My general opinion of Barack Obama is, I think, kind of middle-of-the-road among people on my side of the political fence. I do think he could have accomplished more in his first two years had he done things differently, but I'm not unhappy with, or unaware of, the surprisingly large roster of things that he and his administration have gotten done. I'm not wild about some of the stuff he's done or left undone in the area of personal liberties, executive power, or the wars overseas, and I hope he betters his record in those areas in years to come.
But I will say this: if Obama was such a dud in the White House that he accomplished absolutely nothing else other than denying John McCain the Presidency, well...I'd owe Obama some thanks just for that, alone. I never liked John McCain to begin with -- his "Maverick" bullshit always struck me as preening for political effect, and not terribly reflective of actual thoughts on issues -- so I, unlike many in Washington, am not surprised to see McCain tossing aside all of his goodwill and firmly embracing his true role of angry, bitter old man. But it can still be pretty breathtaking to see the depths this man is willing to plumb. John McCain is a mean, useless son-of-a-bitch, and the sooner he is out of public life, the better. Hell, I'd settle for the Washington media establishment to start the process along by not acting as though McCain is some kind of insightful voice on any issue at all.
Imagine if this guy had actually become President. So, thank you, Barack Obama.
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