Mystery Topic Challenge #4

What's that behind you? Did you see something? I think it was black...could it be the BlogNinjas? They are the crazy internet group behind the MTC. The members rock the blogosphere in varying degrees, and can sneak up behind you in a moments notice.You can join the clandestine group after undergoing a severe and heavily scrutinized Blog Ninja review that verifies your actual existence and BN worthiness (basically, we read your blog). Post an entry, vote, maybe win, and you may be selecting the next topic. It's like a blog party.

Click here to join.

Mr. President barely edged out Romi for a win on the last Mystery Topic Challenge.  On the 6th, he announced the next topic for the challenge:

If you were President/Prime Minister for a day, with the power to do absolutely anything (Supreme Court? What Supreme Court?), what would you do and why?

I've been spending most of the time between then and now trying to figure out exactly what I might want to do for that single day that might actually be worth doing. There are any number of things that one might be able to accomplish by having ultimate power for a single day, but I think the most meaningful would be something that would have a lasting impact. If you are only president for the day, sure you could repeal executive orders or make new ones, but they might only last for just the day.

That definitely helped me narrow down the list. There are only a few things that a president could actually do that another president couldn't overturn, at least not readily. There are pardons. I've never heard of any presidential pardons being overturned at a later date. Of course, I don't really know of any prisoners, political or otherwise, that I would want to pardon, so that is kind of out as an option.

I could start a war, that's certainly something that the next president after me couldn't easily undo. I don't really want to start a war with another country, though. There are certainly individuals and perhaps even entire neighborhoods and small towns that I might want to start a war with but I don't really have any personal ill will towards any countries.

I could probably put someone in jail or even have them executed. A president certainly has the power to order an execution during a time of war. If I declared martial law for the day then I could have my own private Gestapo round up all the people I don't like and get rid of them. That would certainly have a lasting effect, for sure, but doesn't really settle well with me, either.

That's about everything a president could do in a single day that might actually have a lasting effect and I don't think I would like to pursue any of those. So, I guess after carefully deciding on any bills that might be on the president's desk to sign into law, I think I would travel.

One of the things a president often does as part of their normal job duties is act as an ambassador of sorts, traveling to foreign countries and spreading good will. I've never had the opportunity to travel outside the US and I think it would be my duty as president to spread good will to some nice tropical country. Perhaps Tahiti needs better connections to the US, I think. Yes, that sounds good, a good will fact-finding mission to Tahiti. And really, that's the perfect destination after a long day of signing bills into law, isn't it?

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