Random. Summer. Twilight. Obama.

If the worst thing we can say about Obama is that he looked around and decided he was the most eligible black American to run for president and win. So he did. And he eliminated a significant albatross from our collective psyche.

So what if he wasn't the best president ever? Given the animosity he's faced (at a moment when, significantly, the opposing party struggles, near to death, with internal fractures, a situation that exacerbates the animosity as Obama the man serves as jousting maneuver), he's done well. Not great, but --- we're no worse off.

We're better than we would have been with the alternative.

(The above sparked by this piece in the NYT about Obama taking time to talk ideas with smart people. I'm glad. Confirms what I suspected and so . . .

see main paragraph above: I can see him --- a smart ambitious guy --- engaging in what was, I believe, a rational calculation.)