Thomas Friedman's "100 Days": The Constitution Is to Blame, Not Obama

In his New York Times op-ed "100 Days" (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/22/opinion/22friedman.html?ref=opinion), Thomas Friedman begins by acknowledging the demented state of the world:

"Our fiscal condition continues on an unsustainable path, the European currency is heading for a crackup, the Arab world is in the midst of a crackup, unemployment is creeping upward and basically our two parties are telling us that they will not make the reforms that we know are necessary because it would involve too much pain and could imperil their chances of winning the presidency in 2012."

"The Arab world is in the midst of a crackup"? Excuse me, Tom, what happened to all that past froth about the Arab Spring?

But let's not get caught up in asides. Friedman proceeds to acknowledge that his friend Obama has done almost next to nothing in his first two and a half years as president in order to address these problems:

"Ever since President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s legendary 'First 100 Days' in office — which stabilized a country ravaged by the Depression — the first 100 days of every president have been used as a measuring stick for success.

. . . .

Really — it feels as if Barack Obama had 100 days to push through the basics we needed to stabilize the economy and then lay the basis for his one big initiative — health care reform — and then he was preparing for the midterms, and then he was recovering from his midterm losses and then he was announcing his re-election bid . . ."

Yup, Tom, you're right. Obama has achieved next to nothing. Unemployment and federal debt are worse than ever, and the U.S. is still stuck in an Afghani quagmire. However, Friedman would hold Obama blameless:

"There is no way that America can remain a great country if the opportunities for meaningful reform are reduced to either market- or and climate-induced crises and 100 working days every four years."

The system's defective, not Obama? So let's rewrite Article 2, Section 1 of the Consitution, which provides:

"The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years . . ."

You see, Obama can't possibly be culpable for our current mess. It's all the fault of the Constitution.