Hey, I haven’t had one in a while.
This Economist article (title: “Barack Obama | But could he deliver?”) is quite interesting. I suggest reading the whole thing, but this paragraph in particular does a wonderful job of summarizing much of what I find compelling about an Obama presidency:
That question is partly answered by Obama the phenomenon. His immediate effect on international relations could be dramatic: a black president, partly brought up in a Muslim country, would transform America’s image. And his youthful optimism could work at home too. After the bitterness of the Bush years, America needs a dose of unity: Mr Obama has a rare ability to deliver it. And the power of charisma should not be underrated, especially in the context of the American presidency which is, constitutionally, quite a weak office. The best presidents are like magnets below a piece of paper, invisibly aligning iron filings into a new pattern of their making. Anyone can get experts to produce policy papers. The trick is to forge consensus to get those policies enacted.
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constitutionally, quite a weak office
wahaahaahaahaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
in the days of executive orders that contradict law
in the days of signing statements
in the days of FISA surveillance of the general public
in the days of endless war
in the days of corporate media that omits reports like the Downing Street memo
in the days of endless federal debt
constitutionally, quite a weak office
Grace
Did you actually Read the Article ?????????????????????????????????
will your next post be about the big union endorsements for Obama? http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0208/SEIU_set_to_endorse_Obama.html
Constitutionally it’s a weak office. Course, if you don’t care about the Constitution you can do quite a few things.
One should never underestimate the power of the Presidential Bully Pulpit. Even if President Obama forwent the extra constitutional shennanigans of that idiot in the White House, his oratory would be powerful in both domestic and international issues.
What qualifies this as a “rant”?
An operative excerpt:
Optimism is a powerful emotion, but as that song warned, “tomorrow will soon be here.”
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The prospect of optimism about the future is REFRESHING.
Having someone that can speak English again without sounding like Beavis & Butthead is something a lot of people long for.
Tomorrow cannot come soon enough after the disaster that is George.
Bush has stolen power & the congress has not shown consistent, or even frequent courage to challenge this coup by “sleeper agent.”
Its going to be a hard way to start, making this all come together & putting things upright that George has mowed down. People cannot expect instant change, but we may all breathe a little better to know what is possible.
The sun is going to shine in our backdoors once again.