pain, no penalty, no punishment, That, despite huge Bush-Cheney disapproval numbers, no offsetting restraint came forth (not media, courts, Congress, nor voters) to impede riding roughshod over Congress, bullying allies, corrupting appointments and agencies, ultimately poisoning the judiciary for my lifetime. That no in-depth investigation, let alone indictments followed, if only to establish the facts, qualify as criminal negligence, as history will show, set at Obama's feet. Ditto, the Gulf Oil spill.

More at the link --

[aquart]

1. Yeah. But he had a really nice chant.

Used to hear it here all the time.

[xchrom]

2. fired up and ready to compromise! nt

[still_one]

3. actually bush got that honor, however, the way it is going Obama will not generate enthusiasm

that is for sure

[Gold Metal Flake]

4. O-well...

[Tesha]

5. Does the unreccing change reality? (NT)

[somone]

6. The audacity to kowtow to the Senate minority leader and the House minority leader

even without prompting.

[Skidmore]

7. Actually, the presidency needs to be shrunken after the decade

of the unitary executive we have just been through. The president should get back to presidentin' and the congress should relearn its job and the judiciary needs to STFU and review cases instead of inserting itself into the role of Congress.