When his sweeping gun control policies were blocked, President Obama complained that he was “constrained by a system our founders put in place.” Asked about immigration reform during a Google Q&A, he explained, “I’m President, not Emperor of the United States.” Reality compelled him to tell a Telemundo anchor, “I’m not a king.” And talking with Univision, he confessed, “The most important lesson I’ve learned is you can’t change Washington from the inside.”
So it’s no shock that, looking back on his presidency, President Obama confessed in a recent interview with GQ that he “didn’t fully appreciate” the work involved in getting things done in Washington until he was president.
https://twitter.com/ezraklein/status/666662885012172800
https://twitter.com/iijeg/status/666664047018815488
Vox editor-in-chief Ezra Klein argues that the hard work of coalition-building is “a common realization that presidents have after taking office,” but we can’t recall a president complaining about being frustrated by constitutional limits in public so very often. Klein himself adds that “Obama has chafed against these limits so much that he’s pushed the limits of his executive authority in some novel ways.” Again, no surprise there.
@ezraklein sounds like a whiny person who didn't understand the notion of working together, building coalitions and leading. ugh, pathetic.
— bsharif (@beasharif) November 17, 2015
https://twitter.com/Mattfobrien/status/666663219428204544
@ezraklein @AsaWessulv Presidency…No, Obama's just a weak President. He's a narcissist unwilling to work with others. Terrible negotiator
— #Publius (@PatrickHenry911) November 17, 2015
https://twitter.com/EF517_V2/status/666689129661513729
@ezraklein Should have stayed longer in Senate to learn more.
— D Dob (@DianeDobrski) November 17, 2015
A weak man who desires more power even in the highest position in the land, maybe world… and he's a Constituitional scholar?@ezraklein
— Steele?Hippopotomonostrosesquippedaliophobicphile (@botticellicream) November 17, 2015
https://twitter.com/AdamTournay/status/666696937492475904
https://twitter.com/DougDucati/status/666674281154273281
https://twitter.com/AClavero_AAC/status/666665493458255872
https://twitter.com/DebraRusso/status/666718651467206657
@ezraklein it's that way for a reason. Centralized power is best kept away from those who believe they can wield it.
— Tony Smith (@tonysmith2092) November 17, 2015
@ezraklein But he taught Constitutional law, and he was a US
Senator. And the smartest man ever.— Cris (@Cristotokos) November 17, 2015
https://twitter.com/infomaniac8126/status/666696673385517057
@ezraklein Sorry, being @POTUS doesn't mean you get to act like a dictator. You need to work with people.
— Jean-Marc Poulin (@JMRPoulin) November 17, 2015
https://twitter.com/meguntic/status/666692887955001344
@ezraklein Right. Not that he is a narcissistic, rigidly dogmatic, unskilled amateur, he's a victim of the system.
— "It's Always Jimmy in Philadelphia" (@JimmyMcSavage) November 17, 2015
@ezraklein sounds like he expected to be more of a dictator
— Inspector (@Clouseau700) November 17, 2015
https://twitter.com/brad_dallas/status/666690296554491905
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