Hail the chief: President Barack Obama takes the salute before boarding Air Force One at Andrews Air Base in Maryland this week. Photo: AFPObama Can't Stand Up to His Generals—And That's Dangerous -- Andrew J. Bacevich, New Republic
"The President is an elected king," wrote Randolph Bourne nearly a century ago, "but the fact that he is elected has proved to be of far less significance ... than the fact that he is pragmatically a king."
Bourne thereby identified a central truth of modern American politics: Stripped to its essence, our democracy has become an elaborate process of conferring enormous power on a single individual. What we choose to call an inauguration is more accurately a coronation. Nominally a chief executive, the president today occupies a position more akin to that of emperor, and Americans both expect much and demand much of their emperor.
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Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials
Presidential decision-making about Vietnam and Afghanistan: “You have 3 choices, sir” -- Fabius Maximus
Pakistan Goes Rogue -- Simn Henderson, Foreign Policy
Can the Obama administration avoid a split with Pakistan? -- Washington Post editorial
US Bases Abroad Trigger Suicide Terrorism: Are There Other Options? -- Steve Clemons, Washington Note
Cuba's Pre-Existing Condition: It's too late for the Castros to create a market economy. -- Jose Azel, Foreign Policy
If We Were Really Serious About Terrorism -- Armchair Generalist
The Limits of the War on Terror -- George Friedman, Real Clear World/Stratfor
Attack of the Drones -- Anthony Cordesman, National Interest