Obama has traded credibility for Netflix contracts
Barack Obama has reemerged, stepping back into the national conversation with all the gravitas of a tenured Ivy League professor who just remembered the country exists beyond Martha’s Vineyard. In a conversation with historian Heather Cox Richardson, the former president offered a dire warning: America is “dangerously close” to slipping into autocracy. He didn’t mention Trump by name – but he didn’t have to. The implication was clear, and so was the posture: the wise elder statesman cautioning the republic from the comfort of his $12 million estate. But here’s the problem: Obama’s sermon rings hollow. Not because his warning about eroding democratic norms lacks merit, but because the messenger has long since traded credibility for cultural applause and Netflix contracts.
