President Obama ,"Dr. Spock"?

++The Vox yesterday had a piece on President Obama's long view of history. The piece repeated the salient quotes from David Remnick's interview with the President two years ago. The Vox said that view was on view at his press conference when he described the Iran nuclear deal, the Climate Change agreement and the TPP. For some reason,the notion that no large initiatives should start in his last year is lamentable to the Washington Post. He's in his finishing up stage.

++Vox noticed that the New York Times cut out a sentence from their original interview with President Obama after his Oval office address to the nation on his war against ISIS. He said that he no longer was fixated on cable news and that he missed the anxiety among the American people about the attacks in San Bernadino. This for Vox was evidence the man is looking at the long view of history and has checked out on the everyday ups and downs of news stories. In fact,it was the Times' own coverage which they now admit was written without the proper degree of skepticism that started off the burst of terrorism fear which the Republicans have been drumming up since the event.

++Nancy LeTourneau at the Washington Monthly has been keenly aware of Obama's view of history and change. She mentioned that the success of the Paris Talks on Climate change were an example of Obama seeking co-partnerships in the world and not dominance. This is why the Republicans keep harping on him as "weak" because they are trapped in a white man's authoritarian view of power. 

++In yesterday's revelations by former Defense Secretary Hagel that President Obama didn't have a coherent strategy for Syria, he maintained that this hurt America's image in the world. You hear this in all the Republican debates. But the truth of the matter is that President Obama restored American prestige in the world in everyplace but Russia. PEW trust compared our image at the same time in W's administration to Obama's and found that we are now in the high 60s with our allies as compared to the teens then. PEW Trust maintains that change has everything to do with President Obama's personal image in the world. 

++David Ignatius today tries to get a grip on President Obama's worldview as it contrasts with the current temper of the times in the United States. The man will remain a mystery to the Beltway pundits.