"legislation could be a boon to his party in the midterms, allowing them to accuse Democrats who vote against it as being 'soft on crime.'"

"Most Immigrants Arrested in City Crackdowns Have No Criminal Record"

Like Steve Martin trailing Eddie Murphy in Bowfinger

The President of the U.S. has limited long-term authority over the people of this country UNLESS they give up that authority and permit him to rule them, permit him to control them. The structure and culture of the U.S. seems opposed to that situation.

Consider the power of those state governments no one outside the U.S. is aware of; the county authorities; the town councils. Like the president of a university, where there are many diffused centers of power, the President of the U.S. has limited long-term authority over the people of this country

Remember this: The President of the U.S. is no king because he has to contend with every state government, every county government, every city and county government, and every town/township council in the United States. His power relies completely on their compliance. If they don't comply...

The American system of government is like the distributed power structure of Higher Ed, where the Dean or President has very little actual power and authority.

Last night was an off-year election, with contests in a few states. But it was a bellweather of the state of mind of the American people. And it was a reminder of the power of states — these jurisdictions that most folks in the world don't know about, yet are preëminent in our U.S. system.

I understood immediately, even though their position was completely frustrating to me. Couldn't blame them! But it was a lesson in the value of distributed and diffused power.

When I recommended a marketing/comms strategy that got our charismatic professors out to the feeder schools they agreed it was the right move — but they didn't agree to do it because, as they put it "that's not what we get the pellets for."

I'd come from the world of commerce where the hierarchy was clear. His powerlessness astonished me only slightly less than his fecklessness.