the Green Lantern theory (US politics) The misconception that the president of the United States can achieve any political or policy objective by trying hard enough or using the right tactics.. I've dubbed this fantasy the Green Lantern Theory of the Presidency in honor of the comic book superheroes whose abilities to use their "power rings" depend on their willpower. Tuesday's New York Times column by David Brooks on the debate over the so-called budget sequester is a case in point.
Moving on from globalized Green Lanternism Matthew Yglesias's original "Green Lantern theory" was aimed at Bush era neoconservatives who enormously overestimated the international military power of the United States. They saw the world, in effect, as a set of ever-ramifying problems that the United States had to solve.. The new Lanterns trailer confirms one massively controversial DCU theory, and it has huge implications for the Green Lantern Corps.