Unless you have been living on the moon (which is possible in our case), or have a job, or have basically anything better to do with your time—that should cover everybody—you have no doubt heard one of two stories:

• That George Soros has declared war on President Obama, calling him a non-fighter, and declaring that the Left will look “somewhere else” in 2012.
• The billionaire investor is disappointed with the last election, and wants Democrats to make stronger in-roads, like they did in 2008.

Yeah-huh.

Well, you could make a third argument, as Jonathan S. Tobin does over at Commentary Magazine. Tobin discounts (correctly, in our opinion) notions that Soros is going to take President Obama out of the race in 2012 as “Republican fantasy.” Mr. Tobin says that President Obama is far too popular and powerful to be crippled by party interests—that President Obama is the more powerful person here, and he’ll be calling the shots, thank you very much.

But little in politics is without precedent. While it may be unthinkable, the scenario is that a president can fall so far his party’s support that they just abandon him in favor of someone else. The money, the talent, even his own cabinet, begins to desert the incumbent and move toward someone else entirely—someone who better represents the direction the party wants to go. Imagine a president, facing re-election, whose own party has basically said you’re on your own: zero support, no friends, no counsel—and all this despite a pretty large fan base of people who could make you a viable candidate even in the worst of times. Unimaginable?

Ah, you already saw John Tyler’s picture.

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.