Actually, yes, he did single-handedly do that. The authorization came straight from Obama, and then when it came to light, he basically didn't even bother apologizing. He lied to his base about being against this kind of thing, and then went and did exactly what he wanted to do.

he was pretty clear about his views that power corrupts, that he would expand mil presence in Afghanistan, and that he believed in a living constitution.

some people voted for him for those reasons, presumably others voted for his opponent(s?).

sometimes i just feel like the punchline to all of this will be something like: "it's the patriarchy, stupid"

Hmmm... http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/obama-on-mass-gove...