Normative Behavior: What explains Obama's "insane" policies?

Is Mr. Obama even aware of how his presidency is evaluated around the world?

Richard Fernandez at the Belmont Club

"The devastation of Syria, according to the Guardian, will be Obama's legacy but it won't entirely be the story of naive neglect. Some pundits think active incompetence must have played a part too.  After all, when the administration conceived of an alliance with Russia as a way the conflict could be shifted to the negotiating table, any reasonable person could have foreseen the possible dangers. Events proved the administration completely miscalculated the way in which Putin and Assad would act.  How could they not have foreseen it?

" 'The crux of the deal is a US promise to join forces with the Russian air force to share targeting and coordinate an expanded bombing campaign against Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria, which is primarily fighting the government of President Bashar al-Assad."  To say Obama was stabbed in the back would only be to repeat Samantha Power's belated regret at Putin's "uniquely cynical and hypocritical stunt".

"Obama should have seen it coming but didn't.  All too frequently he never does. Noting this, Charles Lister, writing at Foreign Policy, headlines his piece "Obama’s Syria Strategy Is the Definition of Insanity." He says "none of this should come as a surprise, even as the consequences are potentially devastating.' " . . .

Leaving the international scene and returning home, this is what the man had to say about the rioting:

Obama FINALLY Responds To Charlotte Rioting … And Says Nothing  . . . "Obama has certainly contributed to this kind of toxic atmosphere that breeds riots, as he has peddled the fiction that cops perpetuate racism against minorities. Now he's going to send his Department of Justice into Charlotte, which will only exacerbate the problem, as Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro explains:" . . .

All that seems to matter to this president is Democrat control of our nation; whatever the Democrats do with this power appears to be of no consequence to this petulant, vengeful first family. TD