If Obama had absolute power would US be wonderful?

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Just curious what people think. Woody Allen, of all people to have said it, said Obama should be our dictator -- that America would be much better off if he were.

I doubt most of even the most diehard Democrats are going to say yes to this trollish thread. The concept of dictatorship is anathema to what the United States is about. Sometimes the Constitutional checks and balances feel frustrating when they're blocking what seems like a good cause and the opposition seems to be motivated out of spite or insidious interests, but obviously that's much better than investing all power in one person.

I think the US would have been better if James Madison I believe it was hadn't in his attempt to avoid a dictatorship by the majority made a dictatorship of the minority.

I'm sure he'd do a few beneficial things at first. But that's not a reliable way to get beneficial things done.

of course not. It takes more than one man to fix this mess.

No

Woody Allen can't be wrong

Obama seems like a reasonable man, and I share most of his values, but I'm so opposed to the concept of dictatorship that I wouldn't want him to be dictator EVEN IF America would be better off for it.

No. Will you answer a question as ridiculous as this if I post one, Ragtime?

How about a third term, then? Should the rules be changed for Obama, since he's done such a great job so far? *cough, cough*
I mean, of course Romney will lose to him, being merely Obama-lite, so I think a second term for Obama is a given.

No, the fact of there being only two terms is part of what checks executive power and keeps it a democracy.

I suspect I've found an "uncanny valley" with this thread. For those not familiar, the "uncanny valley" is when CGI human characters or humanoid androids seem so real that they become creepy to people, so that they prefer both real humans and clearly-non-human robots to the almost-humans.

Well, some people (especially on WP) love Obama as a leader so much, that the idea of him having significantly more power -- while exciting -- curiously disturbs them in this way: they love him like a god, so it would be great to them if he actually were God -- but not if he were something in between a U.S. president and God. In other words, Obama being a dictator is just - not - quite - right to such people, even though they trust him completely. Just a thought...

No. I like most of Obama's ideas, but in no way should he be free from the checks and balances of a democracy.