Obama's legacy

As you would expect at this point in his presidency, Barack Obama has started to discuss his legacy.

With the clock ticking down on his second term, Obama is doing what he should do -- planning for the future.

He has announced the location of his Presidential Library -- south Chicago -- and reportedly has been house hunting.

But in a series of interviews, he's also setting the narrative for his legacy.

His domestic legacy is clearly the health-care act that bears his name.

With new millions enrolled in Obamacare, his legacy talking point is aimed squarely at that enrollment figure.

But the problem with legacies is that one man's treasure is another's trash.

Having failed to lower costs and with a Supreme Court challenge that may well prevail, the jury is still out on that domestic legacy.

What's truly troubling is Obama's view of a foreign legacy.

Obama holds the steadfast belief that a nuclear deal with Iran will somehow resolve the conflicts in the Mideast and free that region of an Iranian nuclear threat -- for now.

He pays lip service to the ISIS atrocities and treats Israel like a leper.

He ignores the Russian invasion and the racial strife at home. He makes no mention of the nearly 100 million Americans who have given up on the job market.

From these issues, legacies are rarely born.

Presidential legacies are stubborn things. It is fortunate when a president can control his legacies but all too often, events themselves shape legacies.

At this point, it may be too early to talk about the Obama legacy.

Or it may be too late.

Michael Jensen is the publisher of the Sikeston Standard Democrat.