I agree. He's managed to do quite a bit without too many eyebrows being raised, also.
You could not have hit the nail on the head any more squarely.
"Vat can I say vidout droppink a fly in da borscht, eh?"
He has a fundamental, perhaps willful, misunderstanding of our R E P U B L I C and the freedom to dispute and arbitrate elections, and his stance on the Iraq war is disingenuous at best.
When he first came into power, I liked him. He's had to work pretty hard for me to dislike him, but he's achieved the goal.