CBS News took a look at their polling numbers for President Obama over the last 12 months and concluded things aren’t going well for him.

It could be worse than even this.

Of interest is their conclusion that three things hurt his numbers:

1. Gun Control. Not only did the President learn the hard way that Americans do not share his distaste for your constitutional right to have a firearm, but his temper tantrums and insulting attitude began his slide into the sewer pipe of history.
2. The Government Shutdown. Yes! While everyone was trying to point the finger at Republicans during the shutdown—which completely reversed itself plus to a net gain—the President suffered terribly for acting like a tool. Except of course a tool is useful.
3. Obamacare! Well, this was kind of obvious. The official start of the law has turned into a massive charlie foxtrot, and the President has been wrong about every single facet of it. Including that part about Republicans changing its name away from Obamacare. In fact, Republicans are starting to use the phrase “Keep your doctor; change your senator” in their campaigns and market research shows this resonating with Americans of all political persuasions.

Okay, so CBS News agrees that 2013 will not be a great year when historians write about his presidency.

But what makes this news worse for Obama is that these three items are ultimately symbolic of his legacy:

1. The gun control argument has now almost completely been settled. Americans purchased firearms in record numbers during his presidency, and now all 50 states support some form of concealed carry. More states than ever are supporting constitutional carry, which is a complete rebuttal of the Obama administration’s leftward tilt. Gun control, possibly more than any other topic, is the strongest argument that America is done with liberalism and that pendulum is swinging back.
2. The President was elected in 2008 on an utter fantasy that he would be a uniter, not a divider. He was post-partisan and non-racial, and was lauded as a man who would finally unite an America divided largely by the Leftists during the Bush presidency. The shutdown proved that he could not control Congress, even when he had the advantage. Yes, ultimately, Obama won the showdown—but it cost him dearly in popularity. His victory is Pyrrhic, and why not: he revealed himself to be a petulant, spoiled brat of a partisan, deeply racist, and divisive small-minded liberal.
3. His signature achievement will be Healthcare Reform! Yes, even Big Bill Clinton whiffed on this one, but Obama was going to bring low-cost healthcare coverage to all Americans, reform the medical industry, and make Americans the healthiest nation in the world. He instead put forth a comedically inept system so incompetent that it makes Britain’s NHS look like a well-oiled machine by comparison. The incredible upshot of this debacle is that every crazy-ass prediction made by the Right turned out to be correct. No, not one or two easy calls—but hundreds of predictions are proving true. People as diverse as Sarah Palin and Ezra Klein agree that Obamacare is not going to work.

So ask yourself: how will history judge Barack Obama? As his polls are officially lower than George W. Bush’s allegedly record lows (they weren’t), and as he creeps into post-resignation Nixon territory (no lie), it’s pretty clear that history will not blame the Republicans for Obama’s mess.

The Czar of Muscovy

Божію Поспѣшествующею Милостію Мы, Дима Грозный Императоръ и Самодержецъ Всероссiйскiй, цѣсарь Московскiй. The Czar was born in the steppes of Russia in 1267, and was cheated out of total control of all Russia upon the death of Boris Mikhailovich, who replaced Alexander Yaroslav Nevsky in 1263. However, in 1283, our Czar was passed over due to a clerical error and the rule of all Russia went to his second cousin Daniil (Даниил Александрович), whom Czar still resents. As a half-hearted apology, the Czar was awarded control over Muscovy, inconveniently located 5,000 miles away just outside Chicago. He now spends his time seething about this and writing about other stuff that bothers him.