The Man in Front of the Curtain
President Biden’s eyes are windows into the American government. His empty gaze makes observers wonder about the inner workings of the Oval Office. Now that his cognitive debilitation has become clear to all, even the most gullible have realized that he is not leading the nation. Somehow, the government remains functional despite one of its three branches all but falling off the tree.
How does the government function without a conscious president? Why are bills being signed by a man who cannot read a teleprompter? If the president is not personally executing his responsibilities, who is? Biden’s cabinet is likely doing the heavy lifting, but who guides them? Who is making executive decisions when there are disagreements within the administration?
These questions cannot be answered with certainty, but simply asking them allows us to imagine the ongoing sitcom within The White House. Joe Biden is not the first star of this sitcom, it has been running for decades.
Impotent Liability
Presidents do not rule, they preside; they oversee the natural function of the government. In the modern day, they are often presented with papers containing multiple-choice decisions rather than a free response. Since FDR, most presidents have been glorified magic 8-balls. When White House staffers come to the president for a decision, they simply prod him to select one of a few predetermined responses.
This is why it does not matter if the president’s decaying neural tissue has rendered him senile. It is because he, himself does not matter, all that matters is his signature. The president is only as important as his name. The individual importance of Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden can be boiled down to their lawn signs and bumper stickers.
This may seem cynical, as many believe presidents have become more powerful over time. In truth, the Federal Government has become more powerful, not the president. Presidents have simply become increasingly liable for the things they are not at fault for. They are at the mercy of the “administrative state,” sometimes called the "deep state" or the "swamp."
Were Bush and Obama the masterminds of their wars in the Middle East? Did Trump conceive of the response to the pandemic? Did Biden devise his policies on the border or in Ukraine?
These are not arbitrary events, they were the most important American policy decisions in the last 50 years and will have lasting effects across the globe for generations. None of these men were able to truly dictate the decisions that will define their places in history and that is not power, it is simply liability.
An Immovable Object vs A Weakening Force
Different entities influence presidential policies. For example, foreign policy is dictated by the U.S. State Department. This unelected body of officials is largely self-governing, and when they set a course for invading Iraq or investing hundreds of billions of dollars into war in Ukraine, it is difficult to steer away from those icebergs.
The U.S. State Department is an immovable object. To them, presidents are substitute teachers, they do not worry about misbehaving because the president is only in charge in principle and is not permanent.
Another immovable object is the media. If the New York Times says supporting the war in Ukraine is crucial to the future of European democracy, a president considers this the voice of the people. Politicians understand that the media is responsible for the public perceptions of policies, parties, and themselves. If they wish to resist the media, they will pay for it.
If Harvard publishes a justification for military aid to Ukraine, in tandem with the media and the U.S. State Department, the president then faces internal pressure, public pressure, and pressure from academia. It is political suicide. The decision is all but made for the President.
When the Obama administration was advised by those in the State Department to assist the Saudi war effort in Yemen in 2015, he obliged. While Obama approved the effort, the State Department conceived of and carried it out. Since then, it is estimated more than 377,000 civilians have died in that ongoing war. Obama is blamed for this even though he did not plan or conceive of it, he simply agreed with his advisors and now bears the shame of their mistakes.
Presidents should not be the single source of power, but they should be the executive. They should have more than just the liability for mistakes they did not themselves make. Presidents should be powerful.
Voters are only as powerful as those who they elect. If presidents themselves are powerless to dictate their own administrations, how powerful are the voters?
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