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Barack who? Is it just me, or is Obama the incredibly shrinking president, destined already to be remembered in the same league as John Tyler or Warren Harding? Charles Lipson, emeritus professor of politics at the University of Chicago, is out today with a terrific article at RealClearPolitics, "Trump's Methodical Destruction of Obama's Legacy," that walks through how President Trump is step-by-step dismantling Obama's presidency, culminating with last week's revelations about the FBI and Justice Department going after Michael Flynn in ways that may yet become one of the greatest scandals of presidential abuse of power in our history.
We also talk about the election scene and why neither of us can conceive of Joe Biden winning the election—all things being equal, which they may not be, and we even indulge a little sports talk at the end.
Steve Hayward
Discussion (5)
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What a great 50 minutes! Being a traditional Conservapublitarian in Monterey you'll understand, Dr. H, why people look at me as if I have 3 heads when I sneak up on them with my long held opinion that Barry 'NotASmidgenOfAScandal' Obama appears to be a threat to The Nixon Trophy of Worst POTUS Ever.
I was thrilled when Prof Lipson gave BHO an 11/10 on the Watergate scale.
I met you some 14-15 years ago at a rooftop restaurant in Carmel---you were with Sally (healthcare) from Canada and I bought 3 (Yes--THREE!) of your 'Real Jimmy Carter" books....Tom McCullough introduced us---Tom died 2 weeks ago at the decent age of 90)
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Was Clint Eastwood the mayor of Carmel?
Barry has a shady past -- what do we really know about this guy?
I tell my friends he is Gus Fring
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If Obamagate really is bigger than Watergate, I don't see how the lamestream media can spin it as anything other than a massive scandal though they certainly will give it their best effort. Can't wait for Durham's report...
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That was a great podcast. I always enjoyed hearing Charles Lipson appear on my friend Milt Rosenberg’s Show, and he’s as good as he ever was.
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I've thought that part of why Obama's legacy has diminished so rapidly is due to one of, if not his chief flaw as a politician. He's an ideologue. No other president during my lifetime so dogmatically refused to compromise with Congress in order to codify his agenda into law or ratified treaty. His other weakness is hubris, believing that there was no way the country would turn on him and elect a Republican for its next president, giving that successor the opportunity to undue his legacy.
The Iran "Deal": Obama not only refused to call the result of his machinations with Iran a treaty that would have to be ratified by the senate, he had Brennan and the CIA spy on senators and think tanks, feeding that information to Ben Rhodes, his fake group of think tanks, and friendly journalists to sabotage opposition to the deal. Since Obama had not worked with the Republican senate majority to tailor the treaty articles to secure the two thirds vote needed for ratification, Trump was able to gradually unravel and abandon the deal (despite several roadblocks set up by the Obama administration) entirely through actions within the executive branch.
The Paris Accords: Despite Democrat party environmental boilerplate, this had little to no chance of being ratified by the senate (cf. the Kyoto Treaty and the Byrd-Hagel Resolution during the Clinton administration), nor did Obama attempt to negotiate any aspect of it with Congress.
Obamacare: This is the one major exception that was actually passed through Congress, making it more difficult to remove and undo (no thanks to John McCain). However, it was passed on an entirely party line vote, illustrating that Obama's ideologue approach to governance is contagious.