The Hill's A.B. Stoddard: Obama 'kind of giving up on his job'

Sorry to inconvenience you, champ, by expecting you to actually do your job just because you asked for four more years occupying it.

---

Lefties will dismiss this out of hand because it's from Fox News, but the eye-raising statement here comes from A.B. Stoddard of The Hill, which is a publication largely in harmony with the D.C. political class and certainly not a bastion of conservatism. The Hill keeps tabs on what's happening with Washington's political personalities and what's being said about them. It's sort of like Politico without the complete lack of substance or intelligence. So check out the video, along with the transcription that follows of Stoddard's key comment:

The problem is that the president is giving Americans the sense that just as he gives up on Congress, he's kind of giving up on his job. They know he's bolting from the building to go to Starbucks and Chipotle. He's getting bored in the cocoon. He's planning his post-presidency. There have been reports he maybe wants to move to New York. He's having lots of dinner parties where he doesn't talk about policy or politics but the NBA playoffs. Anything but his job.

The whole discussion is excellent, although none of it is all that difficult to discern if you pay much attention to Obama's behavior lately. Obama never wanted the responsibilities of the presidency. He wanted the adulation and the trappings. He was elected because he turned himself into a huge celebrity, and that's all he really wants to be. That doesn't mean he doesn't believe in his left-wing ideology. He absolutely does. He just doesn't think he should have to put up with so much crap to get it implemented. He's the president! That should be enough. Stoddard does make an interesting point, which I'm not sure I agree with, to the effect that Obama's go-it-alone strategy of executive actions might depress the enthusiasm of Democrat voters in this year's mid-terms. Her theory is that he's basically telling them he doesn't need a Democrat-controlled Congress because he'll just find ways to do what he wants anyway, and as a result they might figure there's no sense breaking their backs to give him one. I don't think voters will think that way come November. Democrat House and Senate members want to keep their jobs, and their base of supporters will be mobilized - not because of what Obama says but because they are terrified at the thought of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. You certainly can see, however, where Obama just can't be bothered with the responsibilities of the presidency when it gets difficult like this, and his behavior of late absolutely shows it. And Krauthammer is right: Obama has no idea how to govern. Nor does he want to learn. Nor does he think he should have to.