President Obama Still Hasn’t Rectified Bush’s Greatest Crimes

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Author: Dean DeChiaro

A few weeks ago, political scientist and presidential scholar Dr. David Adler spoke to Oxy students about something many Americans don’t even realize is an issue. Adler spoke of the need to restore the Constitutional Presidency to the nation. For those not familiar with the political term, the Constitutional Presidency is the executive branch of government that practices its power by strictly adhering to the limits and boundaries outlined by our Founding Fathers. In his book The Imperial Presidency, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. argues that “the pivotal institution of the American government, the Presidency, has gotten out of control and badly needs new definition and restraint.” If the executive branch has truly become the most powerful force in today’s U.S. political system, which I strongly believe it has, then its crowning achievement was President George W. Bush’s two-terms in office, from 2001 to 2009.

Though Bush’s reign has passed, his legacy of a more powerful executive branch remains. The only thing to truly change is the name on the door. President Obama still enjoys more command than any leader before Bush; this goes unrealized because he is the direct opposite of his predecessor. Due to Obama’s capability to speak coherently and directly, the nation, particularly those politically to the left, is falling under the pretense that he is doing a superior job than Bush. While I believe without question that Obama has the potential to be a much better president, I am wary because he has already become blinded by the love of the office he holds.

Bush overstepped the boundaries set forth for his office by the Constitution, and in doing so, transformed the executive branch of the U.S. government into the single most powerful force in today’s political world. The Executive Branch now rules over the institutions meant to check it with an iron fist. Bush overstepped when he went to war with Iraq, citing Congress’ bill allowing him to carry out military action against Saddam Hussein’s government as enough authority. The Constitution clearly states that Congress must declare a state of war against a nation, rather than simply providing the Commander-in-Chief the right to do so. He completely hoodwinked the press into delivering his message blindly, rather than questioning the message until late in his second term. The media coverage of the war in Iraq was completely modeled after policy frames that the administration put forth. He established military tribunals, placed into effect unprecedented amounts of domestic surveillance, carried out preemptive strikes against countries that posed no threat to the U.S., and perhaps most horrifically, denied American citizens basic and constitutional civil rights and liberties.

Newsflash: These things did not disappear when Obama took office on January 20. The Executive Branch still wields the power to brush aside any check or balance standing in its way. If he wanted to, President Obama could act just as tyrannically, and face as little resistance, as Bush did. True, Obama might not ever abuse his power the way Bush did, but the fact still remains that his office has the power to disregard constitutional boundaries. Obama, despite closing secret C.I.A. prisons established by Bush abroad, has not rescinded Bush’s authorization to carry out extraordinary rendition of American citizens or foreign nationals. He also has done nothing to combat the countless illegal wiretaps authorized by Bush. The longer this goes on, the more pathetic the state of U.S. “democracy” will become. The United States will begin to look a lot more like the England of George III-a system we rebelled against over two-hundred years ago for the same crimes.

After eight years of living under a power-obsessed tyrant, the nation is left with a new president who, though on the opposite side of the aisle, enjoys the same executive powers his predecessor did. If Obama does not do the right thing and restore the Constitutional Presidency to U.S. politics, all we have to look forward to is another four years of the same injustices. What remains to be seen is whether or not that power will be returned to those who have the right to wield it. This new America needs to once again equate itself to the America of old, where the leadership had a constitutional conscience, went about political affairs with a constitutional consciousness, and governed equally over a republic that enjoyed a constitutional culture.

Dean DeChiaro is a first-year History major. He can be reached at dechiaro@oxy.edu.

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