Hope against hope

I’m quite sure that the science does not support this assertion made by President Obama at his press conference yesterday: “Almost every country on Earth sees America as stronger and more respected today than they did eight years ago” (video below). He probably even believes it, but he believes a lot things that just aren’t so.

If possible, Obama also made himself sound even more foolish with his empty denunciations of Russia, Iran and Syria during the press conference. He can’t leave office soon enough. Is there any chance Obama will recede into the background? Of course not. His vanity and self-delusion forbid it. And he is not alone.

With the prospect of yielding the White House to Donald Trump, Mrs. Obama is feeling hopeless again. Back in 2008, of course, she famously asserted: “For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback.”

What now? “Now we are feeling what not having hope feels like,” Mrs. Obama told Oprah Winfrey in an interview to be aired next Monday on CBS. “Hope is necessary, it’s a necessary concept and Barack didn’t just talk about hope because he thought it was just a nice slogan to get votes. I mean, he and I and so many believe, ‘What else do you have if you don’t have hope?’”

I hope that both the president and the missus will maintain a discreet silence out of office, but on that point I share the the lady’s hopelessness.

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