We Have a President, Not a King

[MineralMan]

We've elected Barack Obama twice to sit in the Oval Office in the White House. He is the President of The United States. That job comes with awesome power, and with equally awesome limitations. For the President to do pretty much anything that has nationwide scope and is actually transformative, he has to get Congress to pass a bill he can sign. That's his largest limitation.

So far, just over a year into his second term, he's signed some bills that are a pretty big deal. None of them is perfect, and none of them includes everything I would like to be in them. We got ACA, but not single-payer health care. Congress wouldn't send him such a bill. But, we got ACA. The same is true of every bill President Obama has signed. Every one.

No President, and no other elected official will ever meet the expectations of everyone or even of every faction. Ever. President Obama will not, either.

That's because he's not King. That's because he's not a dictator. That's because he is elected and has to work with two other branches of government that are more or less equal in power to the executive branch.

So, I don't always agree with outcomes, but I don't put blame exclusively on the President. It's a complicated process, running the government of the United States. Presidents can do some things, and not other things. So, I'll never be satisfied. I don't expect to be satisfied. I expect to try to put people into that office and in every elected office who are the best choice at the time of the election. More than that I cannot expect.

So, I neither trash President Obama or worship him. He is just the President. We don't have kings or dictators here. While that sometimes results in things I don't prefer, I'd rather elect a President than be the subject of a king or dictator. I'm very glad that Barack Obama was elected twice. I know the alternative.

Thank you, Mr. President!

Your opinion might differ from mine.

[Scuba]

1. Damn, I wish we had known this while Chimpy was in office!

[MineralMan]

2. What does that have to do with President Obama?

We elected him. I don't know about you, but I sure as Hell didn't vote for GWB. Right now, we have a President I did vote for, twice. I'm pleased by that result, even if not everything I want has happened. I didn't expect it to. I never expect it to.

Politics are not binary. Not in this country. They never have been and never will be.

[BlueCaliDem]

4. The mistake is trying to compare Chimpy's (p)residency to Obama's presidency.

Apples and oranges.

For no less than six years, Chimpy had a totally Republican controlled Congress, a 4.2% UE rate, and 9/11/2001. Obama had two years and a recalcitrant Democratic Congress (that clearly preferred HRC as president) - and no 9/11 to rally the country behind him.

Unlike Republicans/Teapublicans, Congressional Dems don't make a habit of filibustering just because they lost the WH or try to hamstring the U.S. Gov't entirely just because they don't get what they want. Fact of the matter is, Democrats actually believe government has an important role to play in our country and in the lives of our countrymen. Republicans don't. That's the huge difference.

Then we also should also NOT forget 9/11/2001. It had great influence on how members of Congress on both sides of the aisle approached legislation since poll after poll showed that the American people, by and large, across the entire political spectrum, rallied behind their (p)resident. And since it happened in the same year, just nine months, after the Chimp was seated in the WH by his friends on SCOTUS, it gave him an almost blank check to do whatever the hell he wanted for the majority of those six years - with the blessings from the same American people who should have known better.

I'm so sick and tired of so-called Democrats and Liberals whining that "Duhbya had no problem getting his agenda through so why can't Obama?!" without those same "Democrats" and "Liberals" even trying to understand the more favorable congressional variables of Chimpy's time - or choose to conveniently forget them to fit their anti-Obama narrative. Either way, they're dead wrong.

[adirondacker]

16. It is amazing how much Bush got accomplished, especially the first four years.

The wrath of destruction was unprecedented.

It must have been the magic of bipartisanship.

[BlueCaliDem]

24. Was that before or after 9/11/2001 when

polls showed that the vast majority of American people rallied behind their (p)resident?

It was not "the magic" of bipartisanship. It was the result of pure, unadulterated FEAR rampant among the American people that the Cheney regime was able to use against members of Congress.

[adirondacker]

37. Security issues aside, there were was an orgy of tax breaks and deregulation that went unchallenged.

[BlueCaliDem]

41. Yes, I know.

And I explained why in my post - FEAR.

After 9/11/2001, the Cheney Admin got a blank check, and they could do no wrong. Democrats were cowed by the overwhelming support the Cheney Admin got from the American people (remember the "we shouldn't criticize the president in a time of war" meme running rampant throughout this country?) and the Cheney Admin milked that support to the last drop.

[Art_from_Ark]

56. From the git-go of the bu$h misadministration,

it was one travesty after another, as chronicled here on DU. It was like a raging bull had been released in a china shop on January 20, 2001. Even when control of the Senate reverted to the Democrats for a brief time in May 2001 when Senator Jeffords switched sides, it seemed that little if anything was done to stop the bu$h juggernaut.

[Fumesucker]

17. Oh come on, even Dubya said it would have been easier if he was Dick Tater

The most vital thing Democrats had to do during Dick and Dubya's Excellent Misadventure was to keep vast quantities of powder dry thereby maintaining their electoral viability.

[BrotherIvan]

3. This new meme that's been going around for some time needs to stop

If you are concerned at all about 2014 elections, just stop. All it does is point out how weak Democrats are in the face of Republicans. How they let themselves be outsmarted by a minority of hicks and idjits. The excuses and whining make President Obama look ineffectual and incompetent, as if he is unable to figure out their crafty games; blocked at every turn! And blaming it on racism is the absolute worst argument of all because it PROVES what they said, that a black man cannot lead because of racism.

Please stop. Please send the message out to the rest of your collective. It's an awful tactic and as you can see, it's not working even here on Democrats. How on earth do you expect it to work in the larger world?

[BlueCaliDem]

5. The meme is correct. The knowledge of the American people about their own government

is the problem.

The propaganda out there that continues to misinform us that the president is the most powerful man in our government has GOT TO STOP. The president is NOT the most powerful man in our government unless the discussion is about our armed forces.

When it comes to domestic policies, the policies that affect the American people in their daily lives, CONGRESS - you know? That branch of government whose members are called lawmakers and who holds the country's purse strings - is the most powerful branch of our government. So when our economy suffers, or our laws are inadequate, or our taxes are too high, not high enough, our education is underfunded, our children are being short-changed, it's not the president but CONGRESS that's to blame.

As Commander in Chief, President Obama has proven to be an excellent steward of the Executive. But when it comes to domestic policy-making, he has virtually NO say so in the matter. All he can do is encourage members of Congress to do their jobs, offer veto-threats, and mobilize us to replace those do-nothing, know-nothing members of Congress in order to get this country back on track. And that's what we should recognize and do.

[BrotherIvan]

6. So in defending the President, you are also saying Democrats in Congress are weak

GOTV 2014:

"Give Democrats the majority! Then watch them get kicked around and get nothing done!"

And you have basically said that Presidents who did get something done, strong-arming Congress, you know the Art of Politics, is something that an imbecile like Bush could do but a brilliant person like Obama can't? You see, that excuse just doesn't play.

[BlueCaliDem]

11. I was not defending the president. I was giving explanation HOW OUR GOV'T WORKS.

I know some Americans would love to see physical brawling among members of Congress and the president live on teevee, but that's NOT how a civilized country is supposed to work. And I'm assuming here you're civilized.

That imbecile Bush didn't do squat. He most certainly didn't "strong-arm Congress". He could barely string two grammatically correct sentences together yet you'll attribute that kind of political savvy and power to that inept fool?? How charitable of you.

Cheney was the de facto president. Everybody who follows politics knows that. And he was the true force behind all that "strong-arming". He and his advisors deftly used Americans' trumped up patriotism after 9/11 like a big fat club to beat all members of Congress into submission in order to get their way. Or have you already forgotten 9/11/2001 and the power it gave Cheney and Bush afterward?

So maybe it won't play with you, but facts always play very well with me.

[BrotherIvan]

25. So now the Executive does have power

As you admit in your post. Cheney, Rummy, BushCo et al, they rammed their agenda through, making enormous changes to the country--with Democrats in the majority for the end of it.

But Democrats are too elegant, too civilized to use the power the people gave them overwhelmingly? And so we watch as Republicans, WHO ARE THE MINORITY IN ONE PART OF CONGRESS, set the agenda? Stomp their feet and get their way in every negotiation? Republicans play dirty, it's totally obvious. And yet our elected Democrats will not stoop to their level for fear of a little dust on their hands?

That's the sales pitch you're going with?

[BlueCaliDem]

42. You're being obtuse. The Executive ONLY has power if Congress gives it to them.

My post makes that patently clear.

And it appears that you're forgetting one very important fact: that for six out of Cheney's eight years as president, the Republicans controlled Congress, and they did it with an iron fist.

Today, Republicans might be a minority in "one part of Congress", but it happens to be the most powerful chamber - the one where the purse strings are held. And yes, they've been setting the agenda since January 2009 through filibusters and then through refusing to take up bills for a vote in the House because no one is holding them accountable for their obstructionism. Instead, people are blaming President Obama and the Democrats. Like you.

There's only so much a president can do with a Congress that's diametrically opposed to do anything. But you knew that, right?

[BrotherIvan]

51. So until there are no Republicans at all there's nothing we can do?

Even though the people overwhelmingly support liberal policies, there's just no way to get anything done? So why vote for Democrats again?

[BlueCaliDem]

53. No. Until we relegate Republicans in Congress to minority status in both chambers

of Congress, nothing will get done, but that doesn't mean there shouldn't be any Republicans anymore. We just need to get rid of the Teapublicans infesting the People's House.

Republicans will NOT listen nor change their ways unless and until they're punished by losing power. With badly gerrymandered districts until 2020, that's not going to happen unless Republican voters either stay home and not vote or finally get an epiphany and vote Democratic.

But until such time, to blame President Obama and Congressional Democrats for unprecedented Republican obstructionism is unfair at best, and shortsighted at worst.

[adirondacker]

60. Why isn't ALEC ever addressed? Campaign finance reform? These are the Issues...

[MineralMan]

9. My collective? I have no collective.

What I do, in real meatspace is to go out and talk to voters in my precinct and work to convince them to vote for Democrats in local, state, and national elections. Fortunately, I live in a precinct and districts where Democratic voters outnumber Republicans, so we regularly elect progressive legislators at all levels.

I will not stop encouraging people to go to the polls and vote for Democrats instead of Republicans. Not a chance.

But, I have no collective. I'm a solitary activist. I do post here on DU, but not as a member of any particular group. I post as myself.

[Skittles]

61. THANK YOU

it makes me CRINGE

and further down, the WAND meme emerges yet again

[Egalitarian Thug]

62. +1 Fighting the tide with a teaspoon. This is what they live for, it's all they have.

Why on earth they think that this constant barrage of excuses and selective blindness in regards to a now irrelevant man is helpful, is a mystery.

MM is easy to understand, he's an old conservative with nothing better to do, but this directed campaign to keep the meaningless front and center brings no good at all.

[BlueCaliDem]

7. Contrary to the Obama-Dislikers on this site, I'm not an Obama-worshipper, either.

In fact, I've been deeply disappointed in a lot of things he's done and is doing. But I refuse to pile on him in a time when the real enemies of the State are Republicans, Libertarians, and their narrow-minded enablers who are affecting me and mine in our daily lives - even to the point that their temper-tantrum from last October has delayed my obligation to file my taxes for two weeks.

I understand exactly just how much power a president actually has - and it ain't as much as some on this site believe him to have, i.e., what a king or a dictator would have.

For me, as a taxpayer, a mother, a wife, an American citizen, a homeowner, and a minority voter, the true power of the U.S. Gov't lies with Congress. Our president is only the most powerful man in the world when it comes to military might, but when it comes to domestic policy, Congress, not the president, is the omnipotent power in our gov't.

I wish more Americans understood that salient fact.

[MineralMan]

10. Thanks. I appreciate your comment.

So far, no candidate who has ever been elected has met my entire list of criteria. I doubt one ever will.

[BlueCaliDem]

13. You're welcome, and I totally agree with you.

We will never, ever elect a president who is perfect in each and every way. That's what democracy is all about: choosing the best possible candidate even if that candidate has a lot of flaws.

I remain pragmatic when it comes to electing our politicians. I understand that what I believe to be perfect, another would think is horribly flawed.

For example, even though I dislike Senator Feinstein with everything inside me, when she won the primary over my candidate, I cast my vote for her and told my group to do the same. Why? Because the stakes were too high not to. She's still infinitely better than Carly Fiorina could ever be for my State and for the U.S. Congress.

[MineralMan]

15. We live in an imperfect society,

with an imperfect political system. As individuals, we have to make choices based on our beliefs. Almost never do our choices result in our beliefs being shared across the board by those we elect. Nationally, they never result in that.

I can only say,

GOTV 2014 and Beyond! That is what we can do.

[BlueCaliDem]

22. "GOTV 2014 and Beyond!" EXACTLY.

Without control of Congress, we'll be stuck in this Teapublican-dug hole until 2020. Hopefully then the American people will have had enough and finally remember to GOTV in their States in a big way, win back their legislatures and governorships from Republicans, and have those gerrymandered districts redrawn in order to break the iron grip of the GOP in our U.S. House since 2010.

If Republican voters in those districts don't have their epiphany this November, then it's going to be a looooong haul until 2020.

[sendero]

8. Sure..

... it's congress that is making Obama push for the TPP, it's congress that made him fill half his cabinet with Bush retreads, it's congress that made him propose chained cpi for SS, it's congress that made him hand a free pass and get out of jail free card to the banksters, it's congress with their 11% approval rating that's holding him back so much, steamrolling his multi-dimensional chess game into accepting the Sequester budget cuts.

Good thing Obama isn't king because what is absolutely clear is that his actions have nothing whatsoever to do with his flowery words and I for one am not buying that he is not smart enough to understand the Republicans' game.

[hfojvt]

12. uh huh - four words

Catfood commission

expiration date

[MineralMan]

14. What?

Non sequitur. I don't discuss non sequiturs. See ya.

[hfojvt]

20. perhaps a little bit of thought would help

Obama created the Catfood Commission without needing Congress.

Obama did NOT need Congress help to REJECT the report of said Catfood Commission.

The Bush tax cuts had a FUCKING expiration date. Obama did not need to sign anything to let those motherfuckers expire.

Now I am suppose to believe the excuse "Obama could not fight against the rich, because he is President, not a king."

So much for si se puede.

[MineralMan]

21. As I said: Non Sequitur.

Reread my OP. I'm not talking about single issues. I'm never talking about single issues, except when I identify the one I'm talking about.

[hfojvt]

38. if you got nothing

you could just admit it.

[MannyGoldstein]

63. Actually, Congress had rejected the Catfood Commission. It was dead.

But our non-dictator resurrected it from the dead.

[Iliyah]

18. K & R

[MineralMan]

19. Thanks!

[Rex]

23. Wait...point to any dictator that meets the expectations of their people.

In your rush to write this, I think you got a little confused. Which is okay, we all get confused from time to time when we are upset about something. Just human nature.

[MineralMan]

26. I can't point to any such dictator. No such dictator exits,

nor can exist. That's why we don't have one in this country. We understand that. That's why we have the imperfect political system we have. It satisfies nobody completely. No system or dictator can do that. However, kings and dictators can run things as they please...until someone else decides to depose them.

We don't do that in the USA. Instead, every couple of years, we have a chance to swap out our leaders, if we wish to do so, in a more or less peaceful process. Every four years, we have a chance to swap out our executives, state and federal, if we wish to do so.

We don't want kings here, so we don't have them.

Sadly, our leaders are as imperfect as the system that chooses them. But that's the nature of societies, in general. The population never really agrees on much of anything, so we have a political system that pleases nobody, completely. I can't think of a system that will work much better, frankly, in a diverse nation of the size and population of the US.

[Rex]

39. "The population never really agrees on much of anything, so we have a political system that pleases

nobody."

I totally agree with that statement. My point is that dictators are just the opposite - they expect everyone ELSE to please them and if their are civilians that don't...well you know what can happen.

[MineralMan]

40. There's the mythological 'benevolent despot.'

Except there isn't. Many people would like President Obama, for example, to unilaterally do things. Often, they don't realize that he doesn't have the power to do the things they want him to do. That's the point of my OP, really. People have expectations for this President which he can't fulfill. If he were a king or a dictator, he could, but that assumes that everything he did would be beneficial, and that's not necessarily true, and depends on who thinks something is beneficial and who does not.

Worse, Obama will not be President after 2016. The next President might actually be an evil person. And that's why Presidential powers are limited. We have the system we have. We could change it, if we could muster a large enough majority to elect a Congress, two thirds of which would enact such a new system and get the states to ratify it. I can't imagine such a majority of opinion in the United States in this part of the 21st Century.

So, for the near future, the system we have is the system we will continue to have. It's the system we must work in. So, we have to deal with that reality. That's what makes me a pragmatist and an election activist.

[Skidmore]

43. Exactly. I've been arguing along these lines for some time now

and there appears to be a group who just doesn't want to deal with these facts. I've decided that some who wear these blinders are just more interested in tearing things down and damaging anything that can be accomplished on the left. Not one for scorched earth political tactics especially when they stand to hurt the very people you say you want to help.

[MineralMan]

44. They say they want a Revolution...

Well, you know...

[Rex]

48. Alright that makes a lot more sense.

Oh yeah very true, people most often mistake the powers of Congress for the powers of the Executive Branch.

When I hear a RWinger crying about Obama using his 'EO powers' to become a tyrant, what I really hear is a very ignorant person that only watches Foxnews.

[bravenak]

27. Good one!

Recommended reading.

[MineralMan]

28. I appreciate your reply.

It's not a perfect expression of what I'm trying to say, though. I don't seem to be able to write anything perfectly.

[bravenak]

31. Nobody is perfect.

I think that was partially your point though. Nothing is ever going to be perfect.
I thought you stated it well.

[MineralMan]

32. But I don't want to be

an imperfect human being.

[bravenak]

33. Awww, none of us do sweetie.

That why we drink and smoke. Makes us feel better about sucking.

[tkmorris]

29. I never blame Obama for what gets done in the end, not directly

However I DO often take issue with what he TRIES to accomplish insofar as I can perceive it from my seat at the far, far end of the table. His starting position in most negotiations seems to land somewhere in between those two yellow lines in the middle of the road. I would much prefer he start on our side and negotiate toward that middle.

Your opinion might differ from mine.

[MineralMan]

30. Presidents are always having to guess where Congress

will go. It's pretty imprecise. But somewhere in the middle is usually the answer when Congress is divided, as it is now. And so it has gone. There's an answer for that:

GOTV 2014 and Beyond!

[Enrique]

34. we all know this

i think most of the erring goes in the opposite direction, vastly understating the power the President has, in order to make excuses for him.

Just a ridiculous (imho) recent example, discussing why Obama gave the interview to O'Reilly, someone said he had no choice. Really? Of all the absurd claims about what Obama can and can't do, he HAS TO give an interview to Bill O'Reilly?

[MineralMan]

35. Oh, he doesn't HAVE to talk to O'Reilly.

He can if he wants to, though. It's up to him, really.

[merrily]

36. .......

i think most of the erring goes in the opposite direction, vastly understating the power the President has, in order to make excuses for him.

Agreed

[frwrfpos]

45. so im guessing

You think that Obama needs to continue to reach accross to the vile republicans only to get his hand shit on time and again.

So he will look bipartisan.

Obama just needs to compromise and move right some more.

Maybe if he would enact more right wing policies the republicans would like him


We have to allow Obama to enact disgusting piece of shit right wing lsgislation.. or the republicans will win. And we cant have that


Is that about your point?

[MineralMan]

46. You're guessing very incorrectly.

But you knew that already.

Go look at what has actually happened during his administration, and then get back to me, OK?

[frwrfpos]

47. that is EXACTLY what Obama has done

.Moved to the right

Compromised and capitulated only to get ridiculed and mocked by republicans anyway

So what exactly is your point?

[MineralMan]

49. My point? Read the OP.

It's in there.

[One_Life_To_Give]

50. POTUS is a symbol

Like the Flag, POTUS is a symbol for everything about the United States. The good and the bad are laid at his/her footsteps. All accolades belong to whom is in office during good times and all ill is heaped upon whomever is unfortunate enough to be in office during bad times. No one has ever held the office of and by themselves. From George Washington on, they all have lead teams of people who have had to work within the system. A system designed to prevent any one group from easily achieving exclusive power over the government.

While we lament that some changes occur to slowly. Often we forget what might have passed had things changed to quickly or the debate been cut short. We should be mindful that the same processes are in place to change both the Heller decision and Roe v Wade. As well as remembering the Zimmerman Telegram, Un-american Affairs committee, Iraq, location TBD by future administration, etc.

[MineralMan]

52. Not really. Presidents play an important role

in our system of government. Read the Constitution for more information on that. It appears that you may be unfamiliar with it.

[One_Life_To_Give]

66. One does not preclude the other

[Cha]

54. Yeah, I don't "worship" him .. I appreciate President Obama..

thanks MM

[Auntie Bush]

55. Thanks Mineral Man...my sediments exactly!

[Drunken Irishman]

57. Obama has done more domestically than any modern president sans FDR and LBJ.

[bluestate10]

58. The President can't win with some people.

Some on the far Left want him to step on the Constitution and do Executive Orders for issues that are truly in the purview of Congress. People on the right call the President a dictator every time he causes ripples in the water while taking a piss in the White House.

[Hekate]

59. A good read, MinMan. So many, sadly, are convinced in their souls that the Prez could do anything...

.. if he would only wave his scepter and shout "Off with their heads!" -- or his magic wand and turn mice into ponies -- or something. Whatever goes on, it's his fault.

I'm heartened that you keep trying, though.

[whatchamacallit]

64. Your mastery of the obvious

is masterful.

[MineralMan]

65. Why, thank you...