A dialogue viewed on Facebook leads me to opine on a recent shift in my views of the Presidency and it's influence. Watching Obama's amazing...well...mediocrity in office and apparent compromise of so many of his principles has led me to major shift in how I view the Presidency. It seems a largely ineffective post. Once I imagined the President could be depicted as a point on a chart from which infinite lines of influence flowed outward. I thought that by putting the right person at that nexus point, one could expect a dramatic shift in the the focus and purpose of federal government.
Now those arrows seem to be pointing inwards, reflecting the infinite, crushing influences that flow the other direction and shackle the man in office. Perhaps the President is really the saddest, most frustrated, and most powerless man on Earth. I imagine we are aware of only a fraction of the influences at work. But they appear to render the occupant of the office impotent to say or try anything truly daring or innovative. A President is seems nothing more than a reactor in chief.
Maybe there was a time in the past of grand and influential Presidents, but they must have been before my time. And then again, maybe the greatness of any President was merely made so because of the greatness of the events he was reacting to. The Executive power is perhaps most at play in times of war, such that Presidents have the greatest chance to influence events when the decision called for is whether to wage war or not.
And so, I'm not not very hopeful of putting someone in office who could possibly affect things. I merely hope to avoid blatantly two-faced megalomaniacs and haters. Thus, if the election were held again today, I'd still prefer Obama over the desperately power-mad McCain and ego-maniacal Palin team.
Congress affects our lives far more powerfully. And fixing Congress is something I have even less expectation of achieving.
Now those arrows seem to be pointing inwards, reflecting the infinite, crushing influences that flow the other direction and shackle the man in office. Perhaps the President is really the saddest, most frustrated, and most powerless man on Earth. I imagine we are aware of only a fraction of the influences at work. But they appear to render the occupant of the office impotent to say or try anything truly daring or innovative. A President is seems nothing more than a reactor in chief.
Maybe there was a time in the past of grand and influential Presidents, but they must have been before my time. And then again, maybe the greatness of any President was merely made so because of the greatness of the events he was reacting to. The Executive power is perhaps most at play in times of war, such that Presidents have the greatest chance to influence events when the decision called for is whether to wage war or not.
And so, I'm not not very hopeful of putting someone in office who could possibly affect things. I merely hope to avoid blatantly two-faced megalomaniacs and haters. Thus, if the election were held again today, I'd still prefer Obama over the desperately power-mad McCain and ego-maniacal Palin team.
Congress affects our lives far more powerfully. And fixing Congress is something I have even less expectation of achieving.
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