Politically, President Obama has never been weaker, after losing both House and Senate. At the same time, he has never talked tougher. There is a connection between the two.

Obama recently told Democratic lawmakers that he’s going to “play offense” in coming months. Coming from a man with a history of occasional trash talk — “I’m LeBron, baby” — it’s tempting to dismiss this as just more chatter. What is Obama doing, going on offense after his party suffered such a resounding defeat in November?