Throughout history, there was no major difference between the two halves of the world, East and West, until the Magna Carta (at least in the sense that history addresses this issue). That one document created the concept that even the king was subject to the law and limited by the law, and the West was born and defined by how far that concept spread. Interestingly, as I read history, acceptance of those limits also defined the regions that would progress at a rapid pace. Obama is our country’s first leader who is culturally from the East, and it shows, not only in Obama’s conduct but also in our economy.
Good point about the Magna Carta. I think the source of Obama's vision of himself as above the law comes largely from Marxism (where the Great Leader always gets to do whatever he wants, since he is in the vanguard of the "Revolution") combined with Islam, which is based on a theocratic political and legal system directly opposed to ours.
That said, I saw a truly nauseating political cartoon strip in a local paper that showed Obama wearing a crown and smiling benignly while he talked (one hand raised and pointing above) about "universal health care for this nation-state" and how he had "given this to his people" despite the hateful resistance. He was being watched adoringly by a hip-looking young white couple; then in the last panel, we see the man waking up and saying to the girl at his side, "I had the most wonderful dream..."
The left really loves the image of Obama as king, and so does Obama, so I think we're not going to see any complaints from the Dems. I just wish the GOP would stand up and do something.
I remember how Bush had to fight to get approval from Congress every step of the way in the Iraq war. But he did it.