Political Rant

So why do people suppose it's up to politicians, the USA president in particular, to "fix the economy"?

I'm sure there're important roles these folks (most of 'em lawyers) might play (but mostly don't). I'd rather they just focus on running the government effectively, streamlining it, converting more of those antediluvian leather-bound law books of tortuous code into cleanly designed, runnable software (executive = executable).

The president presides over the executive branch, puffs up into commander in chief during war time. It's not really part of the job description to "fix the economy" -- that I can find in the Constitution anyway. That's for the enterprising, risk-taking American people to do.

Only intellectual slobs think manufacturing and selling war is a good way to dig out of a slump (and we have slobs aplenty, no question).

The huge standing army that saddles the USA with debt and makes it the laughing stock of more developed economies, is probably what's killing the future the most. All that oil down the drain, just to keep a lot of dinosaur equipment (e.g. aircraft carriers) working overtime to intimidate and threaten (called "projecting a presence" in the infantile language of idiocrat bullies).

There's really no room to focus on upgrading the education system as long as these silly North Americans are busy losing wars left and right, with children in military families among the least well served (sacrificing their parents to the war gods is downright cruel and unusual if you ask me).

This thing about being a "superpower" just feeds that old imperial presidency mindset, leaves people treating presidents like they had mystical / divine capabilities above and beyond what any human might cultivate. Very superstitious, very not how the nation got started, very devolved and pathetic. What losers!