1) From RealClearPolitics.com, “The Audacity of Vanity” by Charles Krauthammer ‘hammer time! Dr. Krauthammer’s article has justifiably set off quite a firestorm of delight in conservative circles. My email box has overflowed with links to the column and comments like “Krauthammer’s best ever!” Since this is much higher praise than, say, “Krugman’s best ever,” the column is must reading. Krauthammer’s theme is not new. A lot of us, ranging from Obama critics to even Andrew Sullivan, have explored Barack Obama’s unattractive self-regard that risks tripping into a full-on case of hubris. But Krauthammer says it better than anyone else has or likely will:

I know you’re going to read the whole thing, so I don’t even have to encourage you to do so. But before clicking along, allow me to expand on the point that Krauthammer makes above. If someone told you in 2003 that a guy who was a part-time law professor, part-time lawyer and part-time state legislator would be president in five years, you probably would have laughed. If you were further informed that the individual in question’s greatest accomplishment as an adult was his stellar performance in law school, you would have pled for mercy because the ensuing hysterics would have made your sides ache. Of course we don’t elect résumés for president. That much is understood. But other presidential candidates with modest accomplishments knew enough to at least try to look humble. It’s worth pondering why Obama isn’t capable of doing the same or self-aware enough to know he ought to. 2) From the Boston Globe, “Obama’s Summer of Success” by Scott Lehigh I kind of wish the title were ironic, but it isn’t. Lehigh actually thinks Obama has had a wildly successful summer. Yes, Lehigh is talking about the same smoldering summer in which Obama managed to convince a majority of Americans that he tells them whatever they want to hear and transformed himself from a Lightworker to just another politician.