“Oh, it’s a shame when you have a wan, diffident, professorial president with no foreign policy other than ‘don’t do stupid things.’ ” So griped President Obama to a select (and loose-lipped) group of dinner guests the other night. The president is annoyed that critics cannot see the wisdom in his prudence. “I do not make apologies for being careful in these areas, even if it doesn’t make for good theater.”

Obama’s tendency to caricature his critics — in this case suggesting that they’re looking for “theater” rather than solid accomplishment — may be remembered as one of his most damaging traits. It betrays a prickly narcissism that precludes honest self-assessment.