You wrote:
“From above, by elite opinion about his competence. From below, by mass anger and anxiety over unemployment”
This in and of itself, is a very offensive and patently ELITIST way of writing.
I say:
I noticed the same thing. Apparently only the elites are fit to judge Obama’s competence according to the elitists at Time magazine.
Still, all in all, this is a remarkable anti-Obama piece in a propaganda rag that has shilled for Obama 100% of the time for Obama during the last 2 and 1/2 years.
Still, note that Time credits Obama with the passage of historically significant legislation. In an odd way, they are praising him for his accomplishments -- while attacking him for bad PR.
Never mind that 60-70% of the voting public wants to repeal this "historically significant legislation".
In a way, Halperin is revealing the abject shallowness of the "media elite". It's not what you do, but how you look doing it.