Politics

OBAMA’S STRANGE LAST DAYS IN OFFICE

What’s more surprising is that Obama’s last weeks in office have been more like a series of disjointed gestures than a coda to his historic, pathbreaking presidency. Of course, there’s still more than two weeks left, and Obama’s “farewell address”—to be delivered in his hometown of Chicago on January 10—will probably be stirring. No one’s ever questioned Obama’s oratory. But it must be said that the past few weeks have a certain “meh” quality.

When it comes to the Middle East, Obama’s last days have seemed more churlish than productive. The U.S. decision to abstain from voting on a U.N. resolution condemning Israeli settlements illustrated American anger at Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, but it did nothing to advance the cause of peace. American administrations have long dissuaded the Israelis from building on the territories occupied since the 1967 Six-Day War.