"Leading from behind"

You know you're in trouble when your syncopants in the media become instant objects of ridicule.

Via Belmont Club

It surely is essential
That Barack be consequential
And serene and up to date at every turn
For the world to be his oyster
He must leave his White House cloister
And be seen to grow maturely and to learn
Yes I know he reads the masters
And has bigots for his pastors
And his ancestry is redder than his schemes
But it really doesn’t matter
For there’s nothing that is sadder
Than a man who can’t tell life from fevered dreams

Obama's becoming a Gilbert & Sullivan figure

Duke.
In enterprise of martial kind,
When there was any fighting,
He led his regiment from behind —
He found it less exciting.
But when away his regiment ran,
His place was at the fore, O —
That celebrated,
Cultivated,
Underrated
Nobleman,
The Duke of Plaza-Toro!


All.
In the first and foremost flight, ha, ha!
You always found that knight, ha, ha!
That celebrated,
Cultivated,
Underrated
Nobleman,
The Duke of Plaza-Toro!


Duke.
When, to evade Destruction’s hand,
To hide they all proceeded,
No soldier in that gallant band
Hid half as well as he did.
He lay concealed throughout the war,
And so preserved his gore, O!
That unaffected,
Undetected,
Well-connected
Warrior,
The Duke of Plaza-Toro!


All.
In every doughty deed, ha, ha!
He always took the lead, ha, ha!
That unaffected,
Undetected,
Well-connected
Warrior,
The Duke of Plaza-Toro!