Image by BL1961 via Flickr Entangled Giant - The New York Review of Books (click to read the original article) Is President Obama just carrying on the policies of George Bush? Is Obama continuing the policy of an overly powerful executive branch , to the detriment of the US Constitution ? Excerpt: " George W. Bush left the White House unpopular and disgraced. His successor promised change, and it was clear where change was needed. Illegal acts should cease—torture and indefinite detention , denial of habeas corpus and legal representation, unilateral canceling of treaties, defiance of Congress and the Constitution, nullification of laws by signing statements . Powers attributed to the president by the theory of the unitary executive should not be exercised. Judges who are willing to give the president any power he asks for should not be confirmed. But the momentum of accumulating powers in the executive is not easily reversed, checked, or even slowed. It was not created