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Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Fettered

 ("Captain America")

It could be called "Obama Fettered", as it is a tale of a presidency defined by the likes of Merkel, Scalia and Roberts. It is left for those outside the reach of this administration to determine its destiny.

In those brief moments when the shackles are loosened, we see a President who has taken out Bin Laden, taken on a Libyan tyrant and freed the innocent migrant youth at home from punishment for sins they did not commit. When left to chart his own course, this President has done some things very right.

But his legacy is most strongly tied in by, and tied up to, errors of omission and commission by his predecessor, filibustering, a conservative Supreme Court and a course championed by others of  mistaken, sometimes brutal austerity here and abroad.  Often he has seemed more witness than participant, given only the best seat in the house to watch the unfolding world events.

Thursday's anticipated ruling seems likely to further weigh down what appeared to be the signature accomplishment of this presidency, legislation that moved the health care system at least part of the way forward. And President Obama, with hands tied and feet bound, can only watch and wait. It is not what we, or he, had envisioned.

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