Right about now, college students across America must be wishing they had taken all their classes with Professor Barack Obama. After all, if the President is giving himself a B+ for his first year office, those kids would probably all be on the Dean's List. And that's a curve we can believe in.
In his defense, Barack Obama had little choice but to inflate his grade when asked by Oprah Winfrey during her "Christmas at the White House" interview Sunday. That's not just commonsense PR but a staple of presidential communications. And it's worth remembering that in April 2004, a year after his disastrous invasion of Iraq, President George W. Bush could not think of a single mistake he had made. (Only later, as he his presidency was in its last throes, did Bush acknowledge using "bad language" like "bring them on.")
Still, in the face of growing gridlock in Congress, his dipping poll numbers, his deeply disappointed supporters and his almost masochistic insistence on reaching out at every turn to rejectionist Republicans dedicated to his destruction, Obama's hubris is alarming. As the Huffington Post summed up the exchange:

"A good solid B-plus," Obama answered, and went on to explain how he arrived at this mark. "I think we have inherited the biggest set of challenges of any president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt. We stabilized the economy... We are on our way out of Iraq. I think we've got the best possible plan for Afghanistan. We have reset our image around the world."
"And" Obama concluded, "I think that we're going to pass the most significant piece of social legislation since social security, and that's health insurance for every America."
So, Oprah pressed, why only B-plus?
"B-plus because of the things that are undone. Health care is not yet signed." The president smiled, "if I get health care passed we tip into A minus."

Sadly for Obama, his "incomplete" in health care isn't going to be changed to an A if he finally commits pen to paper and signs a health care bill. His refusal to commit his once-formidable political prestige to key tenets of health care legislation, be it the public option or so much else, helped ensure the chaos and uncertainty in his own party and unbreakable unity among Republicans. At best, Obama might squeak through with a C.
On the economy, too, Obama's penchant for splitting the difference with the irreconcilables of the GOP produced a stimulus bill that was needlessly small, one laden with tax cuts and not enough infrastructure spending and aid to the states. And while his stimulus bill is adding up to three percentage points to GDP growth, his administration's early low-balling of the unemployment forecast has created a PR nightmare for the President and his party. Worse still, despite saving the American financial system from the brink of collapse, his kid gloves treatment of Wall Street has magically allowed the GOP to capture the populist rage directed at the nation's bankers, a natural Republican constituency. Barack gets a B on the economy.
When it comes to international affairs and national security, President Obama is within his rights to claim an A, if not deserve a Nobel Prize. His resurrection of America's global image sullied by George W. Bush is undeniable.
Undeniable, too, though is his perpetuation of the Bush national security state at home. The use of state secrets, defense of Bush administration officials and refusal to investigate potential war crimes committed by his predecessor's regime should be an embarrassment not just to the nation, but to the constitutional law professor turned president.
Gay Americans continue to wait for basic rights, including even the opportunity to defend their nation. Meanwhile, a record number of federal judgeships remain unfilled, a development which no doubt warms the cold hearts of the conservative Federalist Society.
If President Obama was a schoolchild, his report card would probably read, "Barack plays well with other children." But as any elementary school teacher would counsel their nicest students, sometimes you have to punch the bully in the mouth.
Ultimately, the American presidency is not a pass-fail class. Of course, even by that low threshold, George W. Bush failed it. As for Barack Obama, just because he gets passing grades doesn't mean his performance hasn't been a disappointment.