The Nation is publishing its gala hagiographic Obama send-off issue—”The Obama Years: 2008-2016″—and does so perhaps more in sadness than in celebration. The articles are full of complaint and recriminations—but not, for the most part, aimed at the Dear Leader.

There are gripes about the irredeemable electorate, such as the article with the subhead “The president succeeded in repairing our institutions—but millions of Americans wanted to blow them up instead.” There is disgust for the ink-stained wretches (or at least those who would be ink-stained if it weren’t for the Internet): “Barack Obama Was Too Cool for the Press Room: The president’s insistence on thinking before acting drove the media around the bend .  .  . and towards Donald Trump.” There is wistfulness: “I Miss Our Sane, Calm, Empathetic, Funny, President Already,” is Katha Pollitt’s headline. And self-loathing: “Before Trump’s election, we on the left didn’t give President Obama enough credit. Why?” is the perplexed cry in Pollitt’s subheadline. And more self-loathing: “Obama Did Not Fail Us—We Failed Each Other,” is the title of Patricia J. Williams’s article lamenting that “we failed to see the storm clouds of 2016 gathering behind the first black president.”