Remember when Richard Nixon said, “When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal?” When this president does it, but at least agonizes over it, it’s not illegal or even immoral.

Be reassured, pacifists and soul-searching intellectuals: Obama feels your pain, even as he rains the hurt on unarmed civilians, children and American citizens in the pursuit of international terrorists.

Bush didn’t actually kill people using drones (at least as far as we know). But he did swagger and smirk and sound like a guy rounding up a posse rather than an intellectual who tells people that he reads Reinhold Niebuhr…

Liberals love Obama’s story, love the way he looks, love the way he speaks. His policies? Disposable. A poll conducted by YouGov last August asked liberals what they thought of targeted drone strikes: They weren’t in favor. But when told Obama was conducting such strikes, support jumped hugely.