if this was about the blithering nitwit bagman mayor of boston, the title would be MENINO-ALA MODE. but it's not and it ain't. it's amazing that an entire newspaper such as the globe has never ever questioned the capabilities of this neophyte to be president of the US of A and then has the chutzpah(what ya think i'm gonna say stones when this is after all a family newspaper with a family blog) to call the other major political party narcissistic. vennochi, lehigh, canellos, sees this man currently standing, sitting or squatting in the oval office as something akin to a deity with NO questions asked. me, i see a devisive fraud with a background very much open to speculation running still the greatest country in the world, warts and all straight into the ground. on top of that, i can and will question this mans true feeling about this great country warts and all and same hold true for his other half and i don't mean joe biden. ma

Thank you, Mike. I have been blasted as a "ranter", etc for trying to nail it like you did in your comment. These people are unbelievable still hanging on to that guy who was going to make America red, white and blue again. I am an old man, not particularly invested with any politcal party, but after watching this horrible parade of caricatures of leaders, I am horrified and terrified for the future of our country left in their hands. You are the greatest, Mike. I look forward to your comments. Yea!

Pres. Obama should put down the most dividing president ever and most egotistical.

I see an image of Joan kneeling at a Buddha like statue of Obama with candles lighting her face in adoration. For her and her fellow believers, Rebublicans have become demonic detractors of their god. Her claim that Republican's only motivation has been a selfish political agenda is not only untrue, you have to have been on another planet to have missed the total failure of the past 4 years under Obama. It is his failure and his alone. It is not a "selfish political agenda" to put forward positive alternatives to such calamaties as the million page, unread Obamacare congressional debacle, His total opposition to practical solutions that good Old Tip O'Neil would have worked out with those "Republican narcissists mark him and his czars as what they truly are, an all powerful deity.

One can only marvel at the child like level of political discourse we have come too. Let us call the candidates names and ridicule their efforts at election. Mitt jokes, Obama jokes, Mitt insults, Obama insults with most of those trying to "gussy" up their sophomoric remarks with a faux educated twist of irony or humor. Remarks are written as if the writer knows about govt. or knows about economics yet when questioned one gets the canned remarks of FOX news or MSNBC. Even the supposed columnist is reduced to a trivial piece on a Sunday morning responding to of all things bloggers. I am not one who objects to modern technology but it seems that it has merely led to a stream of false charges, false accusations, silly debates, childish debates with no one telling the kids they have a social responsibility to act like adults. Oh well I suppose this is the brave new world of technology anything that can be said is worth saying, any disparaging remark will be believed by someone so it is worth saying. Sometimes I even marvel at myself, in politics for forty years, published and like some broken down addict I can't help myself but comment. What a world.

Joan seems more upset with the people who mocked Obama's latest ego blast, than the actions of Obama himself. Poor thing. She really bought into the hype, and has come to realize that his presidency is all about putting himself on a pedestal. He has become a caricature of himself, a cartoon character. To people who view the highest office in the land with deep respect and admiration, this is a profoundly sad moment. NEW PARAGRAPH: I have been saying for years that President Obama has never had the basic graciousness and dignity that we have come to expect of a US president. He has existed in office simply to elevate himself, and the examples of this are endless. The Greek columns at the Democratic convention, the declaration that "we are the ones we have been waiting for", his plans to "stop the rising of the oceans" and so forth. He has already written two autobiographies, and the third will likely follow soon after he leaves office. NEW PARAGRAPH: No once can become president without a pretty big ego. But one needs the heart of a humble man, and the gravitas of a kind chief executive. So many of our past presidents had these rare combination of qualities. Bill Clinton did, as did both Bushes. Humility is so far outside of the Obama persona, that he cannot imagine acting in any other way, but to promote himself at every chance he gets. NEW PARAGRAPH: It is not "dorkiness" that is a virtue. It is competence. We tried electing a rock star who loves himself, now we need a leader who loves his country.

Joan, this reads like you were busy this weekend and let John Sununu write your submission.

Yes, the GOP did not agree to go along with every Obama proposal so, of course, the GOP is selfish. How else can you explain it? I explain it like so: The liberal/left definition of compromise: "You do whatever we want." And, if you read between the lines and see "uppitty" I think your mind planted it. Calling "Racist" is the last defense of a liberal, and it has even become a joke.

MCCONNELL: The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.

We should have known that Barack Obama had an ego bigger than Jupiter when he published an autobiography at a very tender age before he had accomplished very much. Unfortunately, the Nobel Peace Prize committee made things worse by awarding him the peace prize just for getting elected president.

Joan, great piece and refreshing. The fact that you are writing about this, shows the readers your not a liberal Kool-Aid drinker.

Pity it can't be harnessed and sold. We'd have a national surplus instead of a debt.

'Tis one thing to speak much, another well. -Sophocles.

History a la Obama is one thing. Autobiography a la Obama is quite another. Mark Steyn illustrates, thusly: http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/obama-354827-ever-white.html

My interest here is less in the column per se than the comments it has generated. I'm struck by the sheer hatred some commentators express toward the President. It reminds me of a similar phenomenon with regard to George W. Bush. [NEW PARAGRAPH] I was no fan of Bush, but I still feel he did not receive fair credit for some important decisions. For example, I strongly feel history will ultimately validate his efforts to stave off Great Depression II. [NEW PARAGRAPH] I give Obama -- for whom I voted in 2008 -- a mixed grade too. He has some significant accomplishments (e.g., a nuclear arms treaty with Russia) under his belt. However, just as Bush learned, critics can never see good, just failure and evil intent in a president they don't support. Small wonder so many potentially good candidates eschew politics.

profox, How can you look forward to ma's comments? They are the same everyday.

Ms. Vennochi engages in some unfortunate race baiting in using the term "uppity." The "uppity negro" was a racist term that referred to a black person who didn't know his or her place at the bottom of the social ladder. Black people who stood up for themselves were "uppity." It did not mean vanity, narcissism, or self-promotion, which is what Obama is being criticized for in the present case.

I'd have thought Luv is correct in praising a balanced column except for what SusanTeacher caught, as I did: the compulsive need to imply that Obama critics allegedly see him as "uppity" and are therefore racists. Since Joan is also being critical of him here, that would make her a racist too. See how it works, liberals?

Alternatives? Exactly what alternatives have the Republicans proposed? Nothing...

Am I missing something here? She was referring to the conservative web site using the photo that suggested the portrayal of an "uppity negro" admiring himself. The website, she infers, is guilty of painting the picture in such a way that the insult is clear to the viewer.

Well-spoken.

I don't have a problem with a president honoring the legacies of past presidents by adding to them. It was nice of Ms. Vennochi, though, to add a positive view of Obama as a footnote to her own column.

"During the Obama years, the GOP put selfish political agenda ahead of country. In that sense, Republicans are the true narcissists. But the president gains nothing but grief from this misguided PR effort to link his accomplishments to his predecessors'. " Huh? Who controls the majority of the Government? Who is more arrogant than Nancy P, Harry R and Shumer? Who "passed" HC "reform" and ignored the real issue - the economy and jobs? "Look, self-absorption is part of the occupational hazard of politics, and it's also part of the job description of being president. "All that said, try to imagine Dwight Eisenhower talking about D-Day saying, 'I did this. I decided this. I did this and then I did that.' It's inconceivable. "If you struck from Barack Obama's vocabulary the first-person singular pronoun, he would fall silent, which would be a mercy to us and a service to him, actually. "Because he was been so incontinent for the last three years that you wind up with, as you said, (an) Ohio State University with empty seats," Will said during is appearance on ABC's 'This Week' on Sunday.