As I read today's Commentary blog, I found this posting offered an excellent way to frame our views of President Obama.

Our "Sophist" in Chief. A good moniker for Preisdent Obama.   Indeed, despite his prentensions, I think he is no philosopher, much less a Platonic Philsospher-King. As this blog makes clear, Obama has outsourced his biggest policy initiatives to old-school liberals in Congress.  Whether this is intentional or not, what has happened is that old-school policies are moving forward with the patina of "newness" since he bestows his blessing upon them.

Consequently, he comes off far more like an extremely gifted politician, than any sort of grand statesman or philosopher of the future.

I still believe President Obama is formidable, but perhaps not as formidable as I had feared.