4 ms·

He may not officially have the power to change things through the official bureaucratic channels, but he could stop them if he wanted. He has a lot of power th

He may not officially have the power to change things through the official bureaucratic channels, but he could stop them if he wanted. He has a lot of power that he doesn't tap into. For example, he has the ability to address the nation. With that power alone you can really stir up some change.

Amezarak 11y ago
> For example, he has the ability to address the nation. This power is pretty overrated. How often have you turned on the TV and seen a network cover the entirety of one of Obama's speeches/press conferences, other than a major speech like the state of the union? Usually they cut away to something else after a little while or don't cover it at all, except maybe on a morning show. Non-TV media generally cares even less.
- vfdfv 11y ago
  Such a weak excuse. Sure a TV show might not play clippings from a speech of his, but if Obama actually offers to do a live interview on any TV show, no one would turn down that ratings boost.
- outworlder 11y ago
  Being from a country where the TV and radio networks are required to stop whatever they are doing to air a presidential speech, this sounds really strange.
  - mikeash 11y ago
    Giving one person the power to force media organizations to broadcast his words sounds really strange to me!
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
vfdfv 11y ago
Right! That's why I consider, for example, his campaigning on closing Guantanamo to be completely disingenuous. Get on TV every single night, spread awareness about what's happening there, tell US citizens that we need to lead by example, and use the propaganda machine to create positive change, for once.
- Steko 11y ago
  The truth is with a bad economy the more a president with lagging approval ratings gets involved in some issues the less likely their passage. More importantly there's a limited amount of political capital you have as POTUS. While you may think Obama should have directed more of this to closing Gitmo, I think the big ticket accomplishments he spent that political capital on such as ACA were more important.
  - pdeuchler 11y ago
    How can you honestly say the ACA was more important than shutting down a US run gulag that actively commits war crimes on a daily basis with approval from the entire chain of command?
    - Steko 11y ago
      I can honestly say it is not even close: access to health care via ACA saves more lives every year than the population of Gitmo by nearly two orders of magnitude.[1] And it's not clear at all that Obama could have successfully closed Gitmo even had it been a higher priority of his. It is clear that he immediately ended interrogative torture [2] and made efforts to close it. There's still force feeding but that's also an issue in us prisons so closing gitmo and sending the detainees to other prisons is not necessarily solving anything there. [1] one early study here: http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-obamacare-will-save-lives-20140506-column.html http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-obamacare-w... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_13491 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_13491
      - 11y ago

Amezarak 11y ago

> For example, he has the ability to address the nation. This power is pretty overrated. How often have you turned on the TV and seen a network cover the entirety of one of Obama's speeches/press conferences, other than a major speech like the state of the union? Usually they cut away to something else after a little while or don't cover it at all, except maybe on a morning show. Non-TV media generally cares even less.

vfdfv 11y ago
Such a weak excuse. Sure a TV show might not play clippings from a speech of his, but if Obama actually offers to do a live interview on any TV show, no one would turn down that ratings boost.
outworlder 11y ago
Being from a country where the TV and radio networks are required to stop whatever they are doing to air a presidential speech, this sounds really strange.
- mikeash 11y ago
  Giving one person the power to force media organizations to broadcast his words sounds really strange to me!
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]

vfdfv 11y ago

Right! That's why I consider, for example, his campaigning on closing Guantanamo to be completely disingenuous. Get on TV every single night, spread awareness about what's happening there, tell US citizens that we need to lead by example, and use the propaganda machine to create positive change, for once.

Steko 11y ago
The truth is with a bad economy the more a president with lagging approval ratings gets involved in some issues the less likely their passage. More importantly there's a limited amount of political capital you have as POTUS. While you may think Obama should have directed more of this to closing Gitmo, I think the big ticket accomplishments he spent that political capital on such as ACA were more important.
- pdeuchler 11y ago
  How can you honestly say the ACA was more important than shutting down a US run gulag that actively commits war crimes on a daily basis with approval from the entire chain of command?
  - Steko 11y ago
    I can honestly say it is not even close: access to health care via ACA saves more lives every year than the population of Gitmo by nearly two orders of magnitude.[1] And it's not clear at all that Obama could have successfully closed Gitmo even had it been a higher priority of his. It is clear that he immediately ended interrogative torture [2] and made efforts to close it. There's still force feeding but that's also an issue in us prisons so closing gitmo and sending the detainees to other prisons is not necessarily solving anything there. [1] one early study here: http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-obamacare-will-save-lives-20140506-column.html http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-obamacare-w... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_13491 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_13491
    - 11y ago