Quote:
Originally Posted by DrPhil
It never begins and ends with the POTUS.
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I'm not sure whether I'm not understanding you or whether we disagree. I think in the White House, at least until the next election, it does begin and end with the POTUS.
Quote:
One criticism of an overly visible President is with the message that it may send. Every POTUS works for us and is never too fantabulous to be, at the end of the day, "treated" like our employee.
People may not want to admit it, but there are plenty of people who forget the above when it comes to a president who they like or a president who is very visible. It happens with every well liked and visible president and Obama has taken it to another level.
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Again, I'm not sure I'm following. Yes, the president does "work" for us, but I think we have to remember what we hired him to do: Lead. It's not his job to represent us -- that job belongs to the members of Congress. We elected the POTUS to fulfill the constitutional and statutory duties that go with his office, and if enough of us don't like the way he's doing it, we give the job to someone else after 4 years. And for a
long time, we've expected the president to be more than a national CEO; we've expected the president to set policies and pursue an agenda. Again, if we don't like the policies he sets or agendas he persues, then we say so at the ballot box. In the meantime, we let our representatives in Congress know whether we want to them to enact legislation reflecting the POTUS's policies and agenda or not.
And again, I'm not sure I'm seeing the actual evidence that he's "taking it to another level." Sure, technology allows for more outlets, so to speak. But more than Reagan? More than Kennedy? More than FDR and his "fireside chats"? I'm not convinced yet.