The Patriot Post® · Obama Reserves Right to Criticize

An unwritten rule of outgoing presidents, considering the many challenges the position brings, is to respect the office by making a commitment to refrain from publicly criticizing the incoming president and his policy decisions. No one has exemplified this commitment better than George W. Bush, who despite being blamed almost incessantly by Barack Obama for everything from the poor economy to Iraq never fought back or attempted to defend his legacy. He left it for historians to judge generations from now.

While every president desires to leave a lasting, positive legacy, once the individual has left the office he has no control over what becomes of his policies or how future historians will judge his time in office. The office is and always has been greater than the individual. Obama seems to think otherwise.

On Sunday in Lima, Peru, Obama — while acknowledging the respect George W. Bush showed him, saying he “could not have been more gracious to me when I came in” — showed he’d learned very little from his predecessor. Contending that he reserved the right to comment on Donald Trump’s policy decisions, Obama stated, “As an American citizen who cares deeply about our country, if there are issues that have less to do with the specifics of some legislative proposal or battle or go to core questions about our values and ideals, and if I think that it’s necessary or helpful for me to defend those ideals, I’ll examine it when it comes.” And what may those “values” be of which Obama speaks? We’re betting that Americans will find out soon enough as Obama is sure to continue his legacy as the lecturer in chief.