The idea that Obama is a president bereft of scandal is so laughable that it is not worth dealing with seriously (it will be amusing to see how long Obama lickspittles keep this argument up – will it still be the case if Lois Lerner is in jail?). So let’s turn to the other legacy item – racial leadership. It is here where Obama’s election seems to be the cited factor, because it is the only one that can be cited in arguing such a case. Is it really true that America faces less racial strife in 2015 than we did in 2008? It certainly doesn’t seem to be the case. Just look at Netroots Nation, or the riots in Baltimore and Ferguson, or any of the other clashes that are taking place every month across the country, divided along racial lines. Rather than a president who has led us into an era of racial harmony, it feels like the Obama presidency has made racial clashes more politically toxic and injected race into arenas where it has no relevance (Obamacare, for instance).

It’s certainly possible Obama’s defenders are correct. Perhaps Iran will change its ways and join the community of nations, ISIS will go away, a Middle East arms conflict won’t escalate, China will stop hacking, Russia will stop snarfing up nations, and the OPM invasion will just result in a few fake credit cards. Perhaps Obamacare will stabilize, costs will go down, people will like it, and nothing major will need to change about it. Perhaps Dodd Frank and Too big to fail and subprime housing won’t be an issue as the recovery finally takes off. Perhaps none of the IRS, HHS, State, Justice, Immigration, or White House scandals will result in anything of note, and Obama’s executive orders will all remain in force even after a new president arrives. And perhaps America will give Obama the gift of turning his departure into a moment of racial harmony and an end to this latest strife.

Perhaps these things will happen. Anything’s possible. But if they don’t, Obama’s presidency will look very different indeed in the history books, unrecognizable compared to the one his cheerleaders believe he has led. And that in itself tells you something about our media, which is so dedicated to the hard work of making President Obama’s legacy a lot more impressive than it is.