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I can't divine the future, but it seems clear to me that Obama will not willingly give up the new presidential authority Bush grabbed for the office. Some maybe, but probably not very much.
After all, as a member of the Senate, he supported to telecom immunity bill. And not just him, wide swaths of the Democrats in Congress. They capitulated time and time again while Bush trampled the Constitution. Why should they change their tune now? This is especially true of Obama, who can now wield the new power himself - a very tempting prospect, I would imagine.
Glenn, this gets to you "necessary but not sufficient" argument. Electing Obama and a Democratic majority in both houses was a necessary step towards rolling back the constitutional horrors of W, but not sufficient. Now we need to make the Democrat's lives miserable if they don't restore the old framework.
I'm not going to hold my breath - I just don't see it happening. I sincerely hope I'm wrong.
