General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Right-wing obstruction could have been fought: An ineffective and gutless presidency’s legacy [View all]stupidicus
(2,570 posts)and BHO's relatively recent metamorphosis into a less "civil" pottymouth in the course of confronting/describing them publicly in speeeches and whatnot after all this time, would indicate his awareness of the central role his better late than never, but long needed, adversarial self and monster he's failed to adequately combat that way will play in his legacy.
I would disagree however, with the gutless and ineffective description unless it is qualified with "by design".
AS I've long seen and argued it however, future generations aren't gonna care so much about the inequality he failed to rectify in any meaningfull or long lasting way, the bandaid of the ACA, or the failure to secure the infrastructure spending he's now championing, but rather his actions/inaction on climate change. In a very big way, infrastructure spending has long been needed because of that, and as anyone familiar with what AGW will bring us in terms of health issues, perhaps single-payer as well.
That he's largely played the role of mediator and reconciliator between those who've deserved the pitchfork treatment and those either blinded by the theatrics of it all or willing to overlook it all due to their fear of rightwingnuttery that "nowhere else to go" thing exploits, can't really be disputed, can it? It also bears mentioning, that his list of accomplishments also shine with a brilliance that would otherwise be lacking but for the presence of that rightwingnut monster he's never shown any real interest in actually slaying, as exemplified by
But bipartisanship as an ideal must also be kept sacred, of course. And so, after visitors to the Obama Library have passed through the Gallery of Drones and the Big Data Command Center, they will be ushered into a maze-like exhibit designed to represent the presidents long, lonely, and ultimately fruitless search for consensus. The Labyrinth of the Grand Bargain, it might be called, and it will teach how the president bravely put the fundamental achievements of his partySocial Security and Medicareon the bargaining table in exchange for higher taxes and a smaller deficit. This will be described not as a sellout of liberal principle but as a sacred quest for the Holy Grail of Washington: a bipartisan coming-together on entitlement reform, which every responsible D.C. professional knows to be the correct way forward.
He's done a great job in the role of the "good cop", as indicated by the whines/objections to the content of this post from those incapable of seeing him in that uniform you've seen here.
What slays me about all this, is that it took an Nth dimensional chess player like him 5 years or more to know and understand
an enemy most of us little people knew and understood long ago. That has only two plausible explantions -- either he's stupid or has been playing the part to our collective detriment.