So, within a breath of calling for hard choices, he rejected the need for them. I can think of no more fitting summation of Obama’s presidency.

◼ Two lines that sum up Obama’s presidency - Philip Klein/Washington Examiner @philipklein

President Obama’s Second Inaugural Address was devoid of memorable lines, but for me, two of them jumped out: “We must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit. But we reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future.”

Throughout his presidency, Obama has rhetorically wanted to establish himself as a transformational leader who was willing to tackle the nation’s tough problems, but when push came to shove, he has dodged them. This has been especially true than when it comes to dealing with the nation’s debt burden.

◼ MSNBC: Obama's speech about moving nation to progressivism - CainTV

◼ SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS: OBAMA DECLARES WAR ON LIBERTY AS WE KNOW IT - Joel Pollak/Breitbart

Sounding the same themes of class warfare that propelled his re-election campaign, President Barack Obama devoted his second inaugural address to laying out his second term agenda: a struggle to undo the seeming injustices of America's past, and to overcome the army of straw men that stand in opposition to progress.

In the process, President Obama attempted nothing less than an assault on the timeless notion of liberty itself...

◼ OBAMA SPEECH IGNORES FAILED ECONOMY; MEDIA GUSHES ANYWAY - John Nolte/Breitbart

...Meanwhile, in the real America outside of DC and left-wing media empires, the poor are getting poorer, the middle class is slowly being strangled, job growth is hardly treading water with population growth, there are more food stamps recipients than ever before, and more people are living in poverty.

If you were dumb enough to get your news only from the mainstream media, you would think that economic times are so flush today, the American president can afford to squander his second term socially re-engineering America.

Looks as though the media is just as determined as Obama to manufacture a reality that says we're enjoying economic boom times, deficits don't matter, and those crazy, stupid, racist Republicans in Congress are the real problem.

We'll see how long this heartless charade can last. Even with the most feckless GOP leadership in decades, eventually people will have to take a look around and ask themselves, Is this all there is?

◼ Obama concedes: Obamacare didn’t do anything for rising health care costs - HotAir

◼ Obama’s Second Inaugural - Yuval Levin/National Review

◼ Obama’s “Us Versus Them” Speech - Artur Davis