What is your opinion of Obama's performance as President?

[angus]

Obama was a disappointment, to be sure.  I voted for him in 2008 but not in 2012.  Voted "somewhat worse" than I expected rather than "much worse" because of his second term, during which he did not disappoint owing to the fact that we had by then altered our expectations owing to the disappointing first term.  "Somewhat worse" therefore was sort of an average between the major disappointment of the first term and about what I expected for the second.

[angus]

Speaking of prescience, here's another post that I came across while combing through some of the old health care reform threads. It comes across as much more solemn today than it did over six years ago.

History will probably judge him badly for not being able to prevent the final victory of fascism, as well-meaning but ultimately ineffectual leader, though he really did about as well as he could given the circumstances.

haha.  solemn?

More like sensationalistic, which is rather the opposite of solemn.  Also the channeling of opebo was a charming touch, though it lacks mention of The Bad Place.  

We have no idea how history will judge Obama.  He was a major disappointment to those of us who voted for him, but judging a president's legacy during the first few years after he leaves office, or while he is still in office, is a tricky business.  If you read the OP carefully, it does not ask you to do that.  It only asks your personal opinion of the president relative to your personal expectations upon his entering office.

[angus]

relatively mainstream Democratic commentators

"relatively mainstream Democratic commentators" do not spend 18 months helping Donald Trump become president of the united states.  

The "Democratic commentator" in question made a very sensationalistic comment, but it was not one uncharacteristic of him, or of his on line persona, six years ago and today.

And yes, I have read anything else in this thread, in fact I have read all that has been posted in this thread, and your post was the most unrelated to the original topic among them, and the only one deserving to be called out as unrelated to the OP.

[angus]

That description was not in reference to Lief, and I'm still struggling to understand your point.

It was only that solemnity is not the description that comes to my mind when I read the post you quoted, the one totally unrelated to this thread.

[angus]

in 2010, calling republicans fascist was a "haha" thing.

Just as it was in 2000 and again in 1980, as I well remember.  I suspect it was like that even before then, but I wouldn't know personally.  Nothing was solemn about it then and nothing is solemn about it now.  Look up the word sometime, you'll find that calling Republicans fascist is, in fact, the opposite of solemnity.  It is sensationalism, just as calling Obama a socialist (or, better yet, a Muslim) is sensationalist.  Those who do it think it's cute, I suppose--and apparently some of those who hear or read it think it's cute as well, as you and Averroës and the Fox News Channel remind us--but solemn is what it is not.