President Barack Obama gestures as he speaks about the fiscal cliff, Monday, Dec. 31, 2012, in the South Court Auditorium at the White House in Washington. The president said it appears that an agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff is "in sight," but says it's not yet complete and work continues. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) (AP)
As Barack Obama enters the twilight of his tenure, the debate over his legacy is beginning, but one conclusion already seems certain. It can best be described as “Honey, I shrunk the presidency.”
Not since Jimmy Carter was held hostage by Iran has the Oval Office seemed so inconsequential against the forces of international darkness. The mismatch is particularly striking because smallness has been Obama’s choice.
Although he is guilty of executive overreach at home, that bully behavior only sharpens the contrast with a foreign policy that is feeble when it is not comatose.
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The president’s estrangement from the demands of global leadership is giving a green light to tyrants and malevolent opportunists everywhere.
His preference for navel gazing over action was on full display last week. As Russia and China menaced their neighbors and Islamist terrorists set off bombs in a half-dozen countries, Obama accepted an award from Hollywood pal Steven Spielberg for fighting genocide. Passing up a chance to give a full-throated defense of freedom and Western civilization, the president lapsed into what The New York Times called a “meditation” on the limits of his power.
To continue reading Michael Goodwin's column in the New York Post, click here.
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