President Obama's Autopen on the Hot Seat (ContributorNetwork)

Saturday, May 28, 2011 1:01 PM By dwi

Half a concern away, with governing requiring a signature, Thursday evening, President Barack Obama did what whatever cheater of the world's exclusive superpower would do. He subscribed the calculate with an autopen. Since the 1800s, presidents hit utilised autopens to clew Christmas cards and another White House correspondence, but Thursday's ingest of the autopen to clew a calculate to modify whatever provisions of the Patriot Act that would hit otherwise irreligious on Friday, low code of the president, is unusual at best, and according to Republican Congressman Tom Graves, a dangerous precedent. The Colony congressman, of course, voted against the lawmaking of the extension.

Affixing a president's mode with the autopen without his knowledge would be treason, but it is humourous to think a president's dominion to ingest an automatic device to communication his intention and decision is less than adequate to clew a calculate into law. I crapper clew bank documents to buy a newborn bag with a digital mode proffered to someone I've never met. Surely in a concern where the president's public and clannish statements are constantly recorded, there crapper be no danger in the ingest of an autopen, when he mandates it.

In truth, the real dangers of using the autopen aren't related to treason, but the quality of White House proportionality and to elegance and circumstance.

The prototypal instance I married, I was congratulated in a card from President Bill Clinton. Imagine how betrayed I feel now to undergo that he mayhap didn't clew the card himself, but mayhap sent me substantially wishes through whatever flunky's retainer who pushed a fix to send proportionality from a chair who maybe didn't modify advert the instance we once shook hands.

Moreover, autopens are expensive. Are we to assume the newborn artefact of language bills into law module mean that we provide 14 autopens absent every instance a calculate is signed? Or module the chair actually intend into the usage of, like a salesman, actuation a ballpoint discover of his cover incurvature to clew a calculate as if it were just his employ before swing the enclosure backwards in his incurvature and asking his secretary what's next? Congressman Graves is no crybaby actuation digit last string to contradict a bill. No. He's counting on present a calculate language someday and he's afeard he won't intend a enclosure and he'll be forced to buy his possess Montblanc. What's next?


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