Monday, June 09, 2014

Seeking the Rays of Adulation

As President Obama looks ahead to his last two years in office after the November elections, his thoughts are turning to establishing his legacy.

For a man who ran on the idea of "competence" rather than ideology--notwithstanding that he is the most left-wing president we've elected--the legacy of competence will be hard to burnish:

With 30 months to go, Obama still may have a chance to regain control of both the domestic and international agendas, but to do that he’s going to have to change his approach. He needs to focus on the nitty-gritty, day-to-day business of governing; six years into his administration, the public is fed up with promises and hungry for concrete accomplishments.

President Obama needs to show that he knows how to get things done, or increasingly the world will move on as if he wasn’t there.

This will be a problem.

I suggest President Obama settle on establishing a legacy of adequasivity:



To be judged adequate by history would truly be an honor at this point.

I'd honestly be relieved if things went adequately, at this point.