Later:For at least six years, the liberal and MSM narrative on executive power has been fixed -- President Bush sought too much of it and, because the courts consistently rejected his claims, Bush's power grab ultimately proved destructive of presidential power.
But with the ascension of Barack Obama, the narrative has shifted dramatically. The shift is evident in this front-page Washington Post story by Barton Gellman. Gellman has been a critic of the Bush-Cheney approach to executive power, and the quotes from Bellinger and Goldsmith cited above both appear in today's story. However, they now receive a gloss. Both Bellinger and Goldsmith, Gellman tells us, believe that in disputes about presidential power "the president usually emerged the victor in practice." And leftist law professor Geoffrey Stone believes basically the same thing. He informed Gellman that "the limits that have placed [on presidential power] have not come close to the powers that have been concentrated."How fast a tune can change indeed!
