Obama Is Looking Especially Lame These Days

President Obama is getting knocked around on the right today as a weak, or at least weakened, leader: At the Washington Post, Charles Krauthammer observes that it wasn't too long ago that Obama was triumphant in his re-election, all set to get Democrats back in power in the House and turn his second term into a "left-wing dream factory." Well, "the Big Mo" is gone now. It started when Republicans called his bluff on the sequester and embarrassed him badly. Then he invested much political capital into gun control, only to see it fizzle. On the world stage, he looks "passive" on Syria.

"From king of the world to dead in the water in six months," writes Krauthammer. "Quite a ride." What's next? Oh, expect a "comeback kid" narrative at some point, thanks to the cyclical world of "media boredom" we live in. At the Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, Peggy Noonan says Obama isn't a "lame duck, he's just lame." Noonan hates that the president is complaining again about Republicans in Congress. She harkens back to the rivalry between Ronald Reagan and House Speaker Tip O'Neill. Reagan knew the game. "He had no problem dealing successfully with O'Neill. He didn't moan, 'Oh they hate me, it's no use!'" That's life in DC. "And if you're a leader you can lead right past it." Click for her full column, or for Krauthammer's full column. (More President Obama stories.)