re: #159 vinnievin

I just imagine Obama, after campaigning so fiercely against so many Bush policies, getting ushered into his first highly classified security briefing and walking out with the thought … “Oh. NOW I get it.”

I think you’re probably right. I bet first thing the president does after being sworn into office is he gets “The Briefing” in which high-ranking officials from the military and intelligence services lay our who we have in custody and why, who we’re still after and why, etc.

There’s no doubt the president leans left politically. But political leanings and what you can actually accomplish in the office are two different things. For one, remember that we still have a system of checks and balances. The president is not the king. His powers are limited by law. His powers are also limited by a web of trust and support of those people who work for him in the intelligence services and military.

All of these things tend to have a moderating effect on the office of president. That the current president is affected by these moderating factors tells me that he is not a completely insane narcissist, as some of the ODS people would have us believe. I thought the same thing about Bush also.