"In a weird way the country is not commensurate with [Obama's] gifts."

"That's a harsh thing to say but I have a feeling in the dark night of the soul, that's what he feels. I think he thinks that this is a[n] eighteenth century constitutional republic that needs s-s-significant updating."

So said Jon Meachum, the former Newsweek editor and present Random House editor on MSNBC the other day. Rush Limbaugh was delighted:

That's how you do it! That's how you get rid of him. That's how you convince him to move on. You tell him that he's so, so above this chump country. That's how you do it, folks. They listen to me. They did listen to me.

A few weeks early, Limbaugh had criticized Pat Caddell and Doug Schoen for telling Obama he should — for the good of the country — step aside and let Hillary be the 2012 Democratic Party nominee.

Now, the Schoen-Caddell plan comes down to putting the country above personal ambition.... Obama is a narcissist.  If you want Obama to step aside, you have to flatter him.  You have to tell him the office is beneath him.  If you tell Obama -- well, it's too late now. ...

Messrs. Caddell and Schoen, this, I'm afraid, will guarantee that he will stay.  But if you had flattered him, if you had told him that there are greater things, that the reason things are going the way they are is because he's just not challenged, this is just too small, that you can tell he's bored, you can tell he's not interested.  We all can see that he and Michelle don't like the White House.  They don't like living there.  They would rather be anywhere else.  Running this country is so uninteresting to him, so beneath his stature, so beneath his skill set, so beneath his intellect. The world is crying for a leader now, not just America, the world is crying for a leader, a leader that the United States will listen to.  Then maybe you guys coulda gotten him to quit.  I wish you'd-a called me. I wish you'da sent me a note.

ADDED: By the way, my reaction to the Schoen-Caddell column was similar to Rush's — and I was first:

... I can see Obama choosing to withdraw, with some magnificent long-term life plan. But pressure him out? Ridiculous!